The three Dutch Princesses, even Princess Catarina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, already have their shared Coat of Arms confirmed. Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, in Belgium is the same, although her Arms are 'simply' those for a female member of the Royal Family. If we add Ingrid Alexandra in Norway, there is little chance of their Coats of Arms developing beyond the basic, even when they reach their majority, further than receiving their respective country's highest Order of Chivalry. This has already happened with Leonor in Spain though, but, to my mind, she has received the Order of the Golden Fleece too soon. Sweden's royal children, however, have their Coats of Arms, Monogram and the Order of the Seraphim conferred on them shortly after birth and at their christening respectively. One presumes that Estelle will be elevated to the Chain of the Order of the Seraphim when she becomes Crown Princess, if not at the age of 18, to match her younger brother Oscar who, as the State Archive confirms, already has the Chain - presumably a remnant of male-preference primogeniture, when sons were preferred over daughters.
Denmark will see a new generation with the children of brothers Frederick and Joachim. Both Christian and Isabelle have Monograms and Christian may be assigned a Coat of Arms when he gains his majority as the eldest son of the Crown Prince and heir to the heir. No other children of Frederick or Joachim have Monograms. But what concerns me is that Prince Nikolai, Joachim's eldest son and Queen Margrethe's eldest Grandson, has not been assigned Arms, not even a repeat of his Father's, let alone a Monogram and he is 20 this year. There doesn't seem to be any urgency within the Danish Court, either, which doesn't bode well. But, then again, Nikolai has not received any Order of Chivalry such as the Order of the Elephant, he 'only' has medals such as Her Majesty's 70th Birthday Medal. We shall see...
One thing that does intrigue me is Spain. (Regular) actual usage or decrees do not go further than King Felipe, King Juan Carlos and The Princess of the Asturias. Even Queens Letizia and Sophia's Coats of Arms seem to be designed more by tradition than by decree or official assignment. The only certain differences are those between Felipe as reigning King and Juan Carlos as 'King Emeritus'. These are stipulated respectively by the amendment to Title II of Royal Decree 527/2014 (for King Felipe VI) and the original contents of the Title II of Spanish Royal Decree 1511/1977 (for King Juan Carlos) and can be seen in their respective Garter Banners in St George's Chapel, Windsor. Leonor's Coat of Arms as heir and Princess of the Asturias was confirmed by Royal Decree 979 on 30 October 2015. The Label of the Prince(ss) of the Asturias is traditionally plain blue. Labels for the rest of the Royal Family seem to have been late arrivals which started off as white to match British Royal Labels but now (maybe with the accession of King Felipe) have changed to blue as well. Even Spanish heraldic blogger Blog de Heráldica only states that the Labels are attributed and Heralder says that they are unofficial. And while no mention of her change of Label was mentioned when Infanta Cristina had her Ducal title revoked, Heralder cites Proyecto Galicia : Serie de Heráldica Genealogía y Nobiliaria. T. V (LVIII). La Coruña: Hércules de Ediciones, 2011. ISBN 978-84-92715-31-2. P. 529. as confirmation that her new Label represents her Mother, Queen Sophia's Arms, namely a three-pointed Label with a central white Cross (Greece) all on a blue background. This may work in this instance, however, for example, Princess Sophia's is supposed to carry three red Roses (from her Mother Queen Letizia's Arms) but this does not seem to work well on a blue background. Usage, which would confirm either way, seems to be lacking.
Personalmente considero como la mejor propuesta...
Personally, I consider the best proposal...
British Royal Heraldry has, for a number of years, settled down to a system of plain white Labels with three and five Points to reflect the generations. With Princes William and Harry, a new element was introduced which was carried on for their cousins Beatrice and Eugenie of replacing the historical elements on the Labels of St George's Crosses, Roses, blue Anchors, etc with Charges from their respective maternal Coats of Arms - namely red Scallop Shells, Bees and Thistle Heads. With HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex having been assigned a Tudor Rose on his Label and The Countess bearing a backward-looking Lion within an Orle (or Border) on a red and blue quartered background, one wonders what Label will be assigned, first of all, to their daughter Louise when she reaches her majority in 2 years' time. In fact, will she be assigned a Label if she continues to be called Lady Louise Windsor instead of HRH Princess Louise of Wessex and, ultimately, Louise of Edinburgh?
We also have an interesting subtle development which has appeared in the Coats of Arms assigned to Royal Spouses. Traditionally they have had a sinister (right-hand) Supporter assigned either based on their father's Coat of Arms (Diana, Princess of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall) or from new (Sophie, Countess of Wessex) which has both a Coronet of rank around its neck AND a Chain 'reflexed' over the animal's back. This has been to reflect the Royal Supporter it replaces, namely the Scottish Unicorn. (Heraldic Unicorns have traditionally been shown as chained.) Despite assurances to the contrary, this may have been perceived as if representing the spouse is being ‘chained’ to the Royal Family. With Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and now Meghan, Duchess of Suffolk, their personal Supporter no longer sports a chain attached its Coronet.
My first query is, what would happen if HM The Queen reached the age of 102 and her Great-Grandson Prince George of Cambridge reaches his majority? Would he be assigned a Label? What would his Coronet be? Of course, in the tradition of British Royalty, this situation will only be confronted if and when the matter arises...
The other matter which is more likely to arise was raised in a previous Blog. What will happen with The Duchess of Cornwall if and as she does become Princess Consort? Will she rise in rank alongside her husband, but drop in rank heraldically and adopt a Coronet with no arch?
We shall see...