Prince Royalty is the royalty for Prince County

Prince County, Prince Edward Island

Prince County, is located in western Prince Edward Island, Canada. The county's defining geographic feature is Malpeque Bay, a sub-basin of the Gulf of St...

, Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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The township was supposed to host the county's shire town, named Princetown, and was surveyed for this purpose during the 1764 colonial survey undertaken by Capt. Samuel J. Holland

Samuel Holland

Samuel Johannes Holland was a Royal Engineer and first Surveyor General of British North America.-Life in the Netherlands:...

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The township is located on a peninsula extending into Malpeque Bay

Malpeque Bay

Malpeque Bay is a bay on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada.-Description:Malpeque Bay is the second largest bay in terms of surface area in Prince Edward Island, following Hillsborough Bay. It is also notable for almost dividing the province; an isthmus occupied by the city of...

 from adjacent Lot 18

Lot 18, Prince Edward Island

Lot 18 is a township in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is part of St. David's Parish....

. Unfortunately, the shallow harbour made it unsuitable for a major port and the commercial centre of the county shifted to an area of Lot 17

Lot 17, Prince Edward Island

Lot 17 is a township in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is part of Richmond Parish....

 township which fronted a sheltered harbour on the Northumberland Strait

Northumberland Strait

The Northumberland Strait is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada...

, which was later named Summerside

Summerside, Prince Edward Island

Summerside is a Canadian city in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is the second largest city in the province and the principal municipality for the western part of the island.- History :...

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Prince Royalty is part of St. David's Parish

St. David's Parish, Prince Edward Island

St. David's Parish is a parish in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.It contains the following townships:* Lot 18* Lot 19* Lot 25* Lot 26* Lot 27* Lot 28It also contains Prince Royalty....

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History

With Prince Royalty being largely unused as a shire town, it saw limited rural settlement by farmers since the Crown, and not a landlord owned the territory, thus an active settlement scheme never transpired. A military road was constructed from the colonial capital at Charlottetown early on and was named the Princetown Road.

Princetown became a village on December 2, 1901 but downgraded its status to a settlement in 1925. Confusingly, the post office

Canada Post

Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...

 changed the community name from Princetown to Malpeque on November 16, 1945; the community of Princetown changed its name to Malpeque on March 13, 1947.

Malpeque's status was further downgraded to a hamlet in 1960 and was amalgamated into the larger community of Malpeque Bay

Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island

Malpeque Bay is a settlement in Prince Edward Island....

in 1973, with Malpeque's status being a locality.