Princess of Wales is a courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283. Due to the mortality rate and the fact that some Princes of Wales did not marry before ascending to the throne, there have in fact been only ten Princesses of Wales. The wife of the present Prince of Wales, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, does not use the title Princess of Wales to which she is entitled, which for some people remains associated with the prince's first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales.
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The ten Princesses of Wales (and the dates the individuals held that title) are as follows:
Several Princesses of Wales became queens consort. Those who did not generally took the title of "Dowager Princess of Wales" after the deaths of their husbands. (Following the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Catherine officially reverted to her earlier title of Dowager Princess of Wales, as the widow of Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, because Henry did not wish to acknowledge that he had ever been legally married to her.)
Under the form of male-preference primogeniture in use in the United Kingdom, it is very unusual for a woman to be heiress apparent, since it is always theoretically possible for a reigning monarch to have a son to displace a daughter; she is almost always heiress presumptive. The only exception to this would be if a monarch's heir apparent were to have only female children and then the said heir apparent were to die; the eldest (female) child would then be heiress apparent.
In reality, there are times when it is perfectly obvious to all that an heiress presumptive will in due course inherit the throne (most obviously the youth of the present Queen Elizabeth); but none of these has ever been created "Princess of Wales".
Contrary to widespread belief, the Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right. While some past princesses, for example Alexandra of Denmark and Mary of Teck, were called Princess Alexandra and Princess Mary, that was because they were already princesses (of Denmark and Teck respectively) when they married. Though Diana, Princess of Wales was commonly called Princess Diana after her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, it was officially incorrect, as Diana herself pointed out, because she was not a princess in her own right. Similarly Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is neither Princess Camilla nor Duchess Camilla.
There is, at least, one vague exception to the rule in English history. During her youth, Mary I was invested by her father, Henry VIII, with many of the rights and properties traditionally given to the Prince of Wales. For most of her childhood, Mary was her father's only legitimate heir, and for this reason he often even referred to her as "the Princess of Wales," despite having never formally created her as such.
When a title was sought for the future Queen Elizabeth II, the possibility of investing her as Princess of Wales in her own right was raised. This suggestion was rejected, because Princess of Wales is a courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales. If it were used by Princess Elizabeth, it would have degraded her right as a Princess of the United Kingdom unless Letters Patent or Legislation were introduced to the contrary. Furthermore, if the then Princess Elizabeth was given the title of Princess of Wales, there was the problem of what to call her future husband. Therefore, King George VI wisely decided not to give his elder daughter the title.
A Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage to the Prince of Wales, also takes all of the Prince's subsidiary titles. Thus a Princess of Wales is also:
Of all these titles usually only Princess of Wales has been used officially, a princess being of a higher rank than the peerage titles. However, as noted with the example of the current Princess of Wales, Camilla, a subsidiary title may just as easily and legally be used. For example, when Diana, Princess of Wales opened a new section of Chester Zoo in 1984 she was referred to as "HRH The Princess of Wales, Countess of Chester".
In some cases the heir to the throne had yet to be created Prince of Wales, so his wife was referred to as Duchess of Cornwall until then. Mary of Teck was known as The Duchess of York after her 1893 marriage to Prince George (then Duke of York, later George V), and was known as The Duchess of Cornwall and York from January 1901 (the death of Queen Victoria and the ascension of Edward VII) to November 1901 (when George was created Prince of Wales).
The Princess is known as Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, as the Prince of Wales is known as Duke of Rothesay there, the dukedom being the title historically associated with the heir to the Scottish throne.
Pre-Conquest princesses, such as Gwenllian of Wales, are sometimes referred to as Princess of Wales, but did not hold this title in the English legal sense. There are a handful of others who might have claimed the title, as a result of marriage to native princes who took, were given or aspired to the title of "Prince of Wales". These include:
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