Tuesday, 6 October 2026

Princess Elizabeth without a special title and the 2010s reform of royal succession

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Princess Elizabeth without a special title and the 2010s reform of royal succession

Ten-year-old Elizabeth plays with a dog; at this age she became first in the line of succession to the British throne. Interestingly, at that time, and right up to her accession, the eldest daughter of George VI held no title and was called simply Princess Elizabeth. The only title that could have been conferred on her, that of Princess Royal, then belonged to her aunt, the daughter of George V, Princess Mary, and remained with her to the end of her days, so that the next Princess Royal might have been Elizabeth's eldest daughter, Princess Anne. The right of women of the royal family to be called Princess of Wales by birth, and not by marriage, came only with the amendments on absolute primogeniture made to the law of succession, enacted in the 2010s under Elizabeth II and extending to all those born after the change in the law: the heir is now determined first of all not by being the eldest son, but the eldest child. It is thanks to this that little Princess Charlotte, daughter of Prince William, stands fourth in the line of succession, after her elder brother, her father and her grandfather

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