Now that the official engagement is finally announced, the focus of attention now is on few issues surrounding the wedding ceremony which will happen either spring or summer next year (2011), who will pay for the wedding, the surname he will going to use on the marriage entry and what will be his future title. Let's talk about these things here.
Though I resented Middleton to be the future Queen Consort of England, I couldn't resist talking about Prince William because he is royalty and second-in-line to the highest throne on Earth and he is such an important member of the European royal court.
His Royal Highness, Prince William of Wales
Who will pay for the wedding?
In all honesty, any human being who will be married into royalty will be very lucky because that human being will walk-down-the-aisle free from worries in terms of financial obligation. Unlike ordinary couples who practically share on the cost of the wedding, pulling their financial resources together, royalty will handle all the expenses especially if he or she is a member of an existing royal house of Europe and in direct succession to the throne. Usually wedding expenses of heirs-to-the throne are paid by the state and the monarch, so taxpayers will have to shoulder some portion of the costs. Prince Charles' wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 had cost the British government almost $5 million and Swedish future monarch, Princess Victoria's wedding last June 2010 to Daniel Westling had cost the Swedish government almost $10 million. But in the case of Prince William, since he is only second-in-line to the throne, his wedding expenses will be shouldered by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II and his father, Prince Charles, whose annual income is generated from the crown property, the Duchy of Cornwall. It is still unknown if taxpayers will share the burden of the wedding cost, so far the British Parliament under David Cameron, a fifth cousin once-removed to Her Majesty through King William IV, has not been heard anything about sharing expenses.
What will be the Prince's surname to be used on the marriage entry?
It is a known fact that royalty has no family name, the royals are known only with the title and the principality or country they belonged. But the children of Queen Elizabeth II used Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname on marriage entries. The Queen's husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, though a royal Prince by birth (he is a grandson of King George I of Greece), he renounced his Greek royal title in 1946 in order to marry Elizabeth (as the British subjects dislike foreign royals especially with ties to German royal heritage) so he used his maternal grandfather's surname Mountbatten (though Philip's maternal grandfather, Louis of Battenberg, was a Prince from Germany, he was forced to relinquish his Princely title during World War I because of anti-German sentiments in England, he was made by his first cousin-in-law, King George V--grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II & Philip's uncle through King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Victoria of England, as the first Marquess of Milford Haven and anglicized his surname to Mountbatten). In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II announced that all her descendants should carry a name Mountbatten-Windsor if needs arise to use a family name.
What will be William's future title?
Traditionally, all British Princes upon marriage are given the title of a "DUKE", the highest hereditary title of nobility in Britain. Reports said that Prince William will either be given a title of Duke of Clarence or Duke of Sussex. Duke of Clarence because his father's official London residence is the Clarence House, Duke of Sussex because William's present home (he shared with Middleton, they have been living together since January this year) is near the county of Sussex in North Wales. But reports strongly favored the Duke of Clarence title because this is much associated with the heirs to the British throne. King William IV, third son of King George III, was the Duke of Clarence before he ascended the throne, Prince Albert Victor, the heir-apparent of King Edward VII, was given the title Duke of Clarence instead of Prince of Wales, but unfortunately, he predeceased his father, passing the throne to his younger brother who became King George V.
The Edwardian crown officially worn by a British monarch
But if the Prince will turn down any of these titles, he will be known only as Prince William of Wales until his father ascended the throne. Without any nobility title of his own, the Prince will continue be addressed with his father's geographical title. Since serving the British military, William is known as Lieutenant Wales. Presently, he is a full-fledged search-and-rescue operation pilot in the Royal Armed Forces. (click "older posts" below to read more on Prince William's status)
No comments:
Post a Comment