# Hir Royal Highness, Doctor..? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727 "2009-11-07T18:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/21 "2009-11-08T14:44:17Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Why would someone like Charles want a proper qualification when he can pontificate about architecture and get an attentive audience, despite not actually knowing anything about it. I’ve actually read Charles’ book on architecture. I’m curious if you have. I certainly don’t agree with everything he says about architecture, which is also true for my opinion of architects and professional architecture critics, but his opinion is not the totally uninformed one you imply. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/22 "2009-11-08T14:51:24Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Thanks for the clarification about the bachelor’s. The bio brief of Elena says she trained to be a teacher, and then later says she got a degree of Education. Is the “teacher training” different from a bachelor’s? The Spanish version is not helping me, as I’m not familiar with Spain’s post-secondary education terminology. She has a Licenciatura in Education; the licenciatura is the 4-or-5-year undergrad Spanish degree so in that way equivalent to a Bachelor’s. There are other degrees in Education: from FPI (vocational high school, phase I) to FPII (id, phase II) to Diploma (similar to an Associate’s). Her specialty is English as a Second Language: to get there, you can get either a Licenciatura in Languages (sp. Germanics) followed by the CAP (Curso de Adaptación Pedagógica, a one-year degree-less program to learn about teaching) or what she did, a Licenciatura in Educación (sp. Languages). To further complicate the nomenclature, a high school degree is a bachillerato, and currently FPIs are in the process of being transformed into “non-traditioinal-college-track-bachilleratos.” You used to get an FPI as an Electrician, now it’s a Bachillerato (Electrician)… but you can’t go to a Licenciatura with it… and then the Diplomaturas (which were invented by the previous Socialist government) may or may not be deleted as part of the European degree unification process… in short, a bloody mess. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/23 "2009-11-08T15:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve actually read Charles’ book on architecture. I’m curious if you have. I have not, however I wonder what gives his opinion more currency than anyone else. He has no qualifications in the subject, nor is he responsible for the finance, or takes part in any other the design, and yet his veiws can have a profound impact. He has a book, which I strongly suspect is much more his own agenda than based upon any authority of knowledge and experience. Why should his views carry any weight at all? Should they carry more weight than perhaps the local politicians whose role it is to make decisions about local planning and who put themselves up for election at regular intervals? There is a more serious side to his influence, I will not weep for modern architecture but the reality is that he wrote a personal letter to the the Qatari prime minister - who also happens to be a member of the Qatari Royals and as a result this stopped the development of the former Chelsea barracks, and lost Richard Rogers - the chief architect - his commission on this project. To me this is undue influence, he is interfering in a process that was authorised by the local planning authority that was elected by the local populace and it is one of the reasons why the Royals should not exist at all. If we could get rid of the top of the pile, then perhaps we could also rid ourselves of the entire mound of birthright privelidge, perhaps we could then consider ourselves a modern democracy - Charles in not accountable to me, nor any other electorate - when he puts himself upon an election platform and is held to account by the UK population and rids himself of the deferance that he uses to manipulate his way around the world, perhaps then he would deserve some respect. > **[A prince and a philistine | Roy Hattersley](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/16/prince-charles-richard-rogers-chelsea)** > > Roy Hattersley: The Chelsea Barracks wrecking ball exemplifies all that is wrong about hereditary monarchy ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/24 "2009-11-08T16:05:20Z")
Prince Mahidon, the father of the present king of Thailand, was a medical doctor. His two older brothers were Kings Rama VI and VII, and he would have been king himself, but when his turn came around, he had already died. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/25 "2009-11-08T16:34:42Z")
Does being a [member of Queen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May) count as royalty? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/26 "2009-11-08T17:43:37Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > …in the UK we did not have democracy until women got the vote in 1020… Then the bloody Normans had to come along and muck everything up. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/27 "2009-11-08T18:54:06Z")
The Japanese crown prince, Naruhito, as a Master’s degree in history from the prestigious Gakushuin University in Tokyo. IIRC he’s considered kind of a dim bulb in Japan though, but I may be mixing him up with some other member of the royal family. Crown Princess Masako (Naruhito’s wife, a commoner by birth) has a BA from Harvard and attended graduate school at Oxford but did not complete her degree there. I’m not sure if she was going for a Master’s or a Ph.D. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/28 "2009-11-08T22:11:17Z")
Hey Nava, thanks. So, reading her bio brief in Spanish, it seems she got the diplomatura (so an associate’s?) first, then did some teaching, then finished the licenciatura (so Bachelor’s?). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/29 "2009-11-08T23:27:26Z")
What about elected leaders of a country with a doctoral degree? No US president has been a doctor , but we had a governor here in NC who had a PhD in chemistry and our current governor has an EdD. In both cases they tend to not mention their advanced degrees. In recent years the only Dr. I recall running for president was Howard Dean who is a MD. Going back a ways George McGovern has a PhD. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/30 "2009-11-08T23:31:40Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > What about elected leaders of a country with a doctoral degree? > > No US president has been a doctor , but we had a governor here in NC who had a PhD in chemistry and our current governor has an EdD. In both cases they tend to not mention their advanced degrees. In recent years the only Dr. I recall running for president was Howard Dean who is a MD. Going back a ways George McGovern has a PhD. Woodrow Wilson had a PhD. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/31 "2009-11-08T23:51:31Z")
Forgot about Wilson. I wonder if he mentioned that in his TV ads? 🙂 He was president of Princeton before becoming governor of NJ. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/32 "2009-11-09T00:08:23Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Given that the Royals, of one flavour or another, go to the best schools and get entry into the best universities, this is not at all impressive. Each to his own I suppose. I consider that completion of a university degree is an accomplishment in its own right. > [@casdave](#): > > Also there is a good deal of forelock tugging at certain universities which apply a lower standard of entry to our ennobled inbreeds than to others. So, what are you implying? They get automatic passes in their exams? They don’t have to the same work as other students? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/33 "2009-11-09T06:47:27Z")
I am not implying at all, I shall say it straight. To get into Cambridge and Oxford univerisities is very difficult and is the result of a selection process where applicants are vetted. The minimum criteria to achieve this is to be a straight A student, you also need to show some spark of something else, ideas, maturity, drive that sort of thing. Prince Charles certainly would not have got into Trinity college, Cambridge on his academic merits had he been evaluated using the same criteria as that applied to other students. You’ll also note that when any Royals join the armed forces, their promotion is far more rapid than any of their peers, and this has never been any differant, they are not judged against their peers, only that they meet the minimum requirements. It would simply be unthinkable for a Royal to be rejected by Oxford or Cambridge if they apply to study. As for getting automatic passes, Charles got a lower second class degree which is very unimpressive. Princess Diana did not even qualify for A levels, let alone higher education. It is worth noting that Oxford and Cambridge are both sovereign qualification awarding bodies, which means they can design their own curriculum without recourse to national awarding body criteria, in other words both of these universities can write their own requirements for any course they wish, or for any student if they are so minded. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/34 "2009-11-09T09:39:07Z")
I know many people from the dutch royal family are quite educted, although not to the level of a PhD; the queen and her three sons all have at least one (equivalent to a) masters degree. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727/35 "2009-11-11T01:52:49Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > In recent years the only Dr. I recall running for president was Howard Dean who is a MD. Ron Paul, the Libertarian candidate in the 1988 general election and an early contender for the 2008 Republican nomination, is a [physician](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hir-royal-highness-doctor/516727.md?page=1)