Why is the British royal family all called prince or princess of wales?

Question

So are they Welsh or German desent?

Answer 1

The title Prince of Wales has existed for 723 years since King Edward I (nicknamed "longshanks" because of his height) conquered Wales in 1282. To placate the Welsh he declared that the next prince of Wales would not speak English.

At Caernarfon in 1284 he proclaimed his only living new-born son, Prince of Wales, pointing out that he did indeed speak no English. The title has remained and is given to the eldest son of the ruling monarch.

If and when Charles, the current Prince, becomes King the title should pass to his son William.

A Princess of Wales can only exist if there is a marriage to the current Prince. Although for understandable reasons Charles second wife, Camilla, has preferred to take the female equivalent of his secondary title, Duchess of Cornwall.

As regards the Royals being Welsh or German, really they are descendents of both. However they are closer to the German side since their name is not Windsor but Saxe-Coburg-Goethe (George V changed it during WWI). Technically there hasn't been a "true" English monarch since 1485.

Answer 2

Only Prince Charles and his sons are Princes of Wales.  It was a title that the Queen bestowed on her son.

I believe the family is of English, German,  Scottish and Greek  decent.

Answer 3

Only one member of the Royal family is Prince of Wales. His sons are also known as Wales because they have no titles of therir own as yet.

Once Charles becomes King, his eldest son William will automatically become Duke of Cornwall and may be created Prince of Wales. Prince Harry's surname will become Mountbatten-Windsor unless he's already married and been created a Duke (traditionally sons of sovereigns, or son's of heir to the throne are given a title, normally a dukedom, upon their marriage) if he is a Duke then his surname will be wherever he is Duke of.

Prince Charles has two younger Brothers who are Duke of York  (Andrew) and Earl of Wessex (Edward) in order of age. His sister is the Princess Royal.

Their is no Welsh in the Royal family (although Charles can speak it) and very little German, the last German in the Royal family was Prince Albert, the Queen's and Prince Philip's great-great-grandfather.

The Queen's mother was Scottish.

The Queen's grandmother was technically a German Princess but was born and brought up in London as she was a member of the British Royal family.

Queen Alexandra, the Great Grandmother of the Queen was Danish.

Answer 4

The story about Edward I (see an answer above) is undoubtedly yet another royal PR work of fiction.

More relevant to today is the proposal that, following his marriage to Camilla, Charles's title be amended to 'Prince of Whales'.

Answer 5

They're not - only Charles is called Prince of Wales.

Wales as a whole has been under the English crown since 1284, when Edward I finally consolidated his power over the region.  At that time, all Welsh titles became subsidiary to English ones.

It has long been a tradition in the British aristocracy for the heir to a title (such as King of England) to be given the next highest title that runs in the family - that is, if a person has inherited two titles of varying ranks (such as King and Prince, in this example), he will use the higher one and his immediate heir will be granted the right to use the lower one.  Thus, the heir to the British throne is given the courtesy title Prince of Wales.

Answer 6

They're not.  Only Diana was, and its because she was from Wales.  Harry and William are considered Princes of England, and after Charles, William will be crowed King of England.

Answer 7

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (and formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England). The current Prince of Wales is Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Prince of Wales currently has no formal role or responsibility that has been legislated by parliament or otherwise delegated by the Monarchy. Prince Charles, as the 21st holder of the title has created the following three roles for himself

Undertaking royal duties in support of The Queen

Working as a charitable entrepreneur

Promoting and protecting nationalisation, virtues and excellence

For most of the post-Roman period, Wales was divided into several smaller states. Prior to the Norman conquest of England, the most powerful Welsh ruler at any given time was generally known as King of the Britons.

The Principality of Wales, nowadays, is always conferred along with the Earldom of Chester. The convention began in 1399; all previous Princes of Wales also received the earldom, but separately from the Principality. Indeed, before 1272 a hereditary and not necessarily royal Earldom of Chester had already been created several times, eventually merging in the crown each time. The earldom was recreated, merging in the Crown in 1307 and again in 1327. Its creations since have been associated with the creations of the Principality of Wales.

It should be noted that the title Prince of Wales was given only to the heir apparent—that is, a male who cannot be displaced in the succession to the throne by any future birth. This would be the oldest son of a monarch, or, if he is deceased, his oldest son, and so on, or if the monarch's son has died without issue, the monarch's second oldest son, etc. Daughters and siblings of the sovereign may be displaced in the succession by younger male relatives and are not "heirs apparent" but "heiresses presumptive."

Answer 8

The title of 'Prince/Princess of Wales' is given to a specific royal by the Monarch, much like 'Duke/Duchess of Cornwall' or 'Duke/Duchess of Kent', it is not held by every royal and is awarded on a personal basis.

Answer 9

They are Welsh, and Princess Charlotte of Church is to be the next Queen.