Royal Wedding

Greetings, Fleeties.

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is this Friday and last week I wrote a thread in the British Invasion Group suggesting that my fellow Brits take the opportunity this Friday to celebrate how lucky we are to be British.

I'm right in the fact that, unlike some other counties (hello America), we don't have many occasions to celebrate just how lucky we are to be born in a country that is free and well off. However, after reading SaintPlazma's reply to the thread I feel it's wrong of me to try and turn Friday into a British occasion when there's a lot of people around the world who have connections to the Royal Family and I'm sure would like to celebrate the next generation of Royals and with that bring hope they can live up to the expectation that we'll pile onto them.

I'm hoping this thread can be one of hopeful happy wishes and that whatever your views on the monarchy you look past it and simply try and enjoy the event.

I hope some of you will join me in wishing the happy couple all the best for this day and for the foreseeable future!

Best of Luck, Will and Kate!

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I'd like to hear if anybody has any plans for watching the wedding? I'll probably just watch it on my sofa with some party food hehe.

I agree, as the future head of state for 16 different countries all around the world, William's wedding is not just a "British" occasion. As a native of Northern Ireland, where half the population think Britain is evil and the other half have their towns painted red, white and blue all year round, it's nice that most people are just happy for the guy and not making it all about politics. After all he's not the head of state yet, just a young man in love.

I will be joining in a street party after the wedding, well it's free food and I'd like to see how all my neighbour's behave when they get drunk, lol. I hope there is a good turn out, in the area of Belfast I live in, there are so many British flags out all year round that no-one can tell which streets are celebrating, lol.

Oh it's all so exciting, lol. Congrats to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I'm glad she's not going to be "Princess William of Wales" after all, phew. Loved the coverage of all the gay boys dressed as Queens and Princesses outside the Palace, lol.

My only question is... will today's episode of Cash in the Attic be shown at a later date?

Its almost putting a curse on the wedding but i will join the throngs in saying congratulations to the royal couple even before they have done the deed. hopefully she won't have last minute jitters and say 'No'.

Kate looks amazing!

Did anyone see the women sat directly behind the Queen? .. She seemed to have some sort of .. ring attached to her forehead :p -bitchy-

Princess Beatrice, Fergies daughter. I thought it looked more like a face hugger from Alien!

Here's a link to some of the highlights if anyone missed it. :3

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/live/8466247/Royal-wedding-live.html

oh no not highlights!!!!!! I avoided the tv all day and for the next 3 days so not to see it lol.

Youtube had highlights too...I watched it, as it is a historical event...a crap one, but still... :P

A couple questions have popped into my mind recently whilst watching the wedding and the following procession

I saw the flag of England, the Union Jack, the Canadian flag and... The Malaysian flag? (I thought I saw a US flag, as well, but it may have been another Malay flag as I could only see the stripes.) Why was there a Malay (and possibly an American) flag? I didn't think Malaysia was a colony/protectorate of the United Kingdom

Does the Royal family have a surname? I always hear Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Princess Royal Anne, Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry, etc. but I've never heard anything or anyone who ever referenced their surname(s).

Why is Catherine a Dutchess instead of a Princess, now? >.> (And if the Prince has a surname, did she take the surname as her own?)

Sorry to be so ignorant. >.

Couple of good questions and living in England I should know the answers but it's awfully confusing.

The Flag thing. Britain is crazy multi-cultural especially in London and I think a lot of people regardless of their original origin wanted to come out and celebrate the big day. There's a lot of Americans in London and I saw a few US flags myself.

I think the official Royal Family's surname is Windsor but to be honest I'm not really sure how the whole name things works. It's all very odd.

The Queen gave the Duchess of Cambridge title to Catherine as a honoury title, I think she can still be refereed to as a Princess? It wasn't confirmed until just before the ceremony what title she would take. Certainly Prince William is now Prince William, Duke of Cambridge instead of being Prince William, Prince of Wales as we've always known him.

But you don't need to be sorry for being ignorant because, if you're ignorant, I'm not sure what that makes me lol.

