Define 'Minor' Royals - Please!

Who exactly are the 'minor' royals? I'd never imagined that the son of a reigning monarch would consider himself - or allow himself to be considered - a minor royal as seems to be the case with Edward Wessex and his wife, Sophie. If we defined 'minor royal' as a person who is more than tenth in line for the throne, 1) Prince Charles, heir apparent, 2) Prince William 3) Prince Henry (Harry) 4) Prince Andrew 5) Princess Beatrice 6) Princess Eugenie 7) Prince Edward 8) Princess Anne 9) Peter Phillips and 10) Zara Phillips, that would still keep Edward in the major royal league. Clearly, the current monarchs four children and their children all make it into the top ten list.

Perhaps we can gauge the status of 'minor' royal from the musings of the father of the House of Windsor, George V. Now George V was a simple man, but really understood the monarchy and its connection to the people, which is what endeared him to his subjects, inspired their loyalty and caused him to change the name of royal house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. It seems a very unusual thing to do - change your name and the name of all your relatives, but King George knew it had to be done to save his throne. For it was the time of the First World War and the people who were suffering the hardships and losses that war brings did not want a King who could have secret loyalties with his German first cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm - especially when Germany was the enemy. King George had to prove to his subjects exactly where his loyalties lay. Changing their name did the trick for while other royal households of the world were being either voted out or overthrown; the House of Windsor was able to maintain itself.

George V also understood that the civil list could not support all of the sovereign's offspring and their offspring, etc. without end. He realized too that by changing their names, he was depriving the members of his family of their German titles. How would this be dealt with? Prince Louis of Battenberg, father of Louis, Earl of Mountbatten and grandfather of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, describes the 'principal of limitation', "In the English Royal Family it was generally understood that the title of 'Prince' did not extend beyond a Sovereign's Grandchild."* He further notes that as no great-grandson of the sovereign born of male heir to male heir had ever survived, the point could have been moot. Being a diligent man, George V had the matter investigated. Sure enough, it was true!

Losing your royal title and with it a certain part of your identity was a rather daunting prospect for the members of King George's extended family. Prince Louis pressed the King for peerages for the family and after much thought and deliberation, several were granted. Another issue arose when for the first time there was a legitimate grandson in the House of Windsor - the son of the Duke of Connaught. This son who could obviously not be a prince took his title from his mother, the Duchess of Fife, who had a second title she was not using at the time and was happy to pass on to her son. The title was Earl of Macduff. Prince Louis, though demanding of English Titles for himself and his family members was willing to take lesser titles. Here's his reason why: "At the same time I recognized that a Duke without landed estates, Castles or Palaces (which some of their London residences are), and no adequate fortune to maintain their high position, would be an absurd and unpleasant position for us."**

Is this what has happened to today's House of Windsor? Could it be that the Earl and Countess of Wessex have taken on lesser titles so as not to be absurd? According to the 'Sun' the way the Wessex's live is way beyond the means that they have at their disposal. They estimate that it cost far more to run Bagshot Park, the couples HUGE estate, than their combined income, which includes a 141,000 pound allowance from the Queen. Looking at the situation it is easy to see why in days gone by the younger sons who did not stand to inherit anything were careful to marry a rich woman with a healthy dowry. It was the same with the women as we have seen with Princess May (later Queen Mary) as she agreed to dutifully marry Prince Eddy for reason of prestige and cash flow as opposed to idyllic love.

It seems to me that Edward Wessex has chosen to be an a la carte royal - one who picks and chooses from the list of royal precedence and protocol to suite his own needs. For example, he performs very limited royal duties because he needs the time to be able to earn a real living. While his company that he devotes most of his time to has lost nearly two million pounds since it began and provides him with a salary of 60,000 pounds yearly, his royal allowance (provided by his mum, HM the Queen) provides him 141,000 pounds. In essence he gets paid 81,000 pounds more for his part time job than he does for his full time job. The whole call me Edward Windsor, call me Edward Wessex, call me HRH Prince Edward, no really, you can call me Earl. What is that all about? He has more aliases than Sybil. Not that I mean to pick on Edward. It just seems to me that as the son of the sovereign he could live happily with his wife in a grace and favour apartment in a Royal Palace, invest his allowance and perform royal duties. Princess Anne seems to be able to manage it and she outperforms all the other royals. She consistently performs more royal duties than any other member of her family. She is hardworking and lives happily within her means.

Well, to sum it up for this week, it seems to me that the rules of membership to the House of Windsor include the fact that children of a reigning monarch are not 'minor' royals, that being an a la carte royal doesn't work and that it is possible to live on your royal allowance and perform royal duties. I'm all for the inquiries Her Majesty is now making as I think there does need to be some clarity on the situation. My faith in Queen Elizabeth II leads me to believe that she will see what needs to be done and do it as her grandfather, George V, did in the last century.

* From 'The Royal House of Windsor' by Elizabeth Longford. Page 24
** From 'The Royal House of Windsor' by Elizabeth Longford. Page 25

All the best,