This is a list of British princesses from the accession of King George I in 1714. This article deals with both princesses of the blood royal and women who become princesses upon marriage.
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the Sovereign. Individuals holding the title of princess are styled "Her Royal Highness" (HRH). Since King George V's Letters Patent of 30 November 1917, the title "Princess" and the use of the style "Royal Highness" has generally been restricted to the following persons:
There have been several exceptions to these rules, as explained later in this article.
Under the current practice, princesses of the blood royal are the legitimate daughters and the legitimate male line granddaughters of a British Sovereign. They are dynasts, that is potential successors to the throne. For these individuals, the title "Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and the style "Her Royal Highness" is an entitlement for life. The title Princess and the style Royal Highness is prefixed to the Christian name, before another title of honour. From 1714 until 1917, the male-line great granddaughters of the Sovereign were titled "Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" with the style "Highness". Since 1917, the male-line great granddaughters of the Sovereign, have held "the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes". For example, the daughters of the current Duke of Gloucester, a male line grandson of George V, are styled The Lady Davina Lewis and The Lady Rose Gilman.
Princesses by marriage are the recognized wives of the Sovereign's sons and grandsons. Generally, these women are entitled to the style Royal Highness by virtue of marriage. They retain the style during their widowhood. However, Queen Elizabeth II issued Letters Patent dated 21 August 1996 stating that any woman divorced from a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the style "Royal Highness" would no longer be entitled to the style "Royal Highness". This has so far applied to HRH The Princess of Wales and HRH The Duchess of York.
Since the passage of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, there have been several instances in which princes of the blood contracted marriages in contravention of that act (which meant they were not legally married) and several instances in which the Sovereign withheld the style "Her Royal Highness" from a prince's wife deemed to be unsuitable. For example, Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, a male-line grandson of King George III, married Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act. Although morganatic marriage did not exist in British law, the duke's wife was never titled the Duchess of Cambridge or accorded the style "Her Royal Highness". Instead, she was known as "Mrs FitzGeorge". Most famously, King George VI issued Letters Patent dated 27 May 1937 that entitled The Duke of Windsor "to hold and enjoy for himself only the title style or attribute of Royal Highness so however that his wife and descendants if any shall not hold the said title style or attribute".
The wife of a prince of the blood takes her husband's Christian name in her title as do all married royal women. For example, upon her marriage to Prince Michael of Kent in 1978, Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz assumed the title and style of "Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent". Similarly, upon her marriage to then Prince Richard of Gloucester, the former Birgitte van Deurs assumed the title and style of "Her Royal Highness Princess Richard of Gloucester".
The situation is slightly different when a woman is married to a prince who happens to be a peer or the Prince of Wales. Upon marriage, the wife of the Prince of Wales becomes "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales". Upon marriage, the wife of a royal duke (or earl) becomes "Her Royal Highness The Duchess (or Countess) of X". When Prince Richard of Gloucester succeeded to his father's dukedom in 1974, his wife became "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester".
Whilst it has been traditional, as is still technically the case, that a princess by marriage cannot be called Princess and her first name, Diana, Princess of Wales was so consistently referred to as "Princess Diana" that the usage (at least in her case) has come to be accepted even by official sources such as the Royal website and respected media organisations such as the BBC.
The use of the titles prince and princess and the styles of Highness and Royal Highness for members of the Royal Family is of fairly recently usage in the British Isles. Before 1714, there was no settled practice regarding the use of the titles prince and princess other than the heir apparent and his wife. From 1301 onward, the eldest sons of the Kings of England (and later Great Britain and the United Kingdom) have generally been created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. Their wives were titled Princess of Wales.
