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Prince & Princess of WalesState & Ceremonial

Queen Issues Letters Patent To Make Royal Child ‘Princess’ If Girl

Today, it has been announced that Her Majesty The Queen has issued a special letters patent confirming that the first child of the Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge, if it’s a girl, will be an HRH and a Princess, clearing up the confusion from the 1917 Letters Patent which would see only the eldest son (if there is one) of the Duke and Duchess hold the title of Prince.

The Queen has taken the opportunity to issue this special order after the succession to the crown bill has now been put into motion.

Before this special order was given, the 1917 Letters Patent decreed that only the first son of the son of the Prince Of Wales would hold the style of Royal Highness and Prince, meaning otherwise, the child would have just been ‘The Lady’. This was always the intention to issue this order for The Queen as this child will be King/Queen one day and to not give it a title would almost seem to be denying it its dignity.

George V issued the 1917 letters patent to limit how many people could hold the title of Prince/Princess and remove the style from his German relatives, due to the ongoing World War 1.

The baby’s title, when born will now definitely either be His Royal Highness Prince <NAME> of Cambridge or Her Royal Highness Princess <NAME> of Cambridge, clearing up any confusion about the 1917 letters patent from before.

The new instrument also says that all children of the Duke and Duchess will be styled as Princes and Princesses, rather than just the eldest son.

A Letters Patent is a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter, granting a title or monopoly, the opposite is a letters close which is a kind of private letter.

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