Royal titles explained:

King and Queen:

If the monarch is a man he is referred to as a King. A woman can be a Queen in her own right as in the case of Queen Elizabeth or because of her marriage to a King, which will be the situation with Kate Middleton.

Queen’s husband:

The spouse of a Queen usually becomes a Prince. In Prince Philip’s case he was a Prince of Greece. Before his marriage in 1947, he became a naturalised British subject and dropped his Greek royal status, becoming the Duke of Edinburgh. In 1957, his wife bestowed on him style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom.

Duke and Duchess:

This is a title ranking just below a monarch. There are royal Dukes who are members of the reigning house and Dukes outside the family, for example the Duke of Westminster.

Prince or Princess:

This is a title inherited through male descendents. For example, the children of Princess Anne are not Prince or Princess. Using their father’s name, they are known as Zara Phillips and Peter Phillips.

You can be a Princess and not use the title. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall is technically the Princess of Wales out of respect for the late Diana, Princess of Wales she has never used that title. Instead she uses her husband Prince Charles’ Dukedom.

Surname:

In 1917 George V changed the name of the royal house to Windsor from the German Saxe-Coburg- Gotha – the surname of Queen Victoria’s husband because of World War I. Later the Queen and Prince Philip added his name Mountbatten for their children and grandchildren.