The title Princess Royal came into being in 1642 when Queen Henrietta Maria, the French-born wife of King Charles I, wished to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the French King was styled (Madame Royale). However, there was no settled practice on the use of the title princess for the Sovereign's younger daughters or male-line granddaughters. For example, as late as the time of King Charles II, the daughters of his brother James, Duke of York, both of whom became Queens regnant, were called simply "The Lady Mary" and "The Lady Anne". The future Queen Anne was styled princess in her marriage treaty to Prince George of Denmark and then styled "Princess Anne of Denmark" once married. However, in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye the deposed James II gave the title of Princess Royal to his last daughter, Louisa Maria (1692-1712).
After the accession of George I of Hanover, the princely titles were changed to follow the German practice. The children, grandchildren, and male line great grandchildren of the British Sovereign were automatically titled "Prince or Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" and styled "Royal Highness" (in the case of children and grandchildren) or "Highness" (in the case of male line great grandchilren). Queen Victoria confirmed this practice in Letters Patent dated 30 January 1864 (the first Act of the Prerogative dealing with the princely title in general terms)[1].
When a princess marries, she still takes on her husband's title. If the title is higher than (or equal to) the one she possesses, she will normally be styled using the female equivalent. If her husband has a lower title or style, her style as a princess is remains in use, although it may then be combined with her style by marriage, e.g. HRH The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll or HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone – if that princess had a territorial designation, she ceases its use. However, some of the lowest styles aren't utilised by senior royals — Princess Anne remains HRH The Princess Royal rather than HRH The Princess Royal, Mrs Tim Laurence.
The following women married a Royal Prince but as their marriages were invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, they did not become Princesses:
In addition, the status of Wallis Simpson as a British princess has not been officially confirmed, Although she married the Duke of Windsor in 1937, and he was a British prince with the style His Royal Highness, having been confirmed as such by letters patent 27 May 1937 from his brother, George VI, Wallis and her descendants from the marriage were expressly denied the style of "Royal Highness" by the same letters patent[6]. However, since the marriage did not contravene the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, and the letters patent denying her the style "Royal Highness" did not per se address her status as a British princess, it is not clear what legal princely status, if any, Wallis held. In any case, as a duke's wife, she was always styled Her Grace The Duchess of Windsor.
There have been two instances where a British princess married a British prince: first The Princess Mary, daughter of King George III, who married her first cousin Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh; and secondly Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, granddaughter of King Edward VII, who married her first cousin once removed Prince Alastair of Connaught. In the first instance Princess Mary was of higher rank and the Duke of Gloucester and his sister were elevated from the style His/Her Highness to His/Her Royal Highness. In the second instance Princess Alexandra had been granted the style Her Highness by her grandfather the King; as the wife of a Prince she received the style Her Royal Highness.
Of the above named princesses, there are a great number of shared names:
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange · The Princess Amelia Sophia · The Princess Caroline Elizabeth · Mary, Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel · Louise, Queen of Denmark-Norway
Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick · Princess Elizabeth · Princess Louisa · Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark-Norway
Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg · The Princess Augusta Sophia · Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg · Sophia of Gloucester · Caroline of Gloucester · Mary, Duchess of Gloucester · The Princess Sophia · The Princess Amelia
Charlotte Augusta, Princess Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld · Frederica of Hanover · Charlotte of Clarence · Victoria of Kent · Elizabeth of Clarence · Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz · Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck
Victoria, German Empress · Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse · Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein · Frederica, Baroness Alfons von Pawel-Rammingen · Louise, Duchess of Argyll · Marie of Cumberland · Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife · The Princess Victoria · Maud, Queen of Norway · Marie, Queen of Romania · Victoria Melita, Grand Duchess of Hesse · Alexandra, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg · Marie Louise, Princess Maximilian of Baden · Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden · Alexandra, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin · Alice, Countess of Athlone · Beatrice, Duchess of Galliera · Olga of Hanover · Patricia of Connaught
Alexandra, Duchess of Fife · Maud, Countess of Southesk · Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood · Sibylla, Duchess of Västerbotten · Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha · Frederica, Queen of Greece
Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh · Margaret, Countess of Snowdon · Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy
Beatrice of York · Eugenie of York · Lady Louise Windsor
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