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Princess Charlotte May Receive a Major New Title When Dad William Takes the Throne

By: Alexandra Hough
Published: April 14, 2021

While doing a deep dive into all of the titles that the members of the royal family could receive when Prince William becomes sovereign, we began thinking about an old tweet regarding Princess Anne that we stumbled across last year on the Royal Family’s official Twitter account.

In honor of the princess’s 70th birthday (August 15), the account took its followers on a trip down memory lane and shared a variety of facts about Anne’s royal life. One tweet read, “HRH The Princess Anne was named The Princess Royal, a title traditionally bestowed upon the eldest daughter of The Sovereign, in 1987. HRH is the seventh Princess Royal, following Princess Mary, the only daughter of King George V.”

This had us thinking about the future Princess Royal. As the eldest (and only) daughter of Prince William (aka the future sovereign), is it possible for Princess Charlotte to receive the same title as Anne when her dad becomes king? According to Hello!, this depends on a few things.

Pool/Samir Hussein / Getty Images

As it turns out, like many other titles, only one person can hold it at a time. Since Princess Mary was Princess Royal when George VI took the throne, Elizabeth was not bestowed with the title.

This means that if Princess Anne is still the Princess Royal when Prince William becomes king, the name will not be passed down to Charlotte. This could only occur after Anne's passing. It’s also important to note that Charlotte won't be given the title automatically, simply because she’s the king’s daughter. It must be officially bestowed upon her. In fact, Queen Elizabeth waited almost 20 years before giving the title to her only daughter.

Princess Charlotte, the 8th Princess Royal. We can get used to that.

RELATED All of Princess Anne’s Grandchildren, from Oldest to Youngest

Alexandra Hough read full bio

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