Duchess of Kent

[Stephen Raven]

Bremenmurray, you note that Prss Victoria of Battenberg was an earlier British Princess who married in a Catholic ceremony. I am afraid she does not count. The Princess was not a member of the British royal family. This was confirmed by Edward VII when asked why he could allow her to marry in a Catholic ceremony. His answer was the same, she is not a British Princess.

[BREMENMURRAY]

King Edward VII raised her to the rank of Her Royal Highness prior to her wedding. The marriage was subject to a treaty between Britain and Spain negotiated by the Foreign Secretary  Sir Edward Grey. She had to renounce her place in the Royal Line of Succession although as the daughter of the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria this was quite remote even at birth. Her father was naturalized British and lived in the UK after his marriage. Therefore Victoria Eugenie must have been the most British of technically non British princesses.

[Paul Theroff]

Yes... it seems that Britain played fast and loose with the definition of "royal family", trimming it to fit whatever circumstance they wanted. Edward raised her to "Royal Highness", which he would do only for a member of his family, but then asserts that she was not part of the "royal family".

The same kind of thing happened with Ena's cousin Louise when she wanted to marry Crown Prince Gustaf. Though all the world knew that Gustaf could not marry her because she did not belong to a reigning family, the British government assured Sweden (wink, wink) that Britain considered her to be from a ruling family, and Sweden pretended to accept that.