Where Does Queen Elizabeth Get Royal Titles? Are They Plucked From Thin Air?

One of the fascinating and intriguing things about royals is their titles, which they seem to accumulate over time. For instance, Queen Elizabeth II gave Prince William and Prince Harry the titles Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex, respectively, when they got married.

But this title-giving business by Queen Elizabeth II is not so clear to most royal family fans. For instance, some have always wondered where Her Majesty gets these sometimes exotic-sounding names, which even prompted a few people to speculate that perhaps she might have plucked them right out of thin air.

There are those who believe that they’re just recycled. “I am not sure exactly how it is done,” Martin McGregor wrote on Quora. “Over many centuries, many of the old titles have reverted to the Crown or have been confiscated, so the Monarchy has a stock of titles to hand out.”

Another Quora user, Stephen West, basically agrees with McGregor’s opinion but also added that it’s ultimately the Queen’s prerogative what particular title to choose from the list of available unused titles.

“She chooses from the ones that exist but have no current incumbent as that particular families male line died out,” West wrote on the Q&A site. “How or why she chooses particular ones is entirely her own decision.”

Interestingly, a few Quora users believe that Her Majesty will choose an existing one, such as William’s Duke of Cambridge or Harry’s Duke of Sussex, for major titles. However, she might opt to create something entirely new if it’s just a subsidiary title.

“She usually chooses from one of those for the major title, as with Princes William and Harry, with the Dukedoms of Cambridge and Sussex,” Elizabeth Davies wrote on Quora. “However, for their subsidiary titles, they seem to be made up out of thin air, to give new Dukes titles in all countries of Britain.”

“Similarly with new Earldoms, where the recipient has some say, they are conjured from scratch,” Davies continued. She gave two examples to support her answer — Prince Edwards’ Earl of Wessex title, as well as the Earldom of Snowdon title for Princess Margaret's husband, Anthony Armstrong Jones.

Another Quora user, David Grain, shares the same view. “If they run out of these titles then they will just make up new ones,” Grain wrote. “For obvious political reasons they will never be names of places now in the Republic of Ireland although Irish titles still exist.”

For fans who might be wondering if they can obtain their own royal title, the chances of getting one are rather slim as there are only two ways to get it. “You’re born with it, or Her Majesty gives it to you,” wrote Mental Floss.