23 JUNE 1917, Page 7

BRITISH TITLES FOR BRITISH PEOPLE.

rr HE action of the King in abolishing the German titles I. held by members of his family will be universally welcomed. In some well-known instances relations of the King who are British by birth and British by sentiment, and who have served the State faithfully and well, have been obliged to bear titles which had become as distasteful to them as they were inappropriate in sound owing to their associations. The King has most accurately interpreted public feeling, as well as relieved his relations of a burden which was vexatious, even though it was in the strictest sense nominal, in deciding to put an end to all such titles. But the King's decision • goes a good deal further than this in the wise reconstruction of the system of Royal and quasi- 'Royal titles. It reduces the number of these titles, and provides that only the immediate descendants of the Sovereign in thermic line of succession shall be called "Royal Highness." The titles " Highness " and " Serene Highness ' will gradually become extinct—since no more Royal Warrants conferring these titles will be issued—and the " Highnesses " and " Serene Highnesses " of to-day will be merged in the British Peerage. All this is thoroughly British in conception, and will be to the taste of the people, for it is in effect a 'reversion to the practice of British Royal Families before the accession of the House of Hanover.. Strangely enough, the difficulty caused by the undue multiplication of Royal titles did not Occur acutely in former days. 'Only during the past generation has the multiplication suggested that the inner group of Royal titles ought not to be robbed of their essential distinction. The time was ripe; quite apart from the inappropriateness of German titles in 'themselves, to end the Continental custom of passing on the title of " -Prince or " Princess " to every member of a princely family. If this plan had continued, the honour would have suffered from its frequency ; but under the new plan, by which the Peerage is used to redress the balance, both the princely families and the Peerage benefit by the transaction. -The whole arrangement is one more link uniting the Throne with the people, and making our Constitutional Monarchy in fact as well as in theory the peCuliar possession of the British democracy. In-pursuance of the plan briefly summarized above, the King has created the Duke of Teck (the Queen's brother).a Marquess, and Prince Alexander of Teck (the Queen's second 'brother) an Earl. The Duke of Teck is son of the late Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, and it would be impossible to imagine a more truly British family than the Tecks in their whole manner of living and serving and in their outlook upon life. British people will be delighted to address such a family under a British title. Prince Louis of Battenberg, whose services to the Navy, in which his professional learning and enthusiasm were justly appreciated, will not soon be forgotten, becomes a Marquess. Prince Alexander of Battenberg (the son of Princess Beatrice and grandson of Queen Victoria) also becomes a Marquess. Others who bear the name of Battenberg will bear it in an English form. " Mountbatten," by a very happy coincidence, is not merely a translation of " Battenberg " —that would be insufficient justification in itself—but is, as we see in the Times, the name, honoured in English history, of the little headland that overlooks the old eastern harbour of Plymouth. The two daughters of Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Christian, are henceforth to drop their territorial name of Schleswig-Holstein and to be known simply as Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise. It is worth while remembering, however, that the Schleswig- Holstein title was purely Danish in origin. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein was born a Dane, and remained so 6111863, when Prussia forcibly annexed the Danish provinces.

As we have said, the intention is to limit the use of the title "Royal Highness." The title was conferred upon the sons-in- law of Queen Victoria. Their children, moreover, became " Highnesses " and their grandchildren " Serene Highnesses." These titles, conferred by Royal Warrant, can be removed only by Royal Warrant ; but as the families not in the direct descent of primogeniture become merged in the British Peerage the titles will disappear. The title " Royal Highness " will be confined to the children of the Sovereign and the children of the Sovereign's sons ; and the titles of " Prince " and " Princess " will be confined to the children and grandchildren of the Sovereign. Thus the children of the Prince of Wales and of all his brothers will be Royal Highnesses, but the children of Princess Mary will not, though they will be Princes and Princesses. But (unless the succession is interrupted), whereas the grandchildren of the Prince of Wales will be Royal High- nesses, the grandchildren of his brothers will not. Take another instance. Prince Arthur of Connaught's infant son is grandson of the Duke of Connaught. He would not be a Highness or Serene Highness even though he should succeed the Duke of Connaught.

We do not know whether it would be desirable or convenient for the cadet members of the Royal Family to have in the future a surname which should also be unmistakably British. This is at least a subject which has exercised ingenious minds in the past, and Charles Greville, wo believe, wrote a pamphlet upon the-question: "What is the surname of the British Royal House ? " " Plantagenet " would perhaps be thought too theatrical. But surely " Lancaster " could excite no objections. The King is incidentally, of course, Duke of Lancaster. The need of such a surname may not arise, but we arc sure that if it does a good British name will be chosen, with roots deep in the past. It should gather up and express the whole idea of connecting "the seed Royal" and the people which is embodied in the new scheme.

When the last male descendant of Oliver Cromwell was approaching the end of his life he wanted to leave the name of Cromwell to his son-in-law, a Mr. Russell, and for that purpose applied for permission for the change of name to be made. It is related that when the application was laid before George III., the old King absolutely refused it, saying repeatedly : " No, no—no more Cromwells ! " King George V. by a much surer and wiser stroke says in effect : " No more German Princes ! " Every member of the Royal Family will be grateful to him. The titles are as unfair to the holders as they have become, through events, disagreeable to the nation. The King can act on his own authority in dispensing titles without offending against the• Constitutional limitations of the British Monarchy. His Majesty in. this case has gone straight to the point. His aim has been unerring. He has acted as a British King who wants British people to be called by British names.