No to Princess of Orange

The wife of the Prince of Orange is not styled as Princess of Orange, as

cj.buyers...

only the heir to the throne may carry the title, according to Netherlands
law. Doesn't this fly in the face of of what must be one of the oldest

cj.buyers...

f her

cj.buyers...

oes

cj.buyers...

d to

edespalais...

her

royal and imperial traditions that a wife takes the styles and titles of her
husband? The Netherlands must be the only country in the world that does

edespalais...

Gillian White...

Not quite the only country in the world. The wife of King Mohammed VI of
Morocco is styled as Princess Lalla Salma, and is apparently the first
consort to be given a royal title.

And somebody else can probably confirm, but I think Queen Rania of Jordan
had to be granted the rank of Queen by her husband - it was not automatic.

this. Why then wouldn't the same reasoning, whatever it is, be applied to
deny her the title of Queen?

cj.buyers...

As far as I can see, this may not be the case.

The recent legislation on the definition of the Royal Family only
concerned itself with substantive titles. The Titles of Queen (consort)
and Princess of Orange (consort) are classed as titles of address or
courtesy.

As the Prime Minister said in parliament during the passage of the
bill, their is nothing to stop these titles to be used and no objection
to their use.

Of course, in Maxima's case, she received the substantive titles of
"Princess of the Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau", so she may
have a preference to these, over any courtesy title by marriage.

edespalais...

Prince of Orange, who; is the rightfull Prince of (d') Orange? One
recalls, that O was (once) a sovereign principality in the South of
France!

cj.buyers...

If it makes you feel any better, there are probably lots of places
called Oranje. If not in the mainland Netherlands, there are at least
two forts of that name in the Antilles, which are part of the kingdom.

Of course, as a wonderful gesture of European and EU solidarity, France
could always cede the original Orange to the Dutch!

(Gary Holtzman) garyholtzman...

The Netherlands has had a queen for over a hundred years. None of these monarchs
have had husbands who have taken the title king. Nor have their heiresses used the title
"prince of Orange". This is, as I understand, seen as a matter of gender equity. Whether
or not Princess Maxima will be known as queen if/when her husband ascends the
throne is a matter yet to be seen. I would not be surprised if she is not. This would not be
unique. After all, the wife of the King of Morocco is a princess, and there are other
examples as well.