Princess of Wales
Tywysoges Cymru
Incumbent
Catherine
since 9 September 2022
StyleHer Royal Highness
Member ofBritish royal family
First holder

Princess of Wales (Welsh: Tywysoges Cymru) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the prince of Wales. The princess is a likely future queen consort, as the prince of Wales is a title reserved for the heir apparent to the British throne (and earlier in history the English throne). When the title was first recorded it was not connected to the English throne, it developed in an independent Wales when it was held by Eleanor de Montfort, the wife of the native prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).

Female heirs to the throne (apparent or presumptive, i.e., a future queen regnant) have not formally held the title.[1] In the 20th century, King George VI in examining the issue, decided that it is a title only held by a wife of the prince.

Background

Prior to 'Princess' (Welsh: Tywysoges) the title of 'Queen' (Welsh: Brenhines) was used by some spouses of the rulers of Wales. Examples are Angharad ferch Owain, wife of Gruffudd ap Cynan, and Cristin verch Goronwy, wife of Gruffudd's son, Owain Gwynedd (specifically, she was known as 'Queen Dowager').[2]

The title in independent Wales

Joan (Siwan)

Joan, also known as Siwan (her Welsh name), was the illegitimate daughter of King John of England. She was the wife of Llywelyn the Great (initially king of Gwynedd), effective ruler of all of Wales.[3] During her tenure, she used the titles 'Lady of Wales' and 'Lady of Snowdon'.

Eleanor de Montfort and Gwenllian

Memorial to Gwenllian in Sempringham, England, where she was imprisoned since childhood[4]

Following her wedding ceremony in 1278, Eleanor de Montfort was officially known as princess of Wales.[5][6][7][8] On 19 June 1282, she died giving birth to her first child, Gwenllian.[9]

The infant was captured by English forces the following year, after her father, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, was killed in December 1282. At Edward I's orders, she was kept in the remote Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire, where she remained until her death in 1337.

Gwenllian's status was acknowledged at least once by the English Crown. When writing to the pope, attempting to secure more money for Sempringham Priory, the king stated that "...herein is kept the Princess of Wales, whom we have to maintain". The title 'Princess of Wales' as used here did not have its usual accepted meaning.[10][4]

Margaret Hanmer and Catrin, daughter of Glyndŵr

Margaret Hanmer, sometimes known as Marred ferch Dafydd (her Welsh name), was the wife of Owain Glyndŵr.[11][12] Some modern historians have accorded her the title 'Princess of Wales'.[13]

Catrin was one of the children of Owain Glyndŵr and Margaret Hanmer. In November 1402, she married Sir Edmund Mortimer, the second son of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and through his mother, a great-grandson of Edward III of England.[14]

Edmund Mortimer died during the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409, of unknown causes.[15] Catrin was subsequently captured alongside her three daughters, and they were taken to the Tower of London, along with Catrin's mother and one of her sisters. The deaths and burials of Catrin and her daughters are recorded, but the causes of their deaths remain unknown. They were laid to rest at St Swithin's Church in London.[16]

List

Image Name Birth Spouse Death Notes
Joan, Lady of Wales 1191 Llywelyn the Great 2 February 1237 Known as Siwan in Welsh;
Lady of Wales and Snowdon;[17]
Proposed to have been Princess of Wales[18]
Isabella de Braose 1222 Dafydd ap Llywelyn 1248 Proposed to have been Princess of Wales[19]
Eleanor de Montfort 1252 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd 19 June 1282 Princess of Wales;
Lady of Snowdon[20][21][22]
Elizabeth Ferrers 1250 Dafydd ap Gruffydd 1300 Proposed to have been Princess of Wales
Gwenllian of Wales June 1282 7 June 1337 Princess of Wales;[10]
daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
Margaret Hanmer 1370 Owain Glyndŵr 1420 Later attributed[23]
Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr Edmund Mortimer 1413 Proposed to have been Princess of Wales;
daughter of Owain Glyndŵr[24]

Spouse of the British (formerly English) heir apparent

Cecily Neville, wife of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, is omitted from this list. While her husband was briefly given various titles, including prince of Wales, by an Act of Parliament as part of his arrangement to succeed Henry VI, he is not generally recognised as such and is not mentioned in any published summary of the topic.

Although not granted the title in her own right, the future Mary I was, during her youth, invested by her father, Henry VIII, with many of the rights and properties traditionally given to the prince of Wales, including the use of the official seal of Wales for correspondence. For most of her childhood, Mary was her father's only legitimate child, and for this reason, she was often referred to as the princess of Wales, although Henry never formally created her as such. For example, contemporary scholar Juan Luis Vives dedicated his Satellitium Animi to "Dominæ Mariæ Cambriæ Principi, Henrici Octavi Angliæ Regis Filiæ" ("To the Lady Mary, Prince of Wales, Daughter of Henry VIII, King of England").[25]

Welsh politicians suggested that George VI's elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth II), be granted the title on her 18th birthday, but he rejected the idea because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a prince of Wales and the prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent.[1]

Camilla, Charles III's second wife, was the princess of Wales from 2005 to 2022, but did not use the title due to its popular association with her husband's first wife, Diana.[26]

On 9 September 2022, a day after his accession to the throne, Charles III bestowed the title of 'Prince of Wales' upon his elder son, Prince William, hence making his wife, Catherine, the new princess of Wales.[27]

