Question:

In the age of Old English nobility, were princesses given titles like princes were?

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For example, the Prince of Wales was usually given the title of Duke of Cornwall in addition to his royal station, and I think he would also receive several earldoms. I was just wondering if a princess would have been given additionary titles like that, or if she simply remains the "Princess of Country."

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  1. What do you consider "the age of Old English nobility"?

    The Duke of Cornwall is the English title for the eldest surviving son of the English Sovereign.  That title usually, but does not always, belong to the heir apparent to the throne.  

    The Prince of Wales is the title given to the male heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom (i.e., the union of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland).  It is not an English title, and the Princess of Wales is the wife of the Prince of Wales, not the female heir presumptive to the throne.

    If you mean when the language of Old English was spoken, i.e., around the 5th to 12th centuries, then even "Princess" was not used.  Instead, if the princesses were referred to by title at all, it would have simply been "Lady."

    If you mean the Kingdom of England, that ended in 1707, with the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain (i.e., the union of England and Scotland), most of the princesses of the blood royal were again referred to as Ladies, and rarely had additional titles.  For example, before Elizabeth I became the Queen of England, she was The Lady Elizabeth instead of Princess Elizabeth.  The same held true for her older sister before she became the Queen.  She was The Lady Mary, not Princess Mary.  It was only near the end of the Kingdom of England, that the daughters of the Sovereign used the title of Princess.  

    The title of "Princess Royal" was not conferred upon a daughter of an English Sovereign until near the end of the Kingdom of England, and that came about only because the Queen of England (wife of the ruling king and not a ruling queen) was the daughter of a French Sovereign and wanted her eldest daughter (English princess) to have a similarly impressive title as the eldest daughter of the French Sovereign.  So, a new title was created.  Even so, that title was not granted to all eldest daughters of the English (and later, British) Monarchs.  Queen Elizabeth II was showing special favor to Princess Anne when she gave the latter the title.


  2. yes they were known as royal s***s

  3. it depended on the king and his royal minions.

  4. Or she can become Princess Royal like Princess Anne has been made, that all i know.

  5. They practiced exclusive primogeniture in Old England.  In traditional English nobility, titles are lands and women never control lands on their own without a man - never.  A duchess, for example, would be either the wife or widow of a duke; were she a widow, the actual duke (ruler of her duchy) would be either her eldest surviving son or the next male relative in line.  The idea of princesses being given titles (like the Duchess of Kent, York, etc.), essentially meaningless today in these cases because they are without the attached lands, is very recent.

  6. Women usually got their "titles" from their husbands, unless like Elizabeth II, she's the queen herself, in which case there are several titles that go along with the crown not the person.  Knighthood conferred on a woman gives the title "Dame".

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