Marchioness is derived from Latin rather than French, probably because the French-derived title marquisess sounded too much like marquess. The feminine form of the title in French, marquise, is pronounced \mahr-keez\, but the feminine form in English is marchioness, pronounced \MAHR-shuh-nus\. Marquess is an anglicization of the French marquis, pronounced \mahr-kee\ with a silent s, but marquess is pronounced in the English manner as \MAHR-kwus\. It wasn't until Edward III made his son the Duke of Cornwall and established a Duchy of Cornwall in 1337, however, that the title of duke became part of the British peerage.Ī marquess is “a member of the British peerage ranking below a duke and above an earl.” It’s less well-known as a title than duke or earl, probably because there are fewer marquessates than dukedoms or earldoms in Britain. William the Conqueror himself was the Duke of Normandy, and he brought the title over the Channel. The five noble ranks, in descending order, are: Even the motto on the British royal coat of arms is in French: Dieu et mon droit (“God and my right”), as is the motto of the famous knightly Order of the Garter: Honi soit qui mal y pense.Īfter royalty comes nobility, and these titles also derive from their French antecedents. These peculiar titles with adjectives that follow the nouns are reminders of the somewhat surprising fact that most of the words that we associate with this most British of institutions derive from French, since they were adopted following the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. Kate Middleton would become queen consort when William becomes king. He was also known as the prince consort, meaning the husband of a reigning queen or queen regnant.
The official title of Prince Philip, husband of the late Queen Elizabeth, was the Duke of Edinburgh. Even though many people refer to “Princess Diana” or “Princess Kate,” the title of princess should properly come after their names, since they were not born into the royal family they are officially referred to as “Diana, Princess of Wales” and, for Kate, “Princess William of Wales” (it’s impossible to deny the inherent sexism in a system designed around primogeniture, after all). Prince comes from the Latin word that literally means “one who takes the first part,” therefore is the “first person” or “leader” it shares its ultimate Latin root with words that denote firstness in one way or another, like principal and prime and primary.īy tradition, only those born into the royal family can use “prince” or “princess” before their name and, other than the Prince of Wales-presumably to show his primacy-they are officially known by other titles: Prince William was also known as the Duke of Cambridge, for example.
His immediate family can all be called princes or princesses.
The royal titles are straightforward: England’s reigning monarch, the eldest child of the preceding monarch, is King Charles III, son of Queen Elizabeth and grandson of King George VI. If you haven't already, take this moment to put on your big, fancy hat.
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