Princess Diana was once known as Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales when she was still married to Prince Charles. But after their divorce, she was stripped of the prestigious title.

On the online forum site Quora, royal fans are wondering why the Princess of Wales wasn’t referred to as Her Royal Highness at the time of her death. Rhys Hoffmann said that on the day of Princess Diana’s divorce from Prince Charles, she lost all ranks and precedence associated with being the future King’s wife. Under the letters patent by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996, she also lost the style of Her Royal Highness.

“On a personal point of confusion, I never understood why the Queen needed to issue the letters patent to deprive a divorced member of the family the style Royal Highness. She only acquired it on marriage in much the same way she acquired the title Duchess of Cornwall on marriage… I would argue the Queen didn’t actually need to do that,” he said.

Eileen Wood, a real estate assistant, said that Princess Diana wasn’t referred to as Her Royal Highness because she was never a princess. She was only called as such while she was married to a prince.

“He was the HRH, and she was allowed to use the courtesy title while she was married to him. Once she wasn’t married to him any longer, she lost any claim to her married name, so to speak… She went from HRH the Princess of Wales to be Diana, Princess of Wales,” she said.

Another royal fan said that after Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s divorce was finalized on Aug. 28, 1996, the mom of two became a private individual again. It just so happened that she had two royal sons and was previously linked to a future King.

Princess Diana passed away less than a year after her divorce from Prince Charles was finalized.

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