When it comes to the world of royals and nobles, these members of the highest social echelons may appear to occupy the same lofty ranks and roles, enjoying the same privileged lives of power, riches and glamour.
It may seem as though a Duchess and a Princess have similar lifestyles, and move within the same social circles, and in some cases this is true. Yet their roles are not interchangeable and they are not equal in status.
Even in the highest levels of society, there is a strict pecking order of position and rank. Within the majority of traditional systems of social hierarchy, there is an important distinction between royalty and the nobility, and this distinction also reflects the difference between a princess (which is a royal title) and a duchess (which is a noble title).
What Is Royalty?
Those considered royalty are the members of the royal family, i.e. the reigning sovereigns and their families. These individuals possess the ultimate social rank, holding the absolute top spot in the ranking system.
This class includes royal titles such as kings, queens, emperors, tsars etc, along with their blood relations, their sons and daughters, siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, cousins etc…
In many cases, particularly in ancient times, those who married into a royal family would also acquire royal status.
What Is The Aristocracy?
The aristocracy is the class immediately below the members of royalty. These include such noble ranks as Duke and Duchess, Count and Countess, Baron and Baroness, Viscount and Viscountess, as well as Earls, Lords, and Ladies.
This social order was historically composed of the most esteemed members of non-royal society, who were ennobled in service to the monarchy, or as a reward for notable achievements.
Aristocrats are not, by definition, classed as royalty, though they could be seen as the next best thing, and perhaps, the class who live most closely to the royal circles.
This distinction between royalty and aristocracy helps to explain the difference between a princess and a duchess, but to clarify even further, here are the definitions of both these titles in their simplest form.
What Is A Princess?
In the most common definitions, a princess is
- the daughter of a monarch (emperor, empress, king, queen, tsar, tsarina)
- the daughter of a royal prince or princess
- or the wife of a prince.
A princess is the female equivalent of a prince in the conventional royal hierarchies.
The title of princess is regarded as a regal rank, i.e. she is a high-ranking member of the family of a reigning monarch or sovereign.
A princess can also be the wife of a ruler of a Principality, or in theory, the ruler herself. For example, when Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III in the legendary faith-tale wedding of the 1950s, she became Princess Grace.
Even though her husband was the reigning monarch, Princess Grace was not a queen, because Monaco is a principality as opposed to a kingdom. She was also regarded as a princess Consort, which reflects her princess status being acquired through marriage rather than by birth.
In a similar way, it’s been proposed that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the wife of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, will be styled as Queen Consort when her husband becomes king.
What Is A Duchess?
In the most common definitions, a duchess is
- The wife of a Duke
- The owner of a duchy or dukedom in her own right
A duchess is the female equivalent of a duke in the majority of the noble systems of aristocracy that evolved during the Middle Ages, and that still exist in many social systems throughout Europe and around the world.
The Difference Between A Princess And A Duchess
While the systems of royal ranking and aristocracy are complex and vary from nation to nation, generally speaking;
- A princess is royal, ie a member of the royal family
- A duchess is an aristocrat, i.e. a member of the nobility.
So the difference between a princess and a duchess is that a princess is a member of royalty, where as a duchess is not, she is a member of the aristocracy (the class immediately below royalty in many of the traditional social orders)
In terms of social ranking, a princess would ordinarily outrank a duchess.
Exceptions To The Rule
Although these clear distinctions reveal the difference between a princess and a duchess in the simplest terms, in reality, there is sometimes some overlap between the two .
One instance of this is the example above, that of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who became a duchess upon her marriage to a prince, yet may also become a HRH (Her Royal Highness) which denotes the highest level of royalty within the current British social system.
Similarly, while Kate Middleton is not of royal blood, when she married Prince William she became the Duchess of Cambridge; but when Prince Charles ascended to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, she became Princes Catherine when her husband, Prince William, became the Prince of Wales.
Throughout the centuries there have also been occasions when a member of the royal family may also hold additional roles or lands that include an aristocratic title. For example, the Queen of England is also the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy, and therefore is, in effect, also a Duchess, though curiously her title is traditionally styled as the Duke of Normandy.
What About A Royal Duchess?
In another layer of complexity and nuance that is typical of the nobility, there are also occasions where a duchess is regarded as royalty, for example in the case of ArchDuchesses or GrandDuchesses.
As the countries and social systems of Europe evolved over the centuries of the medieval period and the Renaissance, some monarchies did not define their lands as kingdoms or empires, but instead they were known as royal Dukedoms.
One famous example is the ArchDuchy of Austria and its iconic Hapsburg dynasty. This family were the undoubted royal rulers of the nation, and their considerable wealth and power ensured they were regarded as esteemed sovereign monarchs around the world.
In some systems, an ArchDuchess may be considered ranking below that of a king or queen (or emperor or empress), yet ranking above a royal prince or princess.
So, the difference between a princess and a duchess comes down to a question of royalty. Ordinarily, a princess is a royal and a higher social rank than a duchess. Yet there’s a wealth of complex criteria that also play out in the social circles of sovereigns and nobles, and while these may seem like technicalities or minor official details, in the real life worlds of princesses and duchesses, these distinctions can matter a great deal.