Princess of Wales

From Freepedia

Princess of Wales is a courtesy title possessed automatically by the wife of the Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1282. Because of the mortality rate, combined with the fact that some Princes of Wales did not marry until after coming to the throne, there have in fact been only ten holders of the title since that date.

The ten Princesses of Wales are as follows:

Joan of Kent (held title 1361 - 1376)

Anne Neville (1470 - 1471) (but marriage possibly not solemnised)

Catherine of Aragon (1501-1502)

Caroline of Ansbach (1714 - 1727)

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1736 - 1751)

Caroline of Brunswick (1795 - 1820)

Alexandra of Denmark (1863 - 1901)

Mary of Teck (1901 - 1910)

Diana Spencer (1981 - 1996)

Camilla Parker Bowles (2005 - )

While The Duchess of Cornwall have never been styled The Princess of Wales, she has held this title legally since her marriage to Prince Charles in April 2005.

Several of these came to be queens consort. Those who did not generally took the title of "Dowager Princess of Wales" after the deaths of their husbands. (Following the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Catherine officially reverted to her earlier title of Dowager Princess of Wales, as the widow of Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, because Henry did not wish to acknowledge that he had ever been legally married to her.)

Under the form of male-preference primogeniture in use in the UK, it is almost impossible for a woman ever to be heir apparent, since it is always theoretically possible for a reigning monarch to have a son. In the real world, of course, there are times when it is perfectly obvious to all that an heiress presumptive will in due course inherit the throne (most obviously the youth of the present Elizabeth II); but none of these has ever been created "Princess of Wales".

Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right

Contrary to widespread belief, the Princess of Wales is not actually a princess in her own right. While some past princesses, for example Catherine of Aragon and Alexandra of Denmark, were called Princess Catherine and Princess Alexandra, that was because they were already princesses (of Spain and Denmark respectively) when they married. Though Lady Diana Spencer was commonly called Princess Diana after her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, it was officially incorrect, as Diana herself pointed out, because she personally was not a princess. Similarly Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is not Princess Camilla.

an exception to this is that Queen "bloody" Mary I shortly ruled as Princess of wales in her own right , It was also suggested to King George VI to invest Queen Elizabeth II , (when still a princess) as Princess of Wales in her own right when it became evident the King was not going to have a son ,the King however rejected this suggestion making the point that it was a title held ,in all but one case, by the Prince of Wales wife and as such would degrade her right as a Princess of the United Kingdom

Welsh Princess of Wales

The last true born Princess of Wales was Gwenllian, grandaughter of Simon de Montfort.

Gwenllian was the daughter of Llywelyn the Last and his cousin Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort. Her mother died in childbirth at the palace of Pen-y-Bryn, in Abergwyngregyn near Bangor, Gwynedd on 12 June 1282, and her father was killed at Irfon Bridge a few weeks later, becoming therefore the only child of the marriage.

There were no sons to inherit the title of Prince of Wales, but as the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, Gwenllian was the heiress of the Princes of Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw. She was the Princess of Wales and as a result represented considerable danger to the king of England. Were it not for their close family ties it is likely that the king would have arranged for her too to be killed.

Instead, the king, Edward I, had her hauled off to Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire, where she spent over 50 years incarcerated, dying of old age there.

Edward kept the title of 'Prince of Wales' for the crown, bestowing it upon his son Edward who was crowned in Caernarfon in 1301 aged 17 years. Hence the title passed as a grace title bestowable by the English monarchy.

Bibliography

• Princesses of Wales by Deborah Fisher. University of Wales Press, 2005.