x.x.x.x | Message modified by user Boffer January 30, 2013, 2:06 am
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The pictures (from different angles) provided by Nellie and Baxter show that they wore coronets composed of 2 crosses patée, 2 leaves, and 4 fleurs-de-lys.
This, however, by todays Coronet Rankings is solely reserved for the Children of the Heir Apparent, and therefore should not have been worn by the Connaught Princesses.
Closer research, revealed my suspicions that the close rules that we associate with the designation of British Royal Coronets were not firmly established until 1917, when George V issued various Letters Patent and Royal Warrants concerning royal status and the use of coronets.
The coronet that Princess Patricia and Margaret used for the 1902 Coronation (and all subsequent coronations) was first created in 1719 for the daughters of the Prince of Wales, and was expanded in 1725 for various other female members of the Royal Family,
In 1917, however, as George V simplified the various rules regarding Royal Status, there had never been a set rule that applied to the coronets used by the children of younger son's of the Sovereign (ie. the Duke of Connaught).
A Royal Warrant issued in 1917 decreed that: ":and to the sons not bearing the rank of duke and to the daughters of the sons other than the heir apparent and of the brothers of us and of our predecessors and of our successors a coronet composed of four crosses pattee and four strawberry leaves".
As such Princess Patricia under this new rule was only entitled to wear this Coronet:
However, I think it is safe to say that the Coronet which was commissioned for her in 1902, when the rules were still ill-defined, was appropriate at the time. However as the rules were expanded upon and a new category in British Royal Coronet Rankings was created which encompassed Princess Patricia's rank and status, she should have worn a new coronet, not the old one, although, seemingly, it was never deemed appropriate or necessary for her to commission a new one and she continued to use her old and incorrect coronet.
The full text of the Letters Patent of 1917 highlights clearly the rules and coronets that we are now familiar with:
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/prince_highness_docs.htm#Warrant_of_Nov_19_1917
As illustrated here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronet#British_coronet_rankings
And more information about the previous rules concerning British Royal Coronets from the 17th and 18th Century can be seen here:
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/prince_highness.htm#Heraldry
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