Princess of Wales (Welsh: Tywysoges Cymru) is a British courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales, who is, since the 14th century, the heir apparent of the English or British monarch. The first acknowledged title holder was Eleanor de Montfort, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It has subsequently been used by wives of post-conquest princes of Wales.
The title is currently held by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (the former Camilla Parker Bowles), second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales since their marriage on 9 April 2005. She does not, however, use the title, because of its association with the previous holder, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997. Instead, she uses the title Duchess of Cornwall, the feminine form of her husband's highest-ranking subsidiary title.
Video Princess of Wales
Status of the title
The Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right. There have been some Princesses of Wales who were addressed as such: for example, Alexandra of Denmark and Mary of Teck were called "Princess Alexandra", and "Princess Victoria Mary" respectively. However, that was because they were already princesses when they married. Diana, Princess of Wales, was commonly called "Princess Diana" following her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, but this was incorrect because she was not a princess in her own right.
Although not granted the title in her own right, the future Queen Mary I was, during her youth, invested by her father, King Henry VIII, with many of the rights and properties traditionally given to the Prince of Wales, including use of the official seal of Wales for correspondence. For most of her childhood, Mary was her father's only legitimate heir, and for this reason she was often referred to as "the Princess of Wales", although Henry never formally created her as such. For example, Spanish scholar Juan Luis Vives dedicated his Satellitium Animi to "Dominæ Mariæ Cambriæ Principi, Henrici Octavi Angliæ Regis Filiæ".
Maps Princess of Wales
Other titles of the Princesses of Wales
The Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage to the Prince of Wales, takes on the feminine equivalent of her husband's titles. Thus, upon marriage, the wife of the Prince of Wales assumes the styles and titles of Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, and Countess of Chester. The Princess is known as Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, as the Prince of Wales is known as Duke of Rothesay there, the dukedom being the title historically associated with the heir to the Scottish throne. She is known as Duchess of Cornwall in the far south west of England and as Countess of Chester in Cheshire.
Native princesses of Wales
Several consorts of Welsh princes of Wales were theoretically princesses of Wales while their husbands were in power. Llywelyn ab Iorwerth's consort, Joan, Lady of Wales, used that title in the 1230s; Isabella de Braose and Elizabeth Ferrers were likewise married to princes of Wales, but it is not known if they assumed a title in light of their husbands' status.
The only consort of a Welsh prince definitively shown to have used the title was Eleanor de Montfort, the English bride of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales. Their only child was Gwenllian, who was taken prisoner as an infant following her father's death. Gwenllian was the last native Welsh princess to actually be described as Princess of Wales, which was not an official title; Edward I had her raised in Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire, far from where any Welsh rebels could find her, and once appealed to the Pope to increase funds to the priory by writing that "...herein is kept the Princess of Wales, whom we have to maintain."
Princesses of Wales
This is a list of Princesses of Wales who held the title by their marriage to the Prince of Wales
See also
- The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment),
- The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (Canada)
Notes
Bibliography
- Princesses of Wales by Deborah Fisher. University of Wales Press, 2005.
- 'Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn' Y Traethodydd 1998 ISSN 0969-8930
Further reading
- Fryer, M.; Mary Beacock Fryer; Arthur Bousfield; Garry Toffoli (1983). Lives of the Princesses of Wales. Toronto: Dundern Press Limited. ISBN 978-0-919670-69-3.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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