List

Image Previous name Birth Marriage Became Princess of Wales Spouse Change in style Death Notes
Joan of Kent 19 September 1328 10 October 1361 Edward of Woodstock 7 June 1376
Husband's death;
became Dowager Princess of Wales		 7 August 1385  
Anne Neville 11 June 1456 13 December 1470 Edward of Westminster 4 May 1471
Husband's death;
became Dowager Princess of Wales		 16 March 1485 Later became queen consort as the wife of Richard III
Catherine of Aragon 16 December 1485 19 May 1499 (by proxy)
14 November 1501		 Arthur Tudor 2 April 1502
Husband's death;
became Dowager Princess of Wales		 7 January 1536 Later became queen consort as the wife of Henry VIII
Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach 1 March 1683 22 August 1705 27 September 1714 George Augustus 11 June 1727
Husband acceded to throne as George II;
became queen consort		 20 November 1737  
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 30 November 1719 17 April 1736 Frederick Louis 31 March 1751
Husband's death;
became Dowager Princess of Wales		 8 February 1772  
Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 17 May 1768 8 April 1795 George Augustus Frederick 29 January 1820
Husband acceded to throne as George IV;
became queen consort		 7 August 1821  
Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark 1 December 1844 10 March 1863 Albert Edward 22 January 1901
Husband acceded to throne as Edward VII;
became queen consort		 20 November 1925  
Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck 26 May 1867 6 July 1893 9 November 1901 George Frederick Ernest Albert 6 May 1910
Husband acceded to throne as George V;
became queen consort		 24 March 1953  
Diana Frances Spencer 1 July 1961 29 July 1981 Charles Philip Arthur George 28 August 1996
Divorced;
assumed the style of Diana, Princess of Wales		 31 August 1997  
Camilla Rosemary Shand[28] 17 July 1947 9 April 2005 8 September 2022
Husband acceded to throne as Charles III;
became queen consort		 living Known as Duchess of Cornwall during her tenure
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton[29] 9 January 1982 29 April 2011 9 September 2022 William Arthur Philip Louis Incumbent living  

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Pimlott, Ben (2001). The Queen: Elizabeth II and the monarchy (Golden Jubilee ed.). London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-711435-4. OCLC 59496079.
  2. ↑ Messer, Danna R. (30 September 2020). Joan, Lady of Wales: Power and Politics of King John's Daughter. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-2932-3. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Kate Norgate and A. D. Carr: "Joan [Siwan", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: OUP, 2004), Retrieved 2 February 2019.]
  4. 1 2 "Gwenllian The Lost Princess of Wales". Historic UK. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  5. ↑ Bliss, W. H., editor. Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 1, 1198-1304. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1893.
  6. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1272–81, 306; CPR, 1281–92, 11
  7. ↑ Calendar of Ancient Correspondence, 75-76
  8. ↑ Foedera I, ii, 576, 584, 587
  9. ↑ The chronicle of Bury St Edmunds, p.74-76
  10. 1 2 Fisher, Deborah (2005). Princesses of Wales. University of Wales Press. pp. viii–ix. ISBN 9780708319369.
  11. ↑ The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog. 1. London: T. Richards. pp. 199, 211–219. The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog. 1. London: T. Richards. pp. 199, 211–219.
  12. ↑ "Owain Glyndwr - The Parish of Hanmer and Tallarn Green". parish.churchinwales.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  13. ↑ Deborah Fisher, Princesses of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2005)
  14. ↑ Gwynfor Evans (1974). Land of my fathers: 2000 years of Welsh history. John Penry Press. ISBN 9780903701037. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  15. ↑ The Last Mab Darogan, Charles Parry (Novasys, 2010) pp. 273–4.
  16. ↑ Issues of the Exchequer, Hen. III – Hen. VI, ed. F Devon (Record Commission, 1837), p. 327
  17. ↑ Messer, Danna R. (30 September 2020). Joan, Lady of Wales: Power and Politics of King John's Daughter. Pen and Sword History. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-5267-2932-3.
  18. ↑ Sims-Williams, Patrick (25 November 2010). Irish Influence on Medieval Welsh Literature. OUP Oxford. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-19-159159-4. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  19. ↑ Fisher, Deborah C. (2005). Princesses of Wales. University of Wales Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7083-1936-9. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  20. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1272–81, 306; CPR, 1281–92, 11
  21. ↑ Calendar of Ancient Correspondence, 75-76
  22. ↑ Foedera I, ii, 576, 584, 587
  23. ↑ Deborah Fisher, Princesses of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2005)
  24. ↑ Issues of the Exchequer, Hen. III – Hen. VI, ed. F Devon (Record Commission, 1837), p. 327
  25. ↑ Vives, Juan Luis (1883). Satellitium animi (in Latin). Apud A. Pichleri viduam et filium. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  26. ↑ "House of Commons – Royal Marriage". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  27. ↑ RegalFille (9 September 2022). "The New Prince and Princess of Wales". RegalFille. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  28. ↑ Chris Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (4 April 2005). "Royal Marriage". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 1228W. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ↑ "King Charles III pays tribute to his 'darling mama' in first address". BBC.com. 9 September 2022. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.

Bibliography

  • Princesses of Wales by Deborah Fisher. University of Wales Press, 2005.
  • 'Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn' Y Traethodydd 1998 ISSN 0969-8930

Further reading

  • Fryer, M.; Mary Beacock Fryer; Arthur Bousfield; Garry Toffoli (1983). Lives of the Princesses of Wales. Toronto: Dundern Press Limited. ISBN 978-0-919670-69-3.
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