Dated rules surround who is bestowed with the title of Prince and Princess and even those closely related to monarch may miss out.
If Prince William’s eldest child Prince George, 11, decides to have children one day they will automatically inherit the titles of “HRH”, “Prince” or “Princess”.
However, the same isn’t true of his younger sister Princess Charlotte, because titles are till inherited through sons, and not daughters.
Charlotte was given the title because her mother married Prince William in 2011, with the young royal inheriting princessly status from the future monarch.
Lucy Hume, associate director of etiquette experts Debrett’s previously explained the tradition to Town & Country, saying: “Royal titles are inherited through sons, so if Princess Charlotte has children they would not automatically inherit the titles HRH, Prince, or Princess.”
However, as Ms Hulme explained: “The monarch may offer to bestow a royal title upon his or her daughter’s children”.
“For Peter and Zara Phillips, the Queen offered to give them a royal title when they were born, but Princess Anne and Captain Phillips opted to decline this offer,” she said.
And when Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex had their two children Lady Louise and James Viscount Severn, they also ruled out the move.
According to the BBC the royal couple’s decision reflected “the clear personal wish of Prince Edward and Miss Rhys-Jones as being appropriate to the likely future circumstances of their children”.
Charlotte is the first female member of the Firm to retain her place in the Line of Succession above a younger brother after the late Queen Elizabeth gave the seal of royal assent to the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
The move came four years after the change was given the green light by Commonwealth Nations.
This replaced the system of male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for royal children born after October 28, 2011 – ending the tradition of elder daughters being leapfrogged by younger sons in the royal pecking order.
She is now third in line to the throne behind her father Prince William and older brother George, followed by Prince Louis, 6.
