Question: How large is the British royal family?

British royal family




Royal family of
 the United Kingdom and the
 other Commonwealth realms
HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
HRH The Prince of Wales
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
HRH The Duke of Cambridge
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge
HRH Prince George of Cambridge
HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
HRH Prince Louis of Cambridge
HRH The Duke of Sussex
HRH The Duchess of Sussex
HRH The Princess Royal
HRH The Duke of York
HRH Princess Beatrice of York
HRH Princess Eugenie
HRH The Earl of Wessex
HRH The Countess of Wessex

HRH The Duke of Gloucester
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
HRH The Duke of Kent
HRH The Duchess of Kent
HRH Princess Alexandra
HRH Prince Michael of Kent
HRH Princess Michael of Kentvt










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vt
The British royal family comprises Queen Elizabeth II and her close relations. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the British royal family.
Those who at the time are entitled to the style His or Her Royal Highness (HRH), and any styled His or Her Majesty (HM), are normally considered members, including those so styled before the beginning of the current monarch's reign. By this criterion, a list of the current royal family will usually include the monarch, the children and male-line grandchildren of the monarch and previous monarchs, the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, and all their current or widowed spouses.
Some members of the royal family have official residences named as the places from which announcements are made in the Court Circular about official engagements they have carried out. The state duties and staff of some members of the royal family are funded from a parliamentary annuity, the amount of which is fully refunded by the Queen to the Treasury.[1]
Since 1917, when King George V changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, members of the royal family belong, either by birth or by marriage, to the House of Windsor. Senior titled members of the royal family do not usually use a surname, although since 1960 Mountbatten-Windsor, incorporating Prince Philip's adopted surname of Mountbatten, has been prescribed as a surname for Elizabeth II's direct descendants who do not have royal styles and titles, and it has sometimes been used when required for those who do have such titles. The royal family are regarded as British cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the family among a group of people that they most associated with UK culture.[2]
Status
On 30 November 1917, King George V issued letters patent defining the styles and titles of members of the royal family; the text of the notice from the London Gazette is:[3]
Whitehall, 11<i>th December, 1917.

The KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date the 30th ultimo, to define the styles and titles to be borne henceforth by members of the royal family.  It is declared by the Letters Patent that the children of any Sovereign of the United Kingdom and the children of the sons of any such Sovereign and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian names or with their other titles of honour; that save as aforesaid the titles of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness, and the titular dignity of Prince and Princess shall cease except those titles already granted and remaining unrevoked; and that the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes.

In 1996 Queen Elizabeth II modified these letters patent, and this Notice appeared in the London Gazette:[4]
The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 21st August 1996, to declare that a former wife (other than a widow until she shall remarry) of a son of a Sovereign of these Realms, of a son of a son of a Sovereign and of the eldest living son of the eldest son of The Prince of Wales shall not be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness.

On 31 December 2012, letters patent were issued to extend a title and a style borne by members of the royal family to additional persons to be born, and this Notice appeared in the London Gazette:[5]
The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under 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.

Members and relatives of the British royal family historically represented the monarch in various places throughout the British Empire, sometimes for extended periods as viceroys, or for specific ceremonies or events. Today, they often perform ceremonial and social duties throughout the United Kingdom and abroad on behalf of the United Kingdom. Aside from the monarch, their only constitutional role in the affairs of government is to serve, if eligible and when appointed by letters patent, as a Counsellor of State, two or more of whom exercise the authority of the Crown (within stipulated limits) if the monarch is indisposed or abroad. In the other countries of the Commonwealth royalty do not serve as Counsellors of State, although they may perform ceremonial and social duties on behalf of individual states or the organisation.
The Queen, her consort, her children and grandchildren, as well as all former sovereigns' children and grandchildren, hold places in the first sections of the official orders of precedence in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Wives of the said enjoy their husbands' precedence, and husbands of princesses are unofficially but habitually placed with their wives as well. However, the Queen changed the private order of precedence in the royal family in favour of Princesses Anne and Alexandra, who henceforth take private precedence over the Duchess of Cornwall, who is otherwise the realm's highest ranking woman after the Queen herself.[6][7] She did not alter the relative precedence of other born-princesses, such as the daughters of her younger sons.
Members


