Prince George very nearly missed out on an important royal title until the Queen reportedly stepped in to change things - despite the fact he's the future king.
- Prince George may be third in the royal line of succession, but he almost didn’t have a key royal title at all.
- He and his siblings were not automatically entitled to their royal styles, but their great-grandmother the Queen is believed to have stepped in.
- This royal news comes as it was revealed that Prince Charles is stepping into late father Prince Philip’s shoes for an important event next month.
Whilst Kate Middleton reportedly "set her heart" on an alternative boy's name for a son before using it as Prince George's middle name, he is understood to have a very cute nickname.
And though it's believed to have been inspired by his initials P and G, he very nearly didn’t have the title ‘Prince’ at all.
Due to a law established by the Queen’s grandfather King George V, little George was not automatically entitled to be called ‘prince’, despite being third in the royal line of succession.
According to Express.co.uk, he wouldn’t be called Prince George today if the Queen hadn't stepped in. Extraordinary as it may seem, this wasn’t the first time a member of the Royal Family, sometimes called The Firm, had to get involved in this way.
Her Majesty's father King George VI had to do something similar to ensure the Queen’s own children received their titles.
Why were the Queen’s children not automatically entitled to be called Prince and Princess?
Whilst the suggestion that the Queen’s children very nearly didn’t have ‘Prince’ or ‘Princess’ or HRH titles at birth may shock royal fans, it seems it was all down to the then-Princess Elizabeth’s gender.
It’s said that the daughter of the sovereign could not pass the styles and titles of HRH and prince and princess onto her children like a son could, however this was all set to change. King George VI stepped in and issued Letters Patent in 1948, just before Prince Charles was born, preventing the future king from being born a commoner.
This ensured that George VI's grandchildren would be given these titles at birth after all. Though this change did not apply to the Queen’s great-grandchildren...
Does Prince George have a title?
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s oldest child is known as HRH Prince George of Cambridge - thanks to the intervention of the Queen. She reportedly updated a royal warrant before George was born to ensure that her great-grandchild had these titles.
Constitutional expert Iain MacMarthanne previously told Express.co.uk that: "The Queen herself was called upon to make a similar change when it came to the birth of Prince George of Cambridge.
"As the great-grandson of the sovereign, he, like Prince Charles before him, would have been born without royal style or title under George V’s Warrant of 1917.
"Just as her father had done it took the Queen issuing Letters Patent to remedy the situation."
Had the Queen not have got involved, it’s likely that future king, Prince George, would be known simply as Master George.
The Queen also made a significant change with the Succession to the Crown Act 2013. This means that a female royal’s claim to the throne is no longer displaced by the arrival of a younger brother.
Princess Charlotte is therefore fourth in the line of succession, with her brother Prince Louis following behind her.
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