Prince William title question

The son of a Duke takes his father's courtesy title.

If Prince Charles is also Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, would
this mean Prince William
could technically be called Earl of Chester and Earl of Carrick? If
not, why not?

Don Aitken...

Yes. He could also use his grandfather's third title (Lord Greenwich).
The reason why not is that courtesy titles (which are a matter of
custom, not law) are not used by those entitled to the style of HRH
Prince. For example, the son of the first Duke of Kent was HRH Prince
Edward of Kent, and so was not called Earl of St. Andrews. However, in
the next generation, Edward's son, not being HRH, *is* called Earl of
St. Andrews. Similarly for Gloucester/Ulster.

sionevar...

He could, but it seems to be the custom among the royals that an eldest son
entitled to be styled as HRH/Prince does not use his father's subsidiary
peerage as a courtesy title.

The eldest son of HRH The Duke of Gloucester (Prince Henry) was known as HRH
Prince William of Gloucester, and was never styled as the Earl of Ulster.
Compare him to the son of the current Duke of Gloucester, who IS known as
the Earl of Ulster, but is not entitled to be HRH.

I don't know the reasoning behind this. Others on the group may be able to
shed some light on it.

Frank Johansen...

A substantial HRH Prince ... title is much higher than a secondary title
worn only by courtesy.

Frank H. Johansen

Brooke
bxzi@yahoo.com

Tom Wilding / Stephen Stillwell...

Cornwall has no secondary title attached to it.
Chester is attached to the Wales title.

cczjch...

Only in the sense that they were created at the same time. Where

Don Aitken...

Either "Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester" is a single position, or
they are two postions always created together and governed by exactly
the same rules. Either way of looking at it is defensible, but I
prefer the former. There has never been a Prince of Wales who was not
also Earl of Chester, and Chester has not been conferred as a separate
peerage since 1284.

courtesy titles are used however (i.e. for non-royal peers) the choice
of title is not restricted to those created at the same time as the
principal title.

If such titles were to apply - you should remember that William is also the
grandson of a Duke - The Duke of Edinburgh. Said Duke's secondary title is
Earl of Merioneth - which would go to Charles. Said Duke's tertiary is
Baron Greenwich - which would go to William.