Loveliest titles (and the worst)

[MrsLeonFarrell]

Apparently William and Catherine are called Lord and Lady of the Isles in Mull. What a beautiful title Lady of the Isles is, much nicer than Princess of Wales.

Anyway I thought I'd start a thread musing on titles in general, they don't have to be royal.

My favourite title Lady of the Isles (as of today)

Least favourite Princess of Bourbon Two Sicilies (what a mouthful)

which created havoc for the first property court sitting after the queen died!

I wouldn’t mind being a Dowager Duchess if I could have a sexy secretary (Six! The musical reference)

Hang on a minute. I can buy a Duchess title for £200?

Hardly elevated is it?

I knew about the Denmark junior branch going off to Greece, but I never realised about the Russian connection. Thank you.

Ultimately for Phil, he may have had all the Royal blood but if that country doesn't recognise their monarchy, you're King of nowhere. Soz Phil!

He was so royal! I remember watching a documentary about Windsor Castle, and hearing how one of the courtiers showed Philip round when he was first engaged and behaved in a patronising way, until Philip told him "my mother was born here"!

Apparently William and Catherine are called Lord and Lady of the Isles in Mull. What a beautiful title Lady of the Isles is, much nicer than Princess of Wales.

I think Princess of Wales is a beautiful title, and Lady of the Isles too.

I also love the Spanish and Dutch titles for the heirs, respectively Prince or Princess of Asturias and Prince or Princess of Orange.

The title Duke of York exudes history and Englishness. Shame about the current holder!

I like some of the still-hanging-in- there Holy Roman Empire titles like “Margrave” - the current Margrave of Baden is one of Charles’ first cousins and attended his coronation.

Orginally Margraves were the experienced military generals who were in charge of often contentious border lands. The word comes from the same root as as the ancient words for borders, which came into English as Marches - the Welsh Marches were the borders between England and Wales, for example. When the Normans invaded they designated various Earls as “Marcher Lords” and gave the landholdings along the border with primary responsibility for keeping the Welsh in check - so the Earls of Chester and Pembrokeshire for example.

(The same title of Margrave became Marquis in French, and that was carried over to England also eventually as the title Marquess).

I also like Grand Duke / Duchess, the Russians used them but I think there is only Luxemburg that still uses it.

And Archduke/Archduchess as well - none of those titles survived WWI! And you are right, Luxembourg is the only surviving Grand Duchy.

It obviously reeks of colonialism, but Empress of India is a pretty impressive title.

Isn't there an Agatha Christie mystery about a Margrave inheritance?

Infanta isn't a very catchy title in English i wonder what is like in Spanish.

I do like the 'Grande de España' title, which I always think of as 'Great of Spain'.

Might be a handy back pocket item for some ☕

I don't like 'infanta' either.

Not a patch on 'dauphin'.

Dauphin is pretty good, as long as you say it with a French accent

I quite like Infanta. It sounds very elegant to me.

I also like Princess Royal, a title created by Charles I for his daughter Mary, at the suggestion of his French wife, Henrietta Maria, and modeled on the French title Madame Royale.

Not a title but a family name...

I remember stifling laughter when I visited Sizergh Castle in the Lake District where the owning family were the Hornyold-Stricklands.

They must have heard all the jokes!

That's a great name.
I remember reading about a woman in the House of Lords called Lady Garden. (Baroness Garden of Frognal).

I like it plain and simple- Mary Queen of Scots would do me. 😊

Have a look at photos of George V and Tsar Nicholas II. Twinnies!

There's a Danish order of Chivalry called the Order of the Elephant. I'm not sure where elephants come into it, you don't see many roaming the plains of Billund (are there plains in Billund?)

I've also always like the (now defunct) Dauphin title and the fact that Spanish royals are called Infanta or Infante!

I apologise if I'm repeating what's already been posted, but I love the Scottish clan chiefs' titles such as 'The McDonald of that Ilk' etc, or 'The Magilicuddy of the Reeks'.

When the chief wears his own tartan too - now that's glam!

And my personal favorite, the late Sir Gregor MacGregor of MacGregor.

Ya wtf did poor Damien Lewis do 🤣🤣?

That is awesome!