Featured Image Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images/ Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Prince Harry, Royal Family, King Charles III
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Celebrity, Prince Harry, Royal Family, King Charles III
Now, we all know that if you're a member of the royal family, chances are you'll have a royal title too.
However, that's clearly not the case for everyone as the two children of Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles III, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, don't have royal titles despite being the niece and nephew to the current ruling monarch.
Unlike their cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie - who are the children of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson - Zara is not a princess and likewise, Peter is not a prince.
The reason as to why this is the case is simply down to a centuries-old family tradition.
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According to tradition, when a member of the royal family has a child, the rules states that only the father may pass on his title.
This means that only princes and princesses in the family have fathers in the direct line of succession.
So, because of the fact that Princess Anne is Zara's mum - and a woman - it means she can't pass down the royal title.
And as we know, Zara and Peter's father, Captain Mark Phillips, doesn't have a royal title either, and he declined the offer of an earldom, so his children were not given titles from birth.
Zara and Peter could have been granted HRH titles by their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, however, their parents declined to do so.
"I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles… So I think that was probably the right thing to do," Anne told Vanity Fair back in 2020.
Zara also spoke about not receiving a title, instead saying she was 'lucky' not to be a princess.
She said on the Seven: Rob Burrow podcast in 2023: "From my point of view, I was obviously very lucky that my mother didn't give us any titles so I really commend her on that.
"We were very lucky that we got to do it a bit our own way."
Speaking at a London Sporting Club lunch last week, the 43-year-old alluded to the existence of tensions within the monarchy in her address.
According to The Sun, Zara said: "It is very hard to see from the outside, but 100 percent, it is a family that is still going through the same struggles other people do."
Despite the Tindalls previously boasting a close relationship to Harry, Sky News Australia recently reported that socialite Zara and her ex-rugby star husband Mike Tindall cut ties with the prince after he 'betrayed' Charles with his accusations against the monarchy.
It remains uncertain, however, whether the cousins truly do remain estranged behind the scenes.
Speaking at this week's event, silver-medal winning Olympic equestrian Zara went on to emphasise that there's still a lot of love to be shared within her family.
"Whether they are relationships, obviously, it is very easy to see every day," she explained. "We’re still very supportive of each other."