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Princes of the Royal Blood

In England, the Sovereign's sons, except the eldest, are of no other account in the constitution than by the dignity which they derive from their near connexion with the reigning Monarch and the possibility of their ascending the throne, or giving to it a future heir. They have no appanages allotted to them ; no titles of honour reserved for them, they are known only by the princely rank which their birth secures to them, until it is the pleasure of the Crown to give them a seat or a voice in the great council of the nation, by conferring on them a Peerage of its free grace and favour. Nevertheless, so high is the respect in which the Majesty of these realms is held, that especial honours are paid to all the children of the Crown ; they take precedence of all other subjects, are addressed by the style of Royal Highness, are served at table on the bended knee, except in presence of the Sovereign ; all subjects are to uncover their heads in their presence, and to kneel when admitted to kiss their hands.

According to the law of England, as is well known, no man's position in society is altered by any matrimonial alliance; including the Prince Consort. Field Marshal His Royal Highness Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emanuel, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, K.G., Her Majesty's consort, was entitled merely to the precedence of a Knight of the Garter. When his Royal Highness' naturalization bill first came under the consideration of parliament, it contained a clause conferring upon Prince Albert precedence next to Her Majesty; but after considerable discussion this provision of the bill was withdrawn; and on 05 March 1840 an ordinance appeared in the Gazette "Her Majesty has been pleased to declare and ordain, that [Prince Albert] shall henceforth upon all occasions and in all meetings, except where otherwise provided by act of parliament, have, hold, and enjoy, place, pre-eminence and precedence next to Her". Previous to which, however, the late Duke of Cambridge, on his own behalf and in the name and on the behalf of the other members of the royal family, expressed his assent to the clause for granting the proposed precedence to the consort of the sovereign : nevertheless, the adoption of it was considered to be inexpedient; but in compliance with the commands of the Queen, and in accordance with the unequivocally expressed wishes of the royal family, Prince Albert did in practice enjoy precedence next after Her Majesty: hts position however was not fortified either by statute or common law; but there was no probability of his Royal Highness's right to the place assigned him being questioned by any of the distinguished Individuals who were personally concerned.

The Prince of Wales, who is born Duke of Cornwall, and by creation is Earl of Chester, is of age from his birth, and a chair of State is placed for him on the right of the throne in the House of Lords. He is also, in right of his birth, a Knight of the Garter ; and it is expressly provided by the statutes, that all the King's sons, who are elected Knights of the Most Noble Order, shall be independent of the number twenty-five, of which the Order consists. The Sovereign's younger sons and grandsons, when created Peers, are entitled to seats in the House of Lords, at the left hand of the throne ; but when, by the death of their father, they become only collaterally related to the Crown, they take their places as first upon the Ducal bench. Beyond the degree of first cousins, they take their place among the other Dukes, according to the date of the creation of their titles.

The robe of estate of the Prince of Wales is of purple velvet lined with ermine, and trimmed with a cape of ermine descending from the neck to the elbow, distinguished by five rows of ermine tails. His cap is of velvet, turned up with ermine, and having a tassel of gold on the crown. Over it is worn a coronet composed of a circlet of gold enriched with jewels ; above its upper rim rise four fleur-de-lis and four crosses-pattée alternately ; from them an arched diadem of gold crosses the head, and is finished at top with a ball surmounted by a cross-pattee. This coronet is engraved at the head of the present article. It is, in fact, the same as the imperial crown, with the difference of having but one diadem, instead of that one being crossed, as in the crown, by a second. The coronet appertaining to the younger sons and to the daughters of the Sovereign differs from that of the Prince of Wales only by the omission of the diadem and the ball and cross which surmount it. The nephews and nieces of the Crown have their coronets differenced by the substitution of four strawberry leaves for the four fleur-de-lis.

The Prince of Wales has been at all times regarded as the first subject in the realm-the nearest to the throne-the most dignified of the peers of parliament, and, though not exercising any political power beyond his vote as a legislator, yet regarded by all men as the most eminent personage in the state next after the sovereign; the Prince of Wales is the heir apparent; the heir presumptive may be brother, uncle, nephew, niece, or even a more distant relative of the Sovereign; but the prospect which an heir presumptive may possess of eventually succeeding to the throne gives him no place in the scale of precedency : the rank he holds is merely derived from consanguinity. But the station of Prince of Wales fs clearly and indisputably that of the first and highest of Her Majesty's subjects.

Sons Of The Sovereign. The second son of the reigning monarch takes rank next after the eldest, and all the younger sons take precedence amongst each other according to priority of birth. They usually receive peerages as soon as they become of age; and in the House of Lords they would of course rank above all other peers, and take precedence among each other according »o the dates of their respective patents; for example, If the fifth son received his dukedom previous to the fourth, then the younger would in alt proceedings of the Upper House take precedence of the elder: but this sort of anomaly is not likely to occur; for the practice is, to grant the peerages in the order of primogeniture, so that the precedence of those princes in the House of Lords should coincide with their stations In all other assemblies.

Grandsons Of The Sovereign. Established usage gives the grandsons of the sovereign this position. The rule appears to be, that every one who could in any event succeed to the throne, takes precedence of those subjects who, during his lifetime, are incapable of such succession. The eldest son of the Prince of Wales would take precedence, not only of any other grandson of the sovereign, but also of the sovereign's younger sons (who would be his uncles). The junior Issue of a Prince of Wales, however, do not follow their elder brother, but, on the contrary, follow the youngest son of their grandfather the sovereign, as was settled in the case of Edward Duke of York, second son of Frederick Prince of Wales, and grandson of George II. (Lords' Journals, Apr. 24, 1760.)

Brothers Of The Sovereign. In the royal family the first class are the sons of the monarch, the second his grandsons, &c.; then would follow his brothers, his nephews, his uncles, &c. Thus the next brother to the king might be at one time the first subject in the realm; but if the king should marry and have seven sons, the brother then would take the eighth place: he might also live to follow fifteen or sixteen of his grand-nephewR; but one of these might succeed to the throne, marry, have sons, and so remove his grand- uncle still further from the highest point: it frequently happens, therefore, that as a royal duke grows older he sinks in the scale of precedence.

Nephews of The Sovereign. These proceed in the following order:- lst, such of the monarch's nephews as are the sons of his next brother; 2ndly, the sons of his second brother; then those of his third brother, aiid so on according to the seniority of their respective fatners; the sons of each father, of course, taking precedence amongst each other according to priority of birth. The sons of the eldest sister of the sovereign follow those of his youngest brother, taking rank amongst each other according to the usual rule of priority of birth; the sons of each sister enjoying precedence according to the seniority of their respective mothers.

Uncles Of The Sovereign. A royal duke may be in one reign the son of the king; in the next reign he may become brother to the sovereign ; in the next, uncle to the monarch; and in the following reign, grand-uncle. In the first of these cases he belongs to the highest rank, in the next he falls into the second grade, and finally into the t'lird. Every member of thero>al family capable of succeeding to the throne retains an acknowledged superiority over other subjects, but the rank that he holds; amongst his own relatives is altered every time a new reign commences.