Why Isn't Catherine Middleton a Princess?
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Why, upon marriage, were Camilla Parker Bowles and Catherine Middleton styled the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge, rather than “Princess Camilla” or “Princess Catherine”? GENTLE READER: You would have to ask the British queen, who bestowed those titles. The general belief is that the public would have resented a new Princess of Wales after the death of the previous one. And perhaps it would not have been politic to give the latest member of the family a higher title than that lady’s stepmother-in-law. But under no circumstances would they have been “Princess Camilla” or “Princess Catherine.” And although the late Princess of Wales was widely referred to as “Princess Diana,” that was incorrect; correctly, she was Diana, Princess of Wales. This is because the British system makes a distinction between birth and marriage as a way of acquiring titles. With the exception of a queen consort, the title precedes the given name only when inherited. T...
