I brought this up years ago on these message boards. It seems in the United Kingdom only women Born Into the royal family are allowed to call themselves Princess followed by their first name.
Women who marry into the Royal Family will take the feminine form of their husbands highest title. For example, Prince Michael of Kent does not have a peerage so Prince is his highest title and therefore his wife is known as Princess Michael of Kent. Not being born into the royal family she does not get to call herself Princess Marie-Christine.
The most famous example of this was Lady Diana Spencer.nTechnically her correct title was Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales yet the entire press and many others incorrectly called her Princess Diana.
I even learned that this tradition was carried out even back in the day of Queen Victoria's time. For example, any woman marrying into the royal family then still were not able to call themselves Princess followed by their first name despite the fact that they may have been born Royal in another royal family. Of course most books I read ignore that and will still refer to Princess Alexandra of Denmark as Princess Alexandra even after her marriage to the Prince of Wales the future King Edward VII.
So for my understanding Princess Alexandra Denmark was in the same boat as Lady Diana Spencer and neither were allowed to call themselves Princess followed by their first name.
One of the reasons I started this thread was to say that this rule should be changed and women who marry into the royal family should be allowed to call themselves Princess followed by their first name.
The number one reason why I suggest this is because only historians like myself and people who understand how people are titled in the British royal family follow this rule. The majority of the press and people who follow royalty don't follow this rule.
That's why I see many people calling the current Princess of Wales either Princess Catherine or Princess Kate. And there are quite a few followers of the Duchess of Sussex calling her Princess Megan. However I do find it ironic that nobody calls The Duchess of Edinburgh Princess Sophie.
So whether you call her a princess by marriage or a princess in her own right I believe the United Kingdom should allow women who marry into the Royal Family to call themselves Princess followed by their first name.
This should last the duration of the marriage if they get divorced, but if the princess becomes a widow they should still be allowed to use princess followed by their first name for the rest of their lives.
Doesn't it depend on the country and its laws/procedures? Maxima was created a Princess of the Netherlands and was known as Princess Maxima before her husbands succession. But her two sisters-in-law, who are simply Princesses by marriage, are also known as Princess First Name.
Am I correct in thinking that it is only the UK that maintains the conceit that only UK-born princesses are known in the UK as Princess Given Name, and that all other women, including foreign-born princesses such as Marina, become Princess Husband's First Name?
In fact, I suspect that Marina, who was like Philip, a British subject at the time of her marriage, was probably entitled to her Princess-ship in her own right, as, probably was Lady Katherine Brandram and the various other European royals who gave up their royal titles for British citizenship which, as Protestant descendants of the Electress Sophia, they already held.
But there are many posters who know more about this than I, and whose views I would value.
http://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/178