Changes in precedence for George V's cousins.

Amongst the cousins of the King who were British subjects with German
titles were the Gleichens, descendants of Queen Victoria's half-sister,
Princess Feodora. I was fascinated to read in Fran=E7ois Velde's site,
in the section on British royal styles, that the Gleichen daughters
were granted precedence before the daughters of the Dukes of England,
while their brother and his wife were granted precedence befroe the
Marquesses and Marchionesses of England, this by Royal Warrant in
1913.

cbstewart3rd...

Which ought to settle the question of how British peers were viewed at
Buckingham Palace relative to mediatized German princes prior to World
War I. The Gleichens were morganatic because their mother, Laura
Seymour, was "merely" the younger sister of the 5th Marquess of
Hertford (and descended from the same noble family to which belonged
Henry VIII's consort), whereas their father was a standesherrliche
prince. Although the Gleichens were only half-second cousins of George
V, and their father was only the younger son of a mediatized F=FCrst,
the King gave Count Edward Gleichen precedence in the UK second only to
dukes. Apparently because Countess Valda had already wed a commoner,
Percy Machell, she was placed on a rung of precedence below her
sisters, although continuing to share their title.

In September 1917, King George seems to have changed his mind, and
Count and Countess Gleichen, and the Count's sisters, were reduced to
the precedence (with title) of younger son and daughters of a Marquess
of the United Kingdom.

Can anybody throw any light as to why this was done? I can see why the
King's other cousins had to relinquish their German titles; this the
Gleichens also had to do, but why was it necessary to lower their place
in the table of precedence? Were they being punished for something?

cbstewart3rd...

No. See:

Charles Stewart

David Eades