Why Queen Elizabeth Was ‘Never’ Going To Let Princess Diana Keep Title

When Prince Charles and Princess Diana decided to end their marriage, the Princess of Wales was determined to keep the title of Her Royal Highness.

She managed to upset the royal family by relentlessly fighting for the royal perk and making a spectacle out of her high profile divorce with Charles. However, from the very beginning of her battle, Queen Elizabeth already knew there was no way Diana could keep the HRH title.

In the 2007 biography “The Diana Chronicles” by Tina Brown, the author revealed, Diana’s potential behavior after she divorced Prince Charles could have affected the royal family’s reputation if she got to keep her title.

“Who knew where Diana’s private life might take her in her second act and what kind of unforeseen difficulties might be caused by some ghastly second husband?” Brown wrote.

“The Queen was never going to let Diana keep the title,” she added.

In the biography, Brown noted that the HRH title, “has no constitutional meaning [but] it does denote a direct family connection to the Crown.”

However, if Princess Diana was allowed to keep her royal title, she would’ve had claims to certain privileges. “Retaining the HRH title would assure her that she would always be included in state occasions and properly acknowledged as the future king’s mother,” Brown explained.

While Diana was stripped of the HRH title after her divorce from Prince Charles, she was awarded a large divorce settlement and was allowed to retain the use of the Princess of Wales title.