Princess of Wales

Princess of Wales () is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the British throne, and earlier the English throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
When the title was first recorded it was not connected to the English throne; it developed in an independent Wales when it was held by Eleanor de Montfort, the wife of the native Prince of Wales Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.
== Background ==
Prior to 'Princess' (Welsh: ) the title of 'Queen' (Welsh: ) was used by some spouses of the rulers of Wales. Examples are Angharad ferch Owain, wife of Gruffudd ap Cynan, and Cristin verch Goronwy, wife of Gruffudd's son, Owain Gwynedd (specifically, she was known as 'Queen Dowager'). 
== The title in independent Wales ==
=== Joan (Siwan) ===
Joan, also known as Siwan (her Welsh name), was the illegitimate daughter of King John of England. She was the wife of Llywelyn the Great (initially king of Gwynedd), effective ruler of all of Wales.[[doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14819|Kate Norgate and A. D. Carr: "Joan [Siwan]]", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: OUP, 2004), Retrieved 2 February 2019.] During her tenure, she used the titles 'Lady of Wales' and 'Lady of Snowdon'.
=== Eleanor de Montfort and Gwenllian ===
 190px|thumb|Memorial to Gwenllian in Sempringham, England, where she was imprisoned since childhood
Following her wedding ceremony in 1278, Eleanor de Montfort was officially known as princess of Wales.Bliss, W. H., editor. Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 1, 1198–1304. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1893.Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1272–81, 306; CPR, 1281–92, 11Calendar of Ancient Correspondence, 75–76Foedera I, ii, 576, 584, 587 On 19 June 1282, she died giving birth to her first child, Gwenllian.The Chronicle of Bury St Edmunds, pp. 74–76
The infant was captured by English forces the following year, after her father, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, was killed in December 1282. At Edward I's orders, she was kept in the remote Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire, where she remained until her death in 1337.
Gwenllian's status was acknowledged at least once by the English Crown. When writing to the pope, attempting to secure more money for Sempringham Priory, the king stated that "...herein is kept the Princess of Wales, whom we have to maintain". The title 'Princess of Wales' as used here did not have its usual accepted meaning.
=== Margaret Hanmer and Catrin, daughter of Glyndŵr ===
Margaret Hanmer, sometimes known as Marred ferch Dafydd (her Welsh name), was the wife of Owain Glyndŵr.The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog. 1. London: T. Richards. pp. 199, 211–219. The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog. 1. London: T. Richards. pp. 199, 211–219. Some modern historians have accorded her the title 'Princess of Wales'.Deborah Fisher, Princesses of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2005)
Catrin was one of the children of Owain Glyndŵr and Margaret Hanmer. In November 1402, she married Sir Edmund Mortimer, the second son of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and through his mother, a great-grandson of Edward III of England.
Edmund Mortimer died during the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409, of unknown causes.The Last Mab Darogan, Charles Parry (Novasys, 2010) pp. 273–4. Catrin was subsequently captured alongside her three daughters, and they were taken to the Tower of London, along with Catrin's mother and one of her sisters. The deaths and burials of Catrin and her daughters are recorded, but the causes of their deaths remain unknown. They were laid to rest at St Swithin's Church in London.Issues of the Exchequer, Hen. III – Hen. VI, ed. F Devon (Record Commission, 1837), p. 327
=== List ===
Image	Name 	Birth 	Spouse 	Death 	Notes
 	Joan 	1191 	Llywelyn the Great 	2 February 1237	Known as Siwan in Welsh;Lady of Wales and Snowdon;Proposed to have been Princess of Wales
 	Isabella de Braose 	1222 	Dafydd ap Llywelyn 	1248 	Proposed to have been Princess of Wales
 	Eleanor de Montfort 	1252 	Llywelyn ap Gruffydd	19 June 1282 	Princess of Wales;Lady of Snowdon
 	Elizabeth Ferrers 	1250 	Dafydd ap Gruffydd 	1300 	Proposed to have been Princess of Wales
 	Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn 	June 1282	 	7 June 1337 	Princess of Wales;daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
 	Margaret Hanmer 	1370 	Owain Glyndŵr 	1420 	Later attributedDeborah Fisher, Princesses of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2005)
 	Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr	 	Edmund Mortimer 	1413 	Proposed to have been Princess of Wales;daughter of Owain GlyndŵrIssues of the Exchequer, Hen. III – Hen. VI, ed. F Devon (Record Commission, 1837), p. 327
== Spouse of the British (formerly English) heir apparent ==
Cecily Neville, wife of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, is omitted from this list. While her husband was briefly given various titles, including prince of Wales, by an Act of Parliament as part of his arrangement to succeed Henry VI, he is not generally recognised as such and is not mentioned in any published summary of the topic.
