By Nathan 'Jolly' Green, April 7, 2020

How
can someone born into the Royal family, whose father is the Queen’s
son, cease to be Royal? The person in question is the grandson of the
Queen. Can he cease to be Royal?

Prince
Henry the Duke of Sussex

Prince
Henry, Charles, Albert, David, KCVO ADC the Duke of Sussex, better
known as Prince Harry. Or simply Harry as he sometimes now titles
himself is sixth in line to the British throne, and remains so
despite his departure from Britain. Driven out by the nastiness, and
made up false news stories of the British Press.

Harry
is most certainly one the most beloved members of the British Royal
family. He was born a member of the Royal family, so how can he
possibly be precluded of now being a Royal Majesty? He has not
murdered anyone, nor committed an act of treason.

The
proclamation that he cannot use the title or description “Royal”
is not an act of spite; it is a requirement. Or is it?

There
is such a lot of history attached to the British Royal Family that
for this informative letter I have started from the formation of the
House of Windsor and the abandoning of the German titles of their
ancestors.

Some
of our Royal sovereigns German relations from her husband’s side
family were the Battenberg’s, later changing their names in Britain
to Mountbatten, a more English sounding name. Queen Elizabeth II and
Prince Philip BOTH descend from Queen Victoria. They are related -
although the same could be said of most royal families across the
world. Queen Victoria's children married into royal families across
Europe, so there are lots of connections when you trace the royal
family tree.

Whereas
The Queen descended from Queen Victoria through her father's line,
Prince Philip is descended from Queen Victoria from his mother's.
Prince Philip and the
Queen are third cousins.

The
Mountbatten family is a British dynasty originating as a cadet branch
of the German princely Battenberg family. The Mountbatten name was
adopted during World War I by family members residing in the United
Kingdom due to rising anti-German sentiment amongst the British
public. The name is a direct English translation of the German
Battenberg (literally Batten Mountain), a small town in Hesse. The
title of count of Battenberg, later prince of Battenberg, was granted
to a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darm…

His
Serene Highness Prince Louis of Battenberg 1854 to 1921 married a
granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by
Rhine, and was the father of Queen Louise of Sweden and Louis
Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who also served as a
British First Sea Lord from 1954 to 1959. He is the maternal
grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen
Elizabeth II.

Earl
Mountbatten of Burma from the time of his birth at Frogmore House in
the Home Park, Windsor, Berkshire until 1917, when he and several
other relations of King George V dropped their German styles and
titles. He was the youngest child and the second son of Prince Louis
of Battenberg and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.
His maternal grandparents were Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, who was a daughter of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Strangely enough
the very same house, Frogmore House, which was given by the Queen
last year to Prince Harry.

Earl
Mountbatten Lord Mountbatten was born on June 25, 1900. His full name
was Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, though he was
known as Prince Louis of Battenberg for much of his early life, his
nick name to the Royal family was “Dickie”. Since Lord
Mountbatten was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, he was Queen
Elizabeth’s second cousin once removed, and also a cousin to Prince
Philip.

Most
English people will remember Earl Louis Mountbatten, as Prince
Charles favourite uncle, he was blown up by the IRA in Ireland while
fishing from a small boat in 1979.

Britain
was fighting Germany in the 1914-18 First World War, and the British
Crown wanted to be seen as distanced from their German cousins and
relatives. They could not afford to be seen by the British people as
Germans themselves. Hence King George issued the 1917 proclamation.

King
George V

In
1917, George V issued a royal proclamation, altering the name of the
Royal House from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of
Windsor and the discontinuance of the usage of the German titles of
Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the like.

Later
that year, by letters patent from George V, altered the rights to the
title prince and the style Royal Highness. These letters patent,
dated 30 November 1917, stated that "the children of any
Sovereign of these Realms and the children of the sons of any such
Sovereign (as per Letters Patent of 1864) and the eldest living son
of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (a modification of the 1864
Letters Patent of 1898) shall have and at all times hold and enjoy
the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular
dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian
names or with their other titles of honour". It was also decreed
in these letters that "grandchildren of the sons of any such
Sovereign in the direct male line ... shall have and enjoy in all
occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of
these Our Realms" (i.e., Lord or Lady before their Christian
name). In addition the letters stated save as aforesaid the
style title or attribute of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene
Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess shall not
henceforth be assumed or borne by any descendant of any Sovereign of
these Realms.
Both the proclamation and the letters patent of 1917 remain in force
today, excepting a few amendments and creations noted.

In
Germany, the German part of the family, and there were many, was
horrified by the action of King George V. The former reigning Duke of
Brunswick, head of the House of Hanover, refused to recognise the
letters patent depriving his children of the British and Irish
princely titles, and in 1931, he issued a decree, in the capacity of
the head of the House of Hanover and senior male-line descendant of
George III of the United Kingdom, stating that the members of the
former Hanoverian royal family would continue to bear the title of
Prince (or Princess) of Great Britain and Ireland with the style of
Royal Highness. This title and style remains in use to this day by
his descendants, including the current head of the House of Hanover,
Ernst August, Prince of Hanover. The decree by the head of the House
of Hanover is not legally recognised in the United Kingdom or
Ireland, and the titles are declared as used as titles of pretence.
Since, however, the Hanovers are born in the male-line of George II
of Great Britain they were bound by the British Royal Marriages Act
1772 until repealed in 2015. Thus, before his marriage to Princess
Caroline of Monaco, Ernst August requested, and Elizabeth II issued
on 11 January 1999, an Order in Council: "My Lords, I do hereby
declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between His Royal
Highness Prince Ernst August Albert of Hanover, Duke of
Brunswick-Luneburg and Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Louise
Marguerite of Monaco..." Without the Royal Assent, the marriage
would have been void in the United Kingdom.

