Back in October of 2011, before we knew that Kate Middleton the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with her first child with husband Prince William of Wales, we learned that the push was on to formally amend the UK rules of royal succession so that if the royal couple gave birth to a baby girl first, she would be next in line for the throne. According to the old rules of succession, only a boy child would be in line for the throne. Today we learn that Queen Elizabeth has weighed in on the matter and has royally decreed that Kate‘s daughter, should she have one, will have the title of Princess, a title more befitting a female child that will likely become Queen one day.
The Queen has spoken! Wanting to ensure that if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a daughter that she will have a proper title, Her Majesty has issued a formal decree that the royal arrival would be known as a princess.Up until now, following a century-old decree by George V, only the eldest son of the Prince of Wales’s eldest son could have the title prince. That would have meant that any daughter that William and Kate might have would have been called “lady.” The declaration was signaled in the London Gazette Wednesday, although the Queen made the decision on New Year’s Eve. And the decree covers all future children of the couple. It says, “The Queen has been pleased by Letters Patentunder the Great Seal of the Realm dated 31 December 2012 to declare that all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of royal highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour.” The move is in line with the proposed changes in legislation to remove gender discrimination in the line of succession. The U.K. government and those across the Commonwealth have started the process of updating the laws so that a first-born girl could succeed to the throne regardless of whether or not she is followed by a boy.
The UK rules of royal succession haven’t yet been changed completely to allow for Kate‘s possible daughter to be first in line for the throne (after her father Prince William) but it seems pretty evident that that’s the way things will work out. This decree by Queen Elizabeth that the couple’s possible daughter be born with the title of Princess is just another move toward removing gender bias in the rules of succession. I don’t know about y’all but this decree sounds to me like the British Royal Family is letting us know that Kate is having a girl. I mean, it’s not official yet but … doesn’t it feel like that’s what they’re telling us?
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