As the son of a future King, Prince Louis is destined to receive a more senior title one day, but it apparently won’t be the one that we all thought. There are certain titles that are traditionally bestowed on particular people in the line of succession.
The direct heir to the throne is made Prince of Wales and the monarch’s eldest daughter often becomes Princess Royal. The second son is usually made Duke of York and yet eight-year-old Louis might be denied this.
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“From what I’ve been told I think that title will be on ice for at least one or two generations,” she declared in the episode released on 16th April.
Prince Louis’s great-uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was created Duke of York in 1986 by Queen Elizabeth and he’s who most people associate with the title. Andrew’s now been formally stripped of this Dukedom and his princely title “notwithstanding” that he vehemently denies all allegations of wrongdoing against him.
However, his association with the late Jeffrey Epstein and his arrest in February on suspicion of misconduct in a public office mean that Andrew is still firmly the focus of negative headlines. It perhaps makes sense that Prince William wouldn’t want to bestow his disgraced uncle’s former title on his younger son.
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When asked if the Royal Family have other titles they can bestow upon Louis instead when the time comes, Emily confirmed, “There are other Dukedoms that are vacant”. One of these, as Reverend Coles noted, is the Dukedom of Clarence.
The Dukedom of Windsor also hasn’t been granted to anyone else since 1972 when Queen Elizabeth’s uncle died. He was formerly King Edward VIII before he abdicated and married American divorcee Wallis Simpson. This was a huge scandal at the time and severely affected his relationship with the Royal Family.
With this in mind, perhaps this title also has a little too much “baggage” in recent memory to be given to Prince Louis. Getting a different title might feel like a fresh start and the eight-year-old isn’t the only one who might be moving away from tradition.
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Emily Andrews discussed how there’s been talk of Princess Charlotte becoming Duchess of Edinburgh in her own right one day. She claims “James, Edward and Sophie’s son is not going to become Duke of Edinburgh” and Edward only retains the Dukedom for his lifetime.
Princess Charlotte cannot be made Princess Royal, as is customary for a monarch’s eldest daughter, whilst Princess Anne is alive. She has the honour for life and only then will it revert to the crown.
Having new titles only associated with them might be a nice change for Louis and Charlotte and it’s likely they won’t receive any for many decades in any case, as William was only created Duke of Cambridge when he got married.