British princess

• Daughter of a Sovereign: HRH The Princess N.
  • The style HRH The Princess Royal is customarily (but not automatically) granted by the Sovereign, when vacant, to the Sovereign's eldest daughter.[13]
• Daughter of a son of a Sovereign: HRH Princess N of X, where X is the territorial designation of their father's senior peerage; e.g. HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent.
  • Prior to Princess Charlotte, a daughter of the Prince of Wales: HRH Princess N
  • Prior to 1917, a daughter of a son of a son of a Sovereign: HH Princess N of X
• From 31 December 2012, daughter of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales: HRH Princess N of X.

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.[14] If her husband has a lower title or style, her style as a princess 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 may cease its use. It has become customary, however, for a princess who has been granted the title of HRH The Princess Royal to not combine it with her style by marriage: Princess Anne remains HRH The Princess Royal rather than HRH The Princess Royal, Lady Laurence.[15][16]

A princess by marriage is addressed as "Princess Husband's name"; this is akin to a woman being referred to as "Mrs. John Smith".[1] The only recent time this has broken tradition is with the sovereign's express consent. Namely, with Queen Elizabeth II's aunts Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. The former was not a princess by birth, while the latter was born a princess of Greece and Denmark. Both women asked the Queen to use their given names after their husbands' deaths.[8]

• Wife of a prince who has a peerage: HRH The Duchess/Countess of X, or, prior to 1917, possibly HH
  • Since 1996, divorced wife of a prince who held a peerage: N, Duchess/Countess of X. (e.g. Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York)
• Wife of a son of a Sovereign, who has no peerage: HRH The Princess Husband.
• Wife of another prince who has no peerage: HRH Princess Husband of X. (X usually taken from father's Dukedom)
• Prior to 1917, the wife of a prince in the third generation, who has no peerage: HH Princess Husband of X.

• There were only two historical princesses who would have been exceptions to the 1917 rule, but they died before Queen Victoria's marriage. The sisters Sophia Matilda and Caroline Augusta Maria born in 1773 and 1774 were male line great-granddaughters of George II. All of the other exceptions were still alive in 1917 and were no longer permitted to use the style of HRH and Princess.

There have been several exceptions in recent history to these rules, but all have come by order of the Sovereign, mostly through letters patent.

• In November 1905, Edward VII allowed the two daughters of Louise, Princess Royal to use a princely title and the style of Highness.[17] They were not entitled to the style of Royal Highness. The 1917 letters patent which stripped great-grandchildren of a British sovereign of the style of Highness with a princely title was complicated as it did not technically overrule Edward VII's letters patent, as the former practice was mostly an unspoken courtesy as opposed to a written rule. The elder sister, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, was already married by that time, to Prince Arthur of Connaught: he was a male-line grandson of Queen Victoria, and so entitled to use the style of Royal Highness. Alexandra was therefore styled Her Royal Highness Princess Arthur of Connaught from her 1913 marriage for the rest of her life, and the 1917 letters patent did not change this. Her younger sister, Princess Maud, on the other hand, was unmarried in 1917. Until her 1923 marriage, she continued to use the title of "Princess" granted to her in 1905.[18] Upon her marriage to Charles, Lord Carnegie, however, she chose to be known as Lady Maud Carnegie (or, from 1941, The Countess of Southesk), dropping her princely title.
• Anne, Princess Royal, had the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Edinburgh from birth in 1950, even though she was a female-line grandchild of the Sovereign, being born to the future Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, during the reign of Elizabeth's father, George VI, who had no sons. George VI issued letters patent on 22 October 1948, granting the style to Elizabeth's children.
• In 1961, when her son married, the Duchess of Kent asked Queen Elizabeth II to extend the use of a princely title to precede her first name, in order to avoid confusion with her daughter-in-law, Katharine Worsley, the new Duchess of Kent. As she was born a princess of Greece and Denmark, this was not incredibly notable, although traditionally she would have been styled as Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Kent. After this she was styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.
• In 1974, the Duchess of Gloucester asked Queen Elizabeth II for the same title as her sister-in-law, then Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, with a princely title preceding her first name. Unlike Princess Marina, Alice had never been a princess in her own right, thus this allowance was far more unusual. Instead of being referred to as Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Gloucester, as is customary, she became Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
• In 2003, upon the request of Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Edward, the Queen retracted the style of Royal Highness and princely title from all children born to him.[19] As male-line grandchildren of a British monarch, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, would traditionally enjoy a princely title and style.
• In December 2012, Queen Elizabeth issued letters patent that stated that all children born to the eldest child of Charles, Prince of Wales, would enjoy a princely title and style, and not just the eldest son. Although in effect in 2012, it did not technically come into usage until the birth of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge in 2015.

