The Order of Precedence

What is an Order of Precedence?

In Monarchy, the Order of Precedence is the term used to classify the ranking and position of each member  (aristocrats/royals) within the royal court or the social class system. This is different from the position of the members in the Line of Succession to the throne. Unlike the Line of Succession which is based on decent and regulated by Parliamentary statute, the Order of Precedence in the realm is determined both by customs, traditions, laws and the sovereign’s discretion. By practice, Order of Precedence for gentlemen and ladies in the realm are separated. The ruling sovereign has the right to decide the order of precedence of the current members of the royal family.

Order of Precedence in layman’s term means the order/placement of rank, status and classification of titled person in the social system of the establishment.

The British Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace watching the traditional fly-past during the Trooping the Colour ceremony every second saturday of June. This annual ceremony celebrates Queen Elizabeth II's offical birthday (her real birthday falls on April 26). From left, Lady Rose Windsor (daughter of the Duke of Gloucester), Prince William, Prince Harry, the Queen, her daughter Princess Anne, the Countess of Wessex,Prince Philip and the Duchess of Cornwall. At the back: the Count of Wessex and Princess Anne's second husband, Timothy Lawrence.

From left: Timothy Lawrence, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles and Lady Davina Windsor. The Duchess of Cornwall ranked below Princess Alexandra of Kent in the female order of precedence on private occasions, although she is the wife of a future King, she did not bear a Princess title, hence, lower in rank.

But the Order of Precedence sometimes can be very confusing. In the case of a male sovereign, his Queen Consort automatically takes first in the order of precedence among women in the realm but not if the sovereign is female, since there’s no specific law defining the constitutional function of the Queen’s husband in the monarchy, his rank in the order of precedence also is not clearly defined, thus, it is the sole discretion of the sovereign to decide where to put such distinction.

The British Royal Family in June 1982 during the Trooping the Colours Ceremony.Diana,Princess of Wales, who was still pregnant with Prince William in this photo, ranked third just below the Queen Mother  because during that time she was the future Queen Consort.

British Queen Consorts like Queen Elizabeth (wife of George VI), Queen Mary (wife of George V), Queen Alexandra (wife of Edward VII), etc. take precedence above all females in the United Kingdom but not in the case of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. When his wife ascended the British throne in 1952 as Queen Elizabeth II, his position was subject to many discussions in the royal court. Born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, howeverm Philip gave up his royal status and his place in the line of succession to the Greek throne in 1947 in order to marry the future British monarch, but in 1953 after his wife’s accession, he was granted through the Queen’s Order-in-Council a place “pre-eminence and precedence over all men in the United Kingdom", through a letter patent issued by the Queen, Prince Philip will take precedence over all men in Britain on private occasions, meaning he would take his place next to the Queen, except on official state occasions where he would take only second in the order of precedence over his son, Prince Charles, because the Prince of Wales is the heir-to-the throne.

Three female senior members of the British royalty, from left, Princess Alexandra of Kent (the Queen's cousin), the Duchess of Cornwall (Charles's second wife) and Princess Michael of Kent (sister-in-law of Princess Alexandra).

The Queen's only daughter, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal. She ranked just below her mother in the female order of precedence.

The Queen also changed the Order of Precedence for females on private occasions making Charles’s second wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, ranked below Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Queen’s first cousin. When Princess Diana was still alive, she was third in rank of precedence after the Queen and the Queen Mother. In the case of Camilla Parker Bowles, her status is lower in rank among senior female royal family members because she does not carry a status of a Princess and through debate and discussion on moral issues, she would not take a title of a Queen Consort when Prince Charles becomes King, she is divorce when she married the heir-to-the-throne in 2005 and the Church of England strongly prohibits a divorce woman from becoming a Queen Consort, thus, Camilla would only take the title of a Princess Consort when her husband ascended the British throne someday.

The Present Order of Precedence in the British Royal Court (for private occasions)

The Waleses famously called "the heir and the spare": Prince William and Prince Harry, second and third in line of succession to the British Throne respectively. Unlike sovereigns' grandsons before him  who traditionally took precedence after their paternal uncles, Prince William, through the Queen's order, is ahead in rank over his two uncles: Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. Prince Harry however ranks below his two uncles because he is not a direct successor to the throne.

MALES (Top 10)

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (the Queen’s husband)

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales (the heir to the throne)

Prince William of Wales (second-in-line to the throne/Prince Charles’ eldest son)

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York (fourth-in-line to the throne/the Queen’s second son)

Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex  (7^th in line to the throne/the Queen’s youngest child)

Prince Harry of Wales (third in line to the throne/Prince Charles’ youngest son)

Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester (19^th in line/the Queen’s first cousin)

Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent (27^th in line to the throne/the Queen’s first cousin)

Prince Michael of Kent (removed in the line of succession because he married a Roman Catholic/younger brother of the Duke of Kent)

The Lord David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (13th in line/the Queen’s nephew)

FEMALES (Top 10)

The Queen

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal (the Queen’s only daughter)

Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Lady Ogilvy (the Queen’s first cousin)

Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall (second wife of the Prince of Wales)

Sophie, The Countess of Wessex (wife of the Earl of Wessex)

Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester (wife of the Duke of Gloucester)

Katharine, the Duchess of Kent (wife of the Duke of Kent)

Marie-Christine, Princess Michael of Kent (wife of Prince Michael of Kent)

Princess Beatrice of York (eldest daughter of the Duke of York)

Princess Eugenie of York (youngest daughter of the Duke of York)

Dilemma over Precedence

The Order of Precedence in British nobility is slightly complicated to the “outsiders” which requires a thorough understanding. When a woman marries a nobleman, she would automatically acquire precedence like that of her husband (example Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Spencer whose husband, Robert Fellowes, was made a Baron by the Queen in 1999. As a daughter of an Earl, Lady Jane’s precedence is above the rank of a Baron's wife but in this case she would take her husband’s precedence and not as a daughter of an Earl) but not in the case of a male marrying a royal or a titled lady (Princess Anne’s husband, Timothy Lawrence. could not take precedence similar to her rank), if the man is a commoner, he couldn't take his wife's status.

Princess Diana's aristocrat parents, the late 8th Earl Spencer of Althorp and the Honourable Frances Burke-Roche. She was the daughter of a British Baron but assumed a status of a Viscount's wife  after her marriage to Viscount Althorp (Earl Spencer was still a Viscount when they married in 1954). The couple, who had four children: Lady Sarah, Lady Jane, Princess Diana and Lord Charles - separated and divorced in 1969. Frances married a commoner businessman Peter Shand-Kydd therefore taking her place in the realm's order of precedence that of a Baron's daughter , hence, she was known from 1969 until her death in 2004 as The Honourable Mrs. Frances Shand-Kydd.

Children of peers (aristocrat) always acquire precedence by virtue of their father’s title (example Princess Diana and her siblings), but children of a Lady do not gain any precedence unless that lady is a member of the royal family. If a daughter of a nobleman marries a commoner she will retain her title and precedence as a peer’s daughter (example Princess Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah, who married a commoner), but if she marries a nobleman, her precedence is based on her husband’s rank and not on her father’s rank (When Diana's mother, Frances Burke-Roche married the Earl Spencer who was then Viscount Althorp, she assumed a rank of a Viscount wife, hence known as Viscountess Althorp, which ranked above a Baron's daughter).

References:

Burke's Peerage: the Bible of British Aristocracy
Encyclopedia Brittanica
The Official Site of the British Monarchy: www.royal.gov.uk
The Royals by Kitty Kelly
The Royal Sisters by Anne Edwards