*hugs* Thank you Halish! ^.^

Royal naming is confusing and I know way more about it then I should since I'm not British. My maternal Grandmother was English, which is where my interest comes from :) .

As a member of the royal family entitled to be called "His Royal Highness", William formally has no surname. Officially, he is part of the House of Windsor. In 1960 the Queen issued an Order-in-Council that gave her descendants the last name of Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten is the maiden last name of Prince Phillip's mother, which he adopted when he gave up his foreign titles to become a British citizen (told you it is confusing). Mountbatten-Windsor can thus be considered a personal last name for the family to use, and is often used for weddings.

Royal children who do not yet have peerages of their own use Prince or Princess along with their father's territorial title. Thus the sons of "Prince Charles, Prince of Wales" are "Prince Harry of Wales" and (until the wedding) "Prince William of Wales". For comparison, the children of Prince Andrew, Duke of York are Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York.

On his wedding day the Queen invested William as Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus, and he dropped the "of Wales" entirely. He will most commonly be referred to as Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, which is the highest of the titles.

When Charles becomes King he will presumably invest William as "Prince of Wales". William will also take over the title Duke of Cornwall, which automatically goes to the male heir to the throne and was traditionally his source of income, and Duke of Rothesay, the title of the heir to the Scottish throne.

Prince William's current full name is:
His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Master of Arts.

Kate is not "Princess Catherine". Prince or Princess preceding your name is a title that is only gained through royal birthright, and Kate is a commoner. However, she did gain the "Her Royal Highness" designation and automatically gains any other titles that her husband attains. She will most commonly be referred to as Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge but her full married name is:

Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.

In case you are wondering:

Diana was never "Princess Diana" even though people often call her that. Like Kate she did not have the proper birthright to use that title. Instead, she was "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales" when married to Charles, and was "Diana, Princess of Wales" after they divorced.

Wow! Awesome! :D

(My mum was a British subject before my father dragged her to the US to live in... Well... He's a hoarder.)

Wow, Joslur, you need to get a job in the British news, that was an excellent explanation that the UK media have been unable to duplicate over the past few days, lol. No-one in the UK seems to know how it all works.

If I could just point out one thing though, the Duke of Cornwall title will not go automatically to William when Charles becomes King, it would be retained by the Crown and the Monarch would then have to invest him with it. Charles himself only recieved the title in 1973 when he was also invested as Prince of Wales, and while it is a tradtional title for the heir to the throne, now that William has his own Dukedom, he is unlikely to swap it. In fact Charles has hinted that he will keep the title after acceding to the throne as it has been announced that Camilla will not become Queen when Charles becomes King, but will continue to be known as The Duchess of Cornwall. Only if Charles were to die before he became King would William, as his eldest son, be entitled to the Duke of Cornwall title and property (as dukedoms are hereditary).

It's not important anyway, but I also know more than I should as an Irishman, lol. I love a bit of pomp and tradition.

So if Camilla can't be a queen, can Catherine? *is all confused*

As an aside Kate is also apparently Princess William of Wales as she cannot be a princess herself without being born one.

As for the question of why she can be Queen but Camilla cant is most likely down to the fact that Camilla is a Divorcee but Kate isn't.

Well she will not be Princess William of Wales now that William is Duke of Cambridge. That would have been her title had William stayed as Prince William of Wales, but his own title now precedes the "of Wales" bit he had due to his father's title. Royalty with HRH titles do not have surnames. Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname used by male line decendants of the Queen who are not HRH, or by choice if they are. If William is still Duke of Cambridge (not Prince of Wales) after he has children, all of William and Catherine's children would use Cambridge as their surname where is is required (eg. for school and military service) just like William and Harry used Wales, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie use York, because of their father's titles.

