Quote:
Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi
I don't think it's technically true to say that Diana was born a commoner - she was most certainly born into a noble family.
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No, it is technically true.
"Commoner" is commonly (no pun intended) used to mean something along the lines of "someone who is a member of a noble or aristocratic family." But in Britain, it legally (technically) means anyone who is not sovereign, not royalty (meaning the consort or child of the sovereign, a grandchild through a son of the sovereign, or the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales), and not a peer. While in continental Europe, the families of the nobility were themselves considered noble, that is not the case in Britain. A duke or earl is noble, but members of his family are all legally commoners, even if no one thinks of them that way. Courtesy titles do not make one noble; only substantive titles do.
I don't think it's a slam to say that Diana was a commoner, or that Kate is. After all, two of the Queen's grandchildren -- Peter and Zara Phillips -- are also commoners (and would be even if their father had been made a peer).
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