Why Princess Anne’s children have no royal title – but Princess Beatrice and Eugenie do
At a time when royal titles continue to spark debate, many people wonder why Princess Anne’s children do not hold titles, especially when Prince Andrew’s daughters do — despite Anne being the older sibling.
Neither Zara Tindall, 44, nor her brother, Peter Phillips, 48, carries any royal title. This often surprises people, given that their mother, the Princess Royal, is the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s second eldest child.
Meanwhile, their cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have always been known publicly as princesses, titles they received at birth as children of the then-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York.
The Role of Royal Legislation
Royal titles follow rules established in 1917, when King George V issued a Letters Patent declaring that the children and grandchildren of a reigning monarch through the male line would receive princely titles.
Because of this, Andrew’s daughters automatically qualified as princesses, while Anne’s children did not — unless the monarch chose to intervene.
Interestingly, the late Queen Elizabeth II was reportedly willing to bend those rules for her only daughter and her grandchildren.
Princess Anne Declined Titles for Her Children
When Peter was born in 1977, and again when Zara arrived in 1981, Princess Anne is said to have asked the Queen not to grant them the titles of prince or princess.
Her reasoning was simple: she wanted her children to have the freedom of a normal life, without the complications that royal honours bring.
Zara later expressed her gratitude for that decision.
“I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do,” she said. Her three children — Mia, Lena, and Lucas — also do not hold royal titles.
How the Rules Later Changed
Queen Elizabeth II did not revisit the issue of royal titles until 2012, when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced they were expecting their first child.
Not knowing whether the future heir would be a boy or a girl, the Queen issued a new Letters Patent. This document ensured that all of William and Kate’s children would carry the titles of prince or princess, reflecting the shift to absolute primogeniture — allowing the eldest child, regardless of gender, to remain ahead in the line of succession.
This also prevented the situation that Princess Anne experienced in her youth, when younger brothers Andrew and Edward overtook her in the succession line.
Prince Edward Followed a Similar Approach
Prince Edward mirrored Anne’s stance when he and his wife, Sophie, welcomed their own children. Their daughter Louise was styled “Lady Louise Windsor,” and their son James received the courtesy title “Earl of Wessex.”
“We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living,” Sophie explained in an interview with The Times in 2020.
“Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but it’s highly unlikely.”