As of 2019, members of the royal family are:
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (the monarch and her husband)
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall[lower-alpha 1] (the Queen's son and daughter-in-law)
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (the Queen's grandson and granddaughter-in-law)
Prince George of Cambridge (the Queen's great-grandson)
Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (the Queen's great-granddaughter)
Prince Louis of Cambridge (the Queen's great-grandson)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (the Queen's grandson and granddaughter-in-law)
The Princess Royal (the Queen's daughter)
The Duke of York (the Queen's son)
Princess Beatrice of York (the Queen's granddaughter)
Princess Eugenie (the Queen's granddaughter)
The Earl and Countess of Wessex (the Queen's son and daughter-in-law)
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (the Queen's cousin and cousin-in-law)
The Duke and Duchess of Kent (the Queen's cousin and cousin-in-law)
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (the Queen's cousin)
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent (the Queen's cousin and cousin-in-law)
Family members not using a royal style
There are a few immediate family members (a spouse and the children and grandchildren of its current full or deceased members) using no royal style who sometimes appear in listings:[8][9]
Lady Louise Windsor (the Queen's granddaughter)
James, Viscount Severn (the Queen's grandson)[lower-alpha 2]
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence (the Queen's son-in-law)
Peter and Autumn Phillips (the Queen's grandson and granddaughter-in-law)
Savannah Phillips (the Queen's great-granddaughter)
Isla Phillips (the Queen's great-granddaughter)
Zara and Michael Tindall (the Queen's granddaughter and grandson-in-law)
Mia Tindall (the Queen's great-granddaughter)
Lena Tindall (the Queen's great-granddaughter)
Jack Brooksbank (the Queen's grandson-in-law)
The Earl and Countess of Snowdon (the Queen's nephew and niece-in-law)
Viscount Linley (the Queen's great-nephew)
Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (the Queen's great-niece)
Lady Sarah and Daniel Chatto (the Queen's niece and nephew-in-law)
Samuel Chatto (the Queen's great-nephew)
Arthur Chatto (the Queen's great-nephew)
Sarah, Duchess of York (the Queen's former daughter-in-law)
Family tree of members





Royal family tree












King George VQueen MaryKing George VIQueen ElizabethPrince Henry, Duke of GloucesterPrincess Alice, Duchess of GloucesterPrince George, Duke of KentPrincess Marina, Duchess of KentThe Duke of EdinburghThe QueenThe Duke of GloucesterThe Duchess of GloucesterThe Duke of KentThe Duchess of KentPrincess Alexandra, The Hon Lady OgilvyPrince Michael of KentPrincess Michael of KentDiana, Princess of Wales[N 1]
(div. 1996)The Prince of WalesThe Duchess of CornwallThe Princess RoyalThe Duke of YorkSarah, Duchess of York
(div. 1996)The Earl of WessexThe Countess of WessexThe Duke of CambridgeThe Duchess of CambridgeThe Duke of SussexThe Duchess of SussexPrincess Beatrice of YorkPrincess EugeniePrince George of CambridgePrincess Charlotte of CambridgePrince Louis of Cambridge

Notes


In other Commonwealth realms
As the royal family is shared by other Commonwealth realms, its members will often also conduct official and non-official duties outside the United Kingdom, on behalf of the relevant state.
Further information: Royal family's role in the realms
See also
Lists of monarchs in the British Isles
British prince
British princess
Succession to the British throne
Royal descent
Military service by the members of the British royal family
Notes



Further reading
Burke's Guide to the Royal Family. Burke's Peerage, 1973.
Cannon, John Ashton. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford University Press, 1988.
Churchill, Randolph S. They Serve the Queen: A New and Authoritative Account of the Royal Household. ("Prepared for Coronation Year") Hutchinson, 1953.
Fraser, Antonia (ed). The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England. Revised & updated edition. University of California Press, 1998.
Hayden, Ilse. Symbol and Privilege: The Ritual Context of British Royalty. University of Arizona Press, 1987.
Longford, Elizabeth Harman (Countess of Longford). The Royal House of Windsor. Revised edition.  Crown, 1984.
Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. Pimlico/Random House, 2002.
Royal Family (1969) is a celebrated and reverential BBC documentary made by Richard Cawston to accompany the investiture of the current Prince of Wales. The documentary is frequently held responsible for the greater press intrusion into the royal family's private life since its first broadcast.




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