How could Victor have been a prince?

[Leandra]

Okay, so I've been delving into some research about this.

In Vampire Academy it's perfectly clear that Victor has the title 'Prince' from the Dashkov family and that he is in his forties.

In Frostbite, (this is NOT a spoiler) we learn that even the Contas (which are the second smallest royal family) have over two hundred Contas. Since the Dashkov's are the seventh biggest clan, you can easily say they probably have a couple thousand Moroi.

In Spirit Bound (this is NOT a spoiler) we also learn that most of the people on the council (the princes and princesses) are usually over the age of forty-five (which is considered young) and that the title could be passed on, but that it only happens really rarely.

Doesn't it seem odd that out of all of those thousands of Dashkov's, Victor (only being in his forties) seems to have been endowed with the title 'Prince'? There must have been at least a few hundred Dashkov's older than