The royal rule that will stop Princess Charlotte's future children inheriting HRH titles

A new royal protocol has come to light which suggests that Princess Charlotte (opens in new tab)'s children may not inherit her title.

The British royal family seem to abide by a series of weird and wonderful rules, most of which are seeped in tradition, and have been part and parcel of being a royal for centuries.

One such rule, which came to light earlier this month, explained why we see Prince Harry and Meghan hold hands in public (opens in new tab), but we hardly ever see Prince William and Kate make any public displays of affection.

Now, another surprising royal rule has resurfaced meaning people have been reminded that due to her gender, if Princess Charlotte has children in the future, they will not inherit her royal title.

Lucy Hume, associate director of etiquette experts Debrett's, explained the rule to Town & Country: 'Royal titles are inherited through sons, so if Princess Charlotte has children they would not automatically inherit the titles HRH, Prince, or Princess.'

So, this means that while any children of Princess Charlotte's in the future will not have royal titles, any children of Prince George (opens in new tab)'s will be known as Prince or Princess.

Although the royal rule brings into question issues of gender equality, the monarch does have the power to bestow royal titles on the children of Princesses.

'For Peter and Zara Phillips, the Queen offered to give them a royal title when they were born,' Lucy Hume revealed. 'But Princess Anne and Captain Phillips opted to decline this offer.'

This isn't the first time that an ancient royal rule has been highlighted as discriminating against gender. When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge first got married, the approached the Queen with a bid to reform the 'primogeniture law', which said that any male heirs to the throne would take precedence over their female siblings to become the future monarch.

So, before the birth of Prince George, former Prime Minister David Cameron, with full support of the Queen had the law repealed saying it was against 'gender equality'.

Although their first born child was a son and Prince George is the future heir to the throne after his father Prince William, the change in the law in 2011 means that even though the Duchess of Cambridge is currently pregnant with her third child, the new baby will not move up in the line of succession above Princess Charlotte if the child is a boy.