Your Majesty,
It is time to issue a new Letters Patent defining who is royal and who is not. Although the next two heirs are males, the succession of the firstborn child must be addressed.
The 1917 Letters Patent is outdated, as the titles are limited to the male line. A new Letters Patent must treat males and females equally.
Yes, the next two heirs are males, but why wait until the firstborn is a daughter? Do it now as a pre-emptive act.
This is what I think you should do:
Children of the Sovereign: HRH Prince or Princes
Grandchildren of Sovereign: with the exception of the children of the Heir apparent, all grandchildren should be styled as daughters and younger sons of a duke (Lady Christian name, Lord Christian name), unless the child of the sovereign has been given a dukedom. This would allow the eldest sons to have a courtesy title, also for life, such as an earldom.
The children of the eldest child of the Sovereign: HRH Prince or Princess
The children of the eldest child of the eldest child of the Sovereign: HRH Prince or Princess
The children of the younger children of the eldest child of the Sovereign: Styled as daughters and younger sons of a duke.
This would mean George's children would be royal. His eldest child's children would be royal, as would be the eldest child's eldest child's children.
Only children and the children of the eldest child of the Sovereign would receive non-hereditary dukedoms at the time of a marriage. The focus would be on those closest in the line of succession.
Charlotte and Louis would be given life dukedoms. Their eldest sons would have a lifetime earldom (which means their children would have courtesy titles for children of an earl), and younger children would have the style of daughters and younger sons of a duke.
This new Letters Patent should also be retroactive to 1999, when Prince Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones. It was decided by Queen Elizabeth II that Edward's children would be styled as the children of an Earl. Lady Louise and Lord Severn are now styled as children of a duke.
The new Letters Patent would also apply to all grandchildren of the Sovereign, with the exception of the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent. Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael of Kent, due to their age. All have served the Crown, especially the two Dukes and Princess Alexandra.
In the late 1990s, the Way Ahead recommended the York princesses be styled as daughters of a duke.
Princesses Beatrice, Eugenie, and Lilibet would become Lady Beatrice, Lady Eugenie, and Lady Lilibet Windsor, and Prince Archie would be styled as the Earl of Dumbarton, which is the secondary title of the Sussex dukedom.
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2022/09/will-beatrice-and-eugenie-be-alastair-ed.html
Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, there is a precedent for a royal downgrade. HH Prince Alistair of Connaught, a great-grandson of a Sovereign (Queen Victoria), lost his princely style in the 1917 Letters Patent. His new title was Earl of Macduff, the courtesy title of the dukedom of Fife. Alistair's mother, Princess Arthur of Connaught, was the Duchess of Fife in her own right.
The new Letters Patent will also not affect the Princess Royal's children, as she was born before the Succession law was changed. It would apply to Charlotte's children.
Parliament will have to change the Duchy of Cornwall to allow for the eldest child (a female) of the Sovereign to be styled as Duchess of Cornwall. The change would also need to include a clause allowing the new heir apparent to inherit the dukedom.
When George II's eldest son, Frederick, died in 1751, the king named Frederick's eldest son, George, as Prince of Wales. The future King George III could not inherit the Cornwall dukedom.
George III's eldest son, George, was Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales until he succeeded to the throne in 1820. There would not be another Duke of Cornwall until November 7, 1841, when Queen Victoria gave birth to her second child and first son, Prince Albert Edward.
King Edward III created the Duchy of Cornwall on March 17 for his eldest son, Edward. The Duchy was created by Royal Charter. Only the eldest son of the Sovereign can inherit the Duchy, which provides the heir apparent's income.
The Duchy was not affected by the Succession to the Crown Act (2013). However, the Sovereign Grant (2012). Prince George would not inherit the dukedom if his father died before King Charles III.
However, the Sovereign Grant (2012) includes a provision for an heir who is not the eldest son of the Sovereign:
"a grant is to be paid to heirs to the throne who are not Dukes of Cornwall to put them in a similar financial position as if they were Dukes of Cornwall; this means that in future, daughters of the Monarch, as well as younger sons, could benefit
if the heir is not the Duke of Cornwall and is over 18, the heir is to receive a grant based on Duchy revenues; the Monarch (who in these circumstances becomes the Duke) receives the Duchy revenues, and the Sovereign Grant is reduced by an equal amount (so in effect, the heir would receive the Duchy income)
if the Duke of Cornwall is a minor, 90% of the revenues of the Duchy go to the Monarch and the Sovereign Grant is reduced accordingly."
I also advocate for Princess Anne being the last Princess Royal. There is no special status for the eldest daughter, who is created Princess Royal. It is not a peerage. Legally, Anne remains a commoner while her younger brothers are not commoners, but peers of the realm.
Although Andrew's peerages were removed from the Roll of Peers, he is still the Duke of York. It would take an Act of Parliament to officially remove the titles.
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2025/11/technicality-andrew-is-still-duke-of.html
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/peerages-can-they-be-removed/
The titles, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, are bestowed by the Sovereign through a Letters Patent. A female heiress apparent should be the Princess of Wales. Her husband will not be the Prince of Wales. It would make sense to create a lifetime dukedom for the house of the heiress apparent and a Queen Regnant.
Prince Louis follows Princess Charlotte in the line of succession. If Louis gets a dukedom on his wedding, so should Charlotte. At first, I was not in favor of Edward's life dukedom. It does make sense, however. Two of the historic royal dukedoms, Gloucester and Kent, will cease to be royal in the next generation. Edinburgh will revert to the Crown when Edward dies, which allows for a new creation in the next generation. York will also revert to the Crown upon Andrew's death, but... I would wait at least two generations before offering the peerage to a Sovereign's child.
Limiting titles to the main line will allow the children and grandchildren of the younger children of the Sovereign to have their own careers and lives, away from the royal bubble.
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-was-george-v-thinking.html
I hope we are on the same page, Your Majesty. I am a constitutional monarchist and believe that a constitutional monarchy is far superior to the horrific spectacle currently on display in the US.
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