Each of the following women married a royal prince but as their marriages were invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, they did not become princesses:

• Maria Anne Fitzherbert, married George, Prince of Wales in 1785
• Lady Augusta Murray, married Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex in 1793
• Lady Cecilia Buggin, married Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex. She was later created Duchess of Inverness.
• Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, married Prince George, Duke of Cambridge in 1847

Although Wallis Simpson 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[31] before she married him. As a duke's wife, she was always styled Her Grace The Duchess of Windsor. Her husband, the Duke of Windsor, insisted that staff and friends should refer to her as Her Royal Highness, and honor her with bows and curtsies.

There have been two instances where a British princess married a British prince: first The Princess Mary, daughter of George III, who married her first cousin Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh; secondly Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, granddaughter of Edward VII, who married her first cousin once removed Prince Arthur 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.

There is also the curious case of Princess Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg, later Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain (the daughter of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg). Prior to her marriage to Alfonso XIII of Spain in May 1906, she was styled Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg. On 3 April 1906 Edward VII, in order to elevate her standing prior to her wedding, raised her status to Royal Highness per royal declaration which read: "Whitehall April 3, 1906. The KING has been graciously pleased to declare and ordain that His Majesty's niece, Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, daughter of Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg), shall henceforth be styled and called "Her Royal Highness"; And to command that the said Royal concession and declaration be registered in His Majesty's College of Arms."[32] Edward VII concurrently issued a Royal Warrant on the elevation which read: "Our Will and Pleasure is and we do hereby declare and ordain that from and after the date of this Warrant our most Dear Niece Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, only daughter of Our most Dear Sister Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg) shall be styled entitled and called "Her Royal Highness" before her name and such Titles and Appellations which to her belong in all Deeds Records Instruments or Documents whatsoever wherein she may at any time hereafter be named or described. And We do hereby authorize and empower Our said most Dear Niece henceforth at all times to assume and use and to be called and named by the Style, Title and Appellation of "Her Royal Highness" accordingly. Given at Our Court of Saint James's, the Third day of April 1906: in the Sixth Year of Our Reign. By His Majesty's Command. M Gladstone"[33] Whether this made her a British Royal Princess is the subject of debate.

The former Lady Diana Spencer lost the prefix of Her Royal Highness upon her divorce in August 1996, and was restyled as "Diana, Princess of Wales". Buckingham Palace issued a press release on the day the decree absolute of divorce was issued, announcing Diana's change of title, but made it clear that Diana continued to be a member of the British Royal Family. This was confirmed by the deputy coroner of the Queen's Household, Baroness Butler-Sloss, after a pre-hearing on 8 January 2007: "I am satisfied that at her death, Diana, Princess of Wales continued to be a member of the Royal Household."[34] This appears to have been confirmed in the High Court judicial review matter of Al Fayed & Ors v Butler-Sloss.[35] In that case, three High Court judges accepted submissions that the "very name 'Coroner to the Queen's Household' gave the appearance of partiality in the context of inquests into the deaths of two people, one of whom was a member of the Family and the other was not."[35]