King
George VI

After
the abdication crisis of 1936, George VI issued letters patent (dated
27 May 1937) regranting his elder brother his style as son of a
Sovereign, whilst expressly denying the style of Royal Highness to
his wife and descendants. The marriage, however, had no issue [no
children].

On
22 October 1948, George VI issued letters patent allowing the
children of his daughter Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh,
and son-in-law Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to assume princely titles
and the style Royal Highness; [Ref:
Velde, 1948 Letters Patent]
they would not have been entitled to them ordinarily, as
grandchildren in the female line, until their mother ascended the
throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Thus the current Prince of Wales was
styled HRH Prince Charles of Edinburgh until his mother's accession.
Otherwise the children would have been styled Earl of Merioneth and
Lady Anne Mountbatten, respectively.

Prince
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Queen
Elizabeth II issued letters patent, dated 22 February 1957, creating
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a Prince of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[ref:
The London Gazette. 22 February 1957. p. 1209]

Prince
Philip had been born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, titles he
renounced upon going through the naturalisation process, unaware that
he was already a British subject by virtue of the British ‘Sophia
Naturalization Act’ 1705 [4 & 5 Ann. c. 16].

Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had four children

Prince
Charles - the eldest son

Princess
Anne aka 'The Princess Royal' - the second child

Prince
Andrew, Duke of York – the third child

Prince
Edward, Earl of Wessex - the fourth child

In
1981, The Queens eldest son and heir, Prince Charles of Wales married
The Honourable Diana Spencer, aka Princess Diana, and had two sons;
Prince William and Prince Henry, who everyone knows as Prince Harry.

On
June 19, 1999, the wedding day of The Prince Edward and Sophie
Rhys-Jones, it was announced by Buckingham Palace that The Queen, in
agreement with their wishes, had declared that their children would
be styled as children of an Earl and not as Princes of the United
Kingdom with the style Royal Highness.

On
31 December 2012, Queen Elizabeth II declared that all the children
of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, at that time Prince
William, Duke of Cambridge, would have the title Prince or Princess
and the style Royal Highness. [ref:
The London Gazette. 8 January 2013. p. 213]

Accordingly,
the Prince Williams eldest son, born on 22 July 2013, is styled His
Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. His daughter, born on 2
May 2015, is styled Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of
Cambridge. His second son, born on 23 April 2018, is styled His Royal
Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.

Here
is how it actually, simply works today:

Prince
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a
royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and
past British monarchs. It is also held by the Duke of Edinburgh,
husband of Queen Elizabeth II and granted by Her Majesty. The title
is granted by the reigning monarch, who is the fount of all honours,
through the issuing of letters patent as an expression of the royal
will.

Individuals
holding the title of prince are usually granted the style of Royal
Highness. When a British prince is married, his wife, if not already
a princess in her own right, gains the title in her husband's
princely title. For example, the wife of Prince Michael of Kent is
known by the title of Princess Michael of Kent.

Queen
Elizabeth II

When
Harry stepped away from the Royal family in 2020, the Queen was
advised by her numerous advisers to remove Royal Highness from Prince
Harry’s title style. What an absolute shame, not for Harry but for
The Queen.

Its
doubtful Her Majesty took such action of her own accord, he is after
all her grandson, and she loves him. She would give him the world,
but has to respect State advisers, etiquette, tradition, precedence,
and rules of Monarchy and State, and most of all Public Opinion.

But
if Her Royal Majesty wished she could change all of that because Her
Majesty holds what is known as the Royal Prerogative.

ROYAL
PREROGATIVE

The
royal prerogative consists of a number of powers or privileges in the
past performed by the Monarch but now performed by Ministers on her
behalf.

The
Ministers authority is derived from the Crown, not Parliament.
Examples of these powers include the rights to; declare war, make
treaties, give orders to the armed forces, dissolve parliament,
appoint ministers and
dispense honours and titles.

Her
Majesty could if she wished instruct her Ministers to make a
proclamation, or issue letters patent, declaring that Harry and his
wife will be addressed as their Royal Highness’s. Both Her Majesty
and her predecessors’ have granted similar, and even the same
things in the past.

Wouldn’t
it be nice if there was a rethink on the whole matter, just a little
give in that concrete façade is required?

Damage
has not been done to the British Royal family by Harry leaving, but
it has been damaged by taking away Harry and Megan’s use of Royal
Highness, making him and his wife second grade family members. What
a shame Ma’am, what a shame, perhaps you have played directly into
the hands of the antimonarchist’s.