I notice that the BBC refer to Heather Mills as Lady MacCartney even though she married Paul after he got his knighthood. Should she be called Lady (as a title) and will she keep it after her divorce?
I’m not sure how it works after divorce, but yeah–in the traditional system of using titles, the wife always gets to use the female equivalent of the husbands title, whether or not he had the title at the time of marriage. It also applies whether the husband or husband to be is anything from a knight all the way up to dukes and princes. Conversely, untitled men who marry titled women get zip, the most famous examples being the husbands of Princess Anne.
Yup, the wife (or widow) of Sir Forename Surname is Lady Surname. If they divorce, technically she loses the handle, but as a matter of social reality she may continue to use it and, as a courtesy to her, others may use it too.
It’s actually way more complicated than that when it gets to other titles in the hereditary peerage. First off, when good ol’ Forename Surname becomes a lord, he might not be Lord Surname at all, he might be Lord Territory, as Benjamin Disraeli became Lord Beaconsfield.
And then, the spouse would be Lady Beaconsfield. But other relatives have different titles. For example, Lord Peter Wimsey (called Lord Peter) is the younger brother of the Duke of Denver, and his wife (nee Harriet Vane) is Lady Peter, not Lady Wimsey (which would imply she was a Lady in her own right and not just by marriage) and not Lady Harriet (which would imply she was the daughter of a Lord, I think.)
Not all Lord’s daughters get to be called Lady. A daughter of an Earl, a Marques or a Duke is styled Lady First Name, but not the daughter or a Viscount or a Baron - they’re merely “Honourables”.
Thre was a Victorian convention whereby a woman would continue to use her married name (and any attendant titles) as a statement to society that she was not at fault in the divorce. This was, of course, a time when adultery was usually the only grounds for divorce, and had to be proven in court.
True, although it’s widely rumored that both Capt. Mark Phillips (m. 1973) and Timothy Laurence (m. 1992) were offered earldoms by the Queen but declined, in large part because Princess Anne didn’t want her kids saddled with titles.
Even after Phillips declined the offer of an earldom the Queen offered to create Anne’s son, Peter, a prince when he was born. Anne declined. Also since Anne didn’t become Princess Royal until 1987 her full style after her marriage was “Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips”.
tx for the answers - I am glad I dont have to worry about titles