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Glite Dictionary
princess royal

princess royal

6.8
Title given to the oldest daughter of a British king or queen
  • noun
  • /ˈprɪn.sɛs ˈrɔɪ.əl/
  • UK
translation icon : princesa real
  • The princess royal attended the charity event last night.

Examples

  • Queen Victoria was given the title of princess royal when she was only a child.

  • Historically, the title of princess royal is not automatically given but must be bestowed by the sovereign.

  • The princess royal often represented the monarch at official events.

  • Did you hear that the princess royal is visiting London?

  • The princess royal attended the state banquet with her father, the king.

  • As the princess royal, she has many official duties to fulfill on behalf of the monarchy.

  • During the ceremony, the princess royal was presented with a beautiful tiara to symbolize her status.

Surface Forms

princess royal singular
princess royals plural

Morphology

princess + royal

The constituents 'princess' and 'royal' transparently indicate a female member of the royal family, so a learner would infer a general royal princess. However, the specific conventional meaning — a formal title reserved for the eldest daughter of the sovereign — is a specialized, culturally determined usage that is not predictable from the parts alone, so a B1 learner who only knows the words is unlikely to infer the precise title sense.

Etymology

Princess royal comes from the idea of giving the eldest daughter of the king or queen a special name to show she is the top princess in the family. The word royal marks her close place with the king or queen, so the phrase today means the eldest daughter who is officially given that 'title'.