Her reasoning was simple: she wanted her children to have the freedom of a normal life, without the complications that royal honours bring.
Zara later expressed her gratitude for that decision.
“I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do,” she said. Her three children — Mia, Lena, and Lucas — also do not hold royal titles.
How the Rules Later Changed
Queen Elizabeth II did not revisit the issue of royal titles until 2012, when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced they were expecting their first child.
Not knowing whether the future heir would be a boy or a girl, the Queen issued a new Letters Patent. This document ensured that all of William and Kate’s children would carry the titles of prince or princess, reflecting the shift to absolute primogeniture — allowing the eldest child, regardless of gender, to remain ahead in the line of succession.
This also prevented the situation that Princess Anne experienced in her youth, when younger brothers Andrew and Edward overtook her in the succession line.