Second Royal Baby Automatically Given Title Princess
Despite being the second child of the second heir to the British throne, the new royal baby will automatically be given the title of princess. Had all this happened three years ago, she would have only been given the title of lady.
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to the second royal baby at 8:34 a.m. after being in labor for about three hours, according to various reports. The Telegraph started a live coverage of the news after Kensington Palace confirmed that the duchess was in the early stages of labor at 6:37 a.m. There was no confirmation over how long those early stages had been going on.
According to The Daily Mail, the new princess will take the fourth place in the line of succession and remain behind older brother George whatever happens in the future. If Prince William and Kate Middleton have another son, he will not take the place from her due to the passing of the Succession of the Crown Act 2013. Before then, younger male heirs would succeed before their elder sisters.
Another change happened in 2012, when Queen Elizabeth II made an intervention. Before then, the second children of second heirs would never automatically inherit the title prince or princess. They would be lords and ladies, unless other titles were bestowed onto them. The newborn girl would not have been given the title Her Royal Highness, which she has been automatically named.
There have been many modern changes to the royal family over the years, and the second royal baby has greatly benefited from them. However, while she is now fourth in line to the throne, it is unlikely she will be crowned queen. The last time a younger sibling succeeded an elder sibling was in 1936 when Edward VIII abdicated in favor of brother George VI taking the throne.
No name has currently been officially confirmed for the second royal baby. The bookmakers have had a number of odds, with Alexandra being one of the favorites. It is also possible that she will be named Elizabeth or Diana after her great grandmother and grandmother respectively. An announcement of a name is likely to be given in a few days, which happened when Prince George was born in July 2013.
The second royal baby is healthy, and the Duchess of Cambridge is doing well. They are expected to be released from hospital tomorrow, where they will leave to go to Norfolk to live with Kate’s parents and Prince William to help with raising the new royal baby.
[Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]
