I know the title is commonly bestowed upon the heir to the British throne. And if I recall correctly, Charles, the current Prince of Wales acquired the title early in life. But was somebody else holding it before Charles or was the title vacant? And am I correct in assuming that female heirs to the throne are not given the title of Princess of Wales? And if there are times when there’s no Prince of Wales, does it have any effect or is the post completely ceremonial?
The title *Prince of Wales * is usually held by the eldest son of the reigning monarch. It can only be held by one man at a time. It is **not ** an automatic title and has to be conferred. Thus, in 1901 on the death of Queen Victoria, the then Prince of Wales succeeded to the throne as Edward VII. His son, the Duke of York, was not created the Prince of Wales until several months later.
There does not have to be a Prince of Wales at any given moment. During the reign of King George VI (1936-1952), there was no Prince of Wales, since George VI had no sons and his elder daughter Princess Elizabeth could not be created the Princess of Wales since that title belongs to the wife of the Prince of Wales.
The monarch’s eldest son is automatically the Duke of Cornwall (which I think is the only actual British title, as opposed to a “title by courtesy,” held during the lifetime of another). The King or Queen’s son accedes to the title when he is born or when his parent becomes monarch, whichever happens last.
But the title of Prince of Wales is bestowed by the sovereign on his or her eldest son at his or her discretion. It’s not automatic. And customarily it’s bestowed towards the end of the heir’s adolescence, and for the last two creations (the later Edward VIII and Prince Charles) it comes after a period of training in Welsh language and culture, and is done at Caernarvon Castle. These last two criteria were invented during the reign of George V, and while they each have some ancient precedent, were not customary before then.
This list from Prince Charles’s website gives all the relevant dates. As you can see, there were significant gaps between 1936 and 1969, 1820 and 1841, 1688 and 1714, 1649 and 1688, 1509 and 1612, 1413 and 1454, 1377 and 1399, and 1307 and 1343.
The title is purely honorific, with no powers and no duties. It’s not even as if there was ever a time when the post-1301 princes ruled Wales as a deputy for their father. Henry VII may have been grooming his son, Arthur (Henry VIII’s elder brother) for that role in 1502 but Arthur then died. Nor did/does the title bring with it any estates.
The duchy of Cornwall is different, in that there are lands to go with it and in past centuries duchy officials did have a role in county administration in Cornwall. When there is no eldest son or the eldest son is a minor, the lands and the administration of the duchy revert back the Crown.
Does a female heir to the throne have any courtesy title?
Not that I’m aware of for the UK. When the current queen was heiress to her father George VI, she was known simply as Princess Elizabeth. During the reign of William IV (1830-1837), his niece, who went on to become Queen Victoria, was known as Princess Victoria of Kent (since her father had been the Duke of Kent).
The reluctance to grant a specific title to a female heir may be due to the fact that in most cases she is merely the *heiress presumptive * and can be displaced from her position by the birth of a closer, male heir. In other countries, such as Sweden, the female heir is currently given the formal title of Crown Princess to acknowledge that she is the *heiress apparent * to the throne.
An English prince or princess who is heir presumptive can be replaced as an heir if the monarch has a son. Thus, while Princess Elizabeth (now the current monarch) was heir presumptive, she could have been replaced if her father had had a son. In 1936, the Duke of York (later George VI) could have been replaced if his older brother had married and had a son. Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria) could have been replaced if her uncle, King William IV had had a son (her father, the Duke of Kent, died before his older brother – he would have become King if he had survived to 1837).
Hasn’t the queen changed the rule with regard to female succession? In that case, some future monarch might decide to give a future female heir apparent the title “Princess of Wales” or perhaps some new title.
Didn’t Henry VIII create his eldest, Mary, the Princess of Wales-at least until he divorced her mother?
I know that there has been some discussion of the issue but I don’t think any actual change has yet been made. In any event, I would think it would be Parliament that would make the change, not the Queen. Perhaps there doesn’t seem to be any particular urgency about the issue given that the two direct heirs are males at the moment. If Prince William were to marry, and his first child were to be a girl, I imagine that the issue would come to a head pretty quickly.
There is some evidence that she was addressed as such (at least in written communications), but I think it’s still unclear whether the title was “officially” conferred.
This may be a bit before the time period the OP is interested in, but there were many princes of Wales before the English Crown conquerored Wales and bestowed the title upon it’s own princes. Morgannwg, Gwent, Powys, Glywysing, Deheubarth, and of course Gwynedd were all ruled by dynasties of native princes.
After the deaths of Llywelyn ap Gryffudd and his brother Davydd ap Gryffudd, the last two native princes of Gwynedd, King Edward I of England (Longshanks) made his infant son Edward (later King Edward II) Prince of Wales.
As Cunctator said, the monarch’s eldest daughter will never be more than heiress presumptive, so there is no specific title.
There is the title “Princess Royal”, usually bestowed on the monarch’s eldest daughter. There is only one Princess Royal at any given time. Elizabeth never held the title, because one of her aunts held it until after she inherited the throne. After that aunt died, she bestowed the title on Princess Anne.