Why Zara Tindall’s children don’t hold royal titles as Queen’s great-grandchildren

Royal titles are much more complicated than many might think, with some of the Queen's great-grandchildren being princes and princesses and others not.

Most notably, the three children of Zara Tindall do not hold the titles.

Zara, 40 is the daughter of Princess Anne and her ex-husband Captain Mark Phillips. Zara married former rugby player Mike Tindall, 43 and took his last name and the couple have three children together, Mia, Lena and Lucas.

However none of the three are hold the title of Prince or Princess like some of the Queen's other great-grandchildren.

The reason that they do not hold the titles is simple, they come through a female bloodline, therefore making them ineligible for HRH status.

It is said the Queen offered Princess Anne, Zara's mother, the option of a Princess title for her oldest grandchild at birth, but her mother opted against giving either her daughter or son titles.

This left Zara free to establish her own career, choosing to become an established equestrian, despite still being a member of the Royal Family.

Zara has since called herself "very lucky" for this decision, since it allowed her to have a relatively normal childhood.

The way it is decided who can and cannot have a title is under the George V convention which was put into place over a century ago.

This convention states that only the monarch's children and grandchildren must have come through the male bloodline or through the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, which is Prince William, to be eligible for the title.

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Therefore Zara's children, Mia, Lena and Lucas are only referred to as Master and Miss- but are still very much a part of the Royal Family.

Mia is 22nd in line to the throne behind her mum who is 21st in line, while Lena and Lucas are 23rd and 24th.

This however, does not explain why all three of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hold titles. The George V convention issued in 1917 should mean that only Prince George, the eldest son, should have HRH status.

Instead the Queen simply intervened before the birth of William and Kate's first child to ensure that all of the Cambridge children would bare a royal title.

There was some controversy surrounding the children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are actually not yet eligible for royal titles, as Prince Harry is not the eldest child and his father is not yet the reigning Monarch.

However, when Prince Charles is on the throne, Archie and Lillibet Mountbatten-Windsor will be entitled to HRH status as grandchildren of the Monarch.

Zara Tindall, formerly Phillips, married former England rugby ace Mike Tindall in 2011 after meeting in 2003.

They met during England's Rugby World Cup campaign in Australia where they were introduced to each other in a Sydney bar by Prince Harry, Zara's cousin.

The loved up pair announced their engagement in 2010 and have gone on to have three children, Mia, eight, Lena, three and baby Lucas.

Lucas, who was welcomed to the world last year, has the middle name Phillip as a touching tribute to his great-grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh and to Mike's dad.

The couple revealed that he was born on their bathroom floor after they were unable to make it in time for a birth at the hospital.

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