You are right that she would not have become Princess Catherine, as Joslur said, only females born into royalty get to use their own name as part of their title. While legally a Princess Consort (ie. married to a Prince), it is not part of her official title unlike Diana who used Princess due to it being the female equivalant of her husband's title "Prince of Wales". When Charles is King and invests William as Prince of Wales, Catherine will become "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus", but as with most royalty she will be known mostly by her highest ranking title, HRH The Princess of Wales, not HRH Princess Catherine of Wales. The media will probably ignore all this and just call her Princess Catherine anyway, lol.

As for Camilla, that's a bit of am issue in the UK. Legally she is currently both The Princess of Wales and the future Queen Consort. Nothing short of a legal declaration from the Queen (letters patent) can change that. She has simply chosen to be known as The Duchess of Cornwall which is the female equivalent of one of Charles' lesser titles. She's done this to appease those who think that her marriage to Charles should be morganatical and that her status as a divorcee should bar her from becoming a Royal Highness and future Queen Consort.

Quote by Halish

Couple of good questions and living in England I should know the answers but it's awfully confusing.

The Flag thing. Britain is crazy multi-cultural especially in London and I think a lot of people regardless of their original origin wanted to come out and celebrate the big day. There's a lot of Americans in London and I saw a few US flags myself.

I think the official Royal Family's surname is Windsor but to be honest I'm not really sure how the whole name things works. It's all very odd.

The Queen gave the Duchess of Cambridge title to Catherine as a honoury title, I think she can still be refereed to as a Princess? It wasn't confirmed until just before the ceremony what title she would take. Certainly Prince William is now Prince William, Duke of Cambridge instead of being Prince William, Prince of Wales as we've always known him.

But you don't need to be sorry for being ignorant because, if you're ignorant, I'm not sure what that makes me lol.

Its actualy Mountbatten-Windsor and thew reason this is is becasue up until ww2 they tooik the names of the countery they ruled, some bloke whose name eludes me right now chose to give the surname of Windsor which trhen bewcame the Mountbatten-Windsor suranme for all none throne sitters.


Also Dutchess of ...... is higher than Princess

Quote by Joslur

Royal naming is confusing and I know way more about it then I should since I'm not British. My maternal Grandmother was English, which is where my interest comes from :) .

As a member of the royal family entitled to be called "His Royal Highness", William formally has no surname. Officially, he is part of the House of Windsor. In 1960 the Queen issued an Order-in-Council that gave her descendants the last name of Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten is the maiden last name of Prince Phillip's mother, which he adopted when he gave up his foreign titles to become a British citizen (told you it is confusing). Mountbatten-Windsor can thus be considered a personal last name for the family to use, and is often used for weddings.

Royal children who do not yet have peerages of their own use Prince or Princess along with their father's territorial title. Thus the sons of "Prince Charles, Prince of Wales" are "Prince Harry of Wales" and (until the wedding) "Prince William of Wales". For comparison, the children of Prince Andrew, Duke of York are Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York.

On his wedding day the Queen invested William as Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus, and he dropped the "of Wales" entirely. He will most commonly be referred to as Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, which is the highest of the titles.

When Charles becomes King he will presumably invest William as "Prince of Wales". William will also take over the title Duke of Cornwall, which automatically goes to the male heir to the throne and was traditionally his source of income, and Duke of Rothesay, the title of the heir to the Scottish throne.

Prince William's current full name is:
His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Master of Arts.

Kate is not "Princess Catherine". Prince or Princess preceding your name is a title that is only gained through royal birthright, and Kate is a commoner. However, she did gain the "Her Royal Highness" designation and automatically gains any other titles that her husband attains. She will most commonly be referred to as Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge but her full married name is:

Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.

In case you are wondering:

Diana was never "Princess Diana" even though people often call her that. Like Kate she did not have the proper birthright to use that title. Instead, she was "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales" when married to Charles, and was "Diana, Princess of Wales" after they divorced.

the namne actualy origionaly came from

At a meeting of the Privy Council on 17 July 1917, George V declared that 'all descendants in the male line of Queen Victoria, who are subjects of these realms, other than female descendants who marry or who have married, shall bear the name of Windsor'.

the queen declared the extended Mountbaten later