Zara Tindall and her brother Peter Phillips are among the senior royals who have been participating in ceremonial events mourning the late Queen this week.
The children of Princess Anne and her first husband, Mark Phillips, they are the Queen’s eldest grandchildren. However, they do not hold any royal rank.
Meanwhile, Prince William has now been named Prince of Wales, while Prince Harry is the Duke of Sussex. Prince Andrew’s children, Beatrice and Eugenie, are both princesses.
Here’s why Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips do not have royal titles.
Centuries-old royal tradition dictates that only male royals can pass down royal titles, and you can only be a prince or a princess if you have a father in the direct line of succession.
Since Zara Tindall is the daughter of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, who is a commoner, this means she cannot be a princess.
However, the modern Royal Family is not so prescriptive, and it was in fact the Princess Royal’s decision not to have her children given titles.
Ms Tindall has spoken of being grateful to have lived without a title. She said in 2015: “I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do.”
Former Buckingham Palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter agreed. “It was a masterstroke of the Princess Royal when she decided not to give her children titles,” he said.
“Growing up as a commoner allowed Zara to thrive as her own woman, and there has never been pressure on her to conform. She has benefited from it in all sorts of ways.”
Princess Anne was a talented equestrian when she was younger, competing for GB in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and her daughter very much followed in her footsteps.
Ms Tindall was a member of the GB equestrian team at the London 2012 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team event.
In 2006 she was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the public after winning the Eventing World Championship in Aachen, Germany.
Ms Tindall is married to former England rugby player and World Cup winner Mike Tindall. They have three children together; Mia Grace, Lena Elizabeth and Lucas Philip.
She is also godmother to the Prince and Princess of Wales’s eldest son, Prince George.
Although she does not have a royal title, Ms Tindall is 20th in line to the throne.
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