Although not granted the title in her own right, the future Mary I was, during her youth, invested by her father, Henry VIII, with many of the rights and properties traditionally given to the Prince of Wales, including the use of the official seal of Wales for correspondence. For most of her childhood, Mary was her father's only legitimate child, and for this reason, she was often referred to as the Princess of Wales, although Henry never formally created her as such. For example, contemporary scholar Juan Luis Vives dedicated his Satellitium Animi to "Dominæ Mariæ Cambriæ Principi, Henrici Octavi Angliæ Regis Filiæ" ("Lady Mary, Prince of Wales, Daughter of Henry VIII, King of England").
Welsh politicians suggested that George VI's elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), be granted the title on her 18th birthday, but he rejected the idea because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the title of the heir apparent.
Camilla, Charles III's second wife, was the Princess of Wales from 2005 to until she became queen consort in 2022, but did not use the title due to its popular association with her husband's first wife, Diana.
On 9 September 2022, a day after his accession to the throne, Charles III bestowed the title of "Prince of Wales" upon his elder son, William, hence making his wife, Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
=== List ===
Image	Previous name 	Coat of Arms	Birth 	Marriage 	Became Princess of Wales	Spouse 	Change in style 	Death 	Notes
 	Joan of Kent 	 	19 September 1328	10 October 1361 	10 October 1361 	Edward of Woodstock 	7 June 1376Husband's death;became Dowager Princess of Wales 	7 August 1385 	 
 	Anne Neville 	 	11 June 1456 	13 December 1470	13 December 1470 	Edward of Westminster 	4 May 1471Husband's death;became Dowager Princess of Wales 	16 March 1485 	Later became queen consort as the wife of Richard III
 	Catherine of Aragon 	 	16 December 1485 	14 November 1501	14 November 1501 	Arthur Tudor 	2 April 1502Husband's death;became Dowager Princess of Wales 	7 January 1536 	Later became queen consort as the wife of Henry VIII
 	Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach 	 	1 March 1683 	22 August 1705 	27 September 1714 	George Augustus 	11 June 1727Husband acceded to throne as George II;became queen consort 	20 November 1737	 
 	Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 	 	30 November 1719 	17 April 1736 	17 April 1736 	Frederick Louis 	31 March 1751Husband's death;became Dowager Princess of Wales 	8 February 1772 	 
 	Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 	 	17 May 1768 	8 April 1795 	8 April 1795 	George Augustus Frederick 	29 January 1820Husband acceded to throne as George IV;became queen consort 	7 August 1821 	 
 	Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark 	 	1 December 1844 	10 March 1863 	10 March 1863 	Albert Edward 	22 January 1901Husband acceded to throne as Edward VII;became queen consort 	20 November 1925	 
 	Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck	 	26 May 1867 	6 July 1893 	9 November 1901 	George Frederick Ernest Albert	6 May 1910Husband acceded to throne as George V;became queen consort 	24 March 1953 	 
 	Diana Frances Spencer 	 	1 July 1961 	29 July 1981 	29 July 1981 	Charles Philip Arthur George 	28 August 1996Divorced;assumed the style of Diana, Princess of Wales 	31 August 1997 	 
 	Camilla Rosemary Shand 	 	17 July 1947 	9 April 2005 	9 April 2005 	Charles Philip Arthur George 	8 September 2022Husband acceded to throne as Charles III;became queen consort	living 	Known as Duchess of Cornwall during her tenure
 	Catherine Elizabeth Middleton 	 	9 January 1982 	29 April 2011 	9 September 2022 	William Arthur Philip Louis 	Incumbent 	living 	 
==See also==
*Controversy of the Prince of Wales title
*The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)
*The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (Canada)
==Notes==
==Bibliography==
*Princesses of Wales by Deborah Fisher. University of Wales Press, 2005.
* 'Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn' Y Traethodydd 1998 
==Further reading==
*
Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom
Wales
 
Category:Titles