Lady Louise Windsor and her brother, James, the Earl of Wessex, could have been princess and prince, but their parents made a different choice.
Despite meeting the criteria to be titled princess under longstanding royal rules, Lady Louise Windsor does not hold that title.
According to the 1917 Letters Patent, children of a monarch are automatically granted the title of prince or princess and are designated as H.R.H.
This regulation, established during King George V’s reign, also applies to male descendants of a monarch.
However, a sovereign’s daughter’s children cannot inherit the H.R.H.
title, unlike a monarch’s son’s offspring.
Therefore, Lady Louise, aged 20, as Prince Edward‘s youngest son’s daughter, should rightfully be both H.R.H.
and a princess.
Interestingly, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew, are styled as princesses, while Princess Anne‘s children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, do not hold any royal titles despite being Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren.
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step back from their royal duties, Harry relinquished his H.R.H.
status, but the children of Prince Charles and Prince Andrew still retain theirs.
In 1999, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones had chosen not to give their children the H.R.H.
designation.
This decision came shortly after the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.
Following Diana’s divorce from Prince Charles, the palace faced criticism for revoking her H.R.H.
title.
The public mourning for Diana’s passing led to a reevaluation of royal titles, prompting Edward and Sophie to opt for titles more fitting for an Earl instead of Prince and Princess for their future offspring.
Before Lady Louise turned 18, Sophie expressed intentions for her daughter to use the titles of Princess and H.R.H.
However, the significant choice made by Louise’s parents led to her not receiving those titles.
Dr. Craig Prescott, an expert in UK constitutional law and politics at Bangor University, suggests that King Charles could have granted Lady Louise a title, but it seems Edward and Sophie preferred otherwise.
In March 2023, James inherited the title of Duke of Wessex after his father, Edward, was appointed Duke of Edinburgh.
Nevertheless, Lady Louise’s title remained unchanged as a duke’s daughter is commonly addressed as Lady.
