<\/p>\n
They were one of the most talked about royal documents of the
\nlast years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II but they had already
\nhad a major impact on her own life. The Letters Patent of 1917
\nbecame global news as various members of her Royal Family hit the
\nheadlines for the wrong reasons and talk turned to taking away
\ntitles. However, the late Queen herself had found her own first
\ntitle dictated by these very same Lettes Patent.<\/p>\n
The Letters Patent had been issued by King George V in 1917 as
\nhe sought to tidy up his family\u2019s image and make them seem very
\nBritish indeed. George had become king when the ruling dynasty was
\ncalled Saxe-Coburg-Gotha but by 1917, as the Great War with Germany
\ncontinued, this was seen as completely unsuitable. And so the king
\nchanged his dynasty\u2019s name to Windsor and removed the usage of
\nGerman titles by his relations. By December that year, he was ready
\nto issue Letters Patent to neaten everything up and on December
\n11th, his definitive list of who was royal was published.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s been much debated in recent times, George\u2019s George V and Queen Mary had first become grandparents in 1923 In 1926, George V and Mary\u2019s second son was set to become a
\nwartime Letters Patent was, in effect, a way of limiting titles.
\nThey are very specific and have already had to be altered several
\ntimes to ensure that future monarchs weren\u2019t born with no royal
\ntitle at all. His 1917 rules state that the HRH and Prince\/Princess<\/a> and the
\nsame rules apply to grandchildren in the male line, that is the
\nchildren of a Sovereign\u2019s sons. In 1926, this brand new rule was
\napplied for the first time.<\/p>\nGrandpapa England<\/h2>\n
\nwhen their only daughter, Princess Mary, gave birth to a baby boy.
\n,In 1924, she had a second son and neither of her children were HRH
\nor prince. They were grandchildren of the Sovereign in the female
\nline and so took their tiles from their father. At that point in
\ntime, he was Viscount Lascelles and so the boys were known as the
\nHonourable George Lascelles and the Honourable Gerald
\nLascelles.<\/p>\n
\nfather. For the first time, the couple would welcome a grandchild
\nin the male line. The baby was born on April 21 1926 at 17 Bruton
\nStreet, Mayfair. A little girl, she soon became the apple of her
\ngrandfather\u2019s eye. She would call him Grandpapa England. Thanks to
\nhim, everyone else called her HRH and Princess.<\/p>\nA royal title for a royal history
\nmaker<\/h2>\n