They were one of the most talked about royal documents of the
last years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II but they had already
had a major impact on her own life. The Letters Patent of 1917
became global news as various members of her Royal Family hit the
headlines for the wrong reasons and talk turned to taking away
titles. However, the late Queen herself had found her own first
title dictated by these very same Lettes Patent.

George V’s new royal rules

The Letters Patent had been issued by King George V in 1917 as
he sought to tidy up his family’s image and make them seem very
British indeed. George had become king when the ruling dynasty was
called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha but by 1917, as the Great War with Germany
continued, this was seen as completely unsuitable. And so the king
changed his dynasty’s name to Windsor and removed the usage of
German titles by his relations. By December that year, he was ready
to issue Letters Patent to neaten everything up and on December
11th, his definitive list of who was royal was published.

Although it’s been much debated in recent times, George’s
wartime Letters Patent was, in effect, a way of limiting titles.
They are very specific and have already had to be altered several
times to ensure that future monarchs weren’t born with no royal
title at all. His 1917 rules state that the HRH and Prince/Princess and the
same rules apply to grandchildren in the male line, that is the
children of a Sovereign’s sons. In 1926, this brand new rule was
applied for the first time.

Grandpapa England

George V and Queen Mary had first become grandparents in 1923
when their only daughter, Princess Mary, gave birth to a baby boy.
,In 1924, she had a second son and neither of her children were HRH
or prince. They were grandchildren of the Sovereign in the female
line and so took their tiles from their father. At that point in
time, he was Viscount Lascelles and so the boys were known as the
Honourable George Lascelles and the Honourable Gerald
Lascelles.

In 1926, George V and Mary’s second son was set to become a
father. For the first time, the couple would welcome a grandchild
in the male line. The baby was born on April 21 1926 at 17 Bruton
Street, Mayfair. A little girl, she soon became the apple of her
grandfather’s eye. She would call him Grandpapa England. Thanks to
him, everyone else called her HRH and Princess.

A royal title for a royal history
maker

At the time of her birth, this little princess wasn’t thought of
as a future monarch. She was third in line to the throne behind her
father, the Duke of York, and his very glamourous and eligible
brother, the Prince of Wales, who was expected to marry and have a
family all of his own. And so the baby born
HRH Princess Elizabeth of York, on April 21 1926, was expected
to fade into the background of royal life.

It may even be that her grandfather, who had seen his own
beloved cousin lose his life because of his royal status, wondered
if being HRH and Princess was really the best course for baby
Elizabeth as her path seemed to point towards gentle obscurity as
the cousin of a future monarch. In the end, the Prince of Wales
became King Edward VIII who abdicated within a year and placed his
brother, the Duke of York, on the throne as King George VI. HRH
Princess Elizabeth became heir to the throne and, on February 6
1952, she acceded on the death of her father. The baby who was HRH
by Letters Patent was now the Sovereign who could issue Letters
Patent herself.