Royal Family: Prince Louis almost had a different title but the Queen stepped in to change it

Published date13 August 2022
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
While Prince George and Princess Charlotte will eventually take on some of the most important senior royal titles, their younger brother Prince Louis is expected to carry a title that has significant ties to royal history -and particular sentimental connection for Her Majesty The Queen

While Prince Louis will experience a number of alterations to his title throughout his life, one of the most important ones happened before he was born thanks to his great-grandmother's determination to rewrite the royal rule book.

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Prince Louis was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington on April 23, 2018 and was named after his grandfather in more ways than one. His first name is a direct link to Prince Charles's mentor, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who also inspired Prince William and Prince George's names.

His first middle name Arthur which is a name shared by both Prince Charles Charles Philip Arthur George and Prince William William Arthur Philip Louis. Prince Louis's second middle name is 'Charles' which clearly a tribute to his grandfather. While his official title is His Royal Highness Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge, he was almost known by a different style entirely.

However, his great-grandmother, The Queen, stepped in to stop this change before he was born. In the UK, there are several specific rules that explain which members of the Royal Family are entitled to hold a prince or princess title. Many of these rules date from Letters Patent by King George V in 1917, where he wrote that all the children of the sovereign, the male-line grandchildren and the Prince of Wales’s eldest son were all allowed to hold a princely title.

However, there was no mention of how great-grandchildren of the monarch would be titled, meaning a problem arose when Prince George was born in 2013. As the future king, George would have not been a prince if The Queen had not chosen to intervene. He would instead have been titled as Master George Cambridge or Master George Windsor.

The Queen stepped in and said that George would get a title, and decided to extend the change to all of Prince William and Kate's children. This means that even though Princess Charlotte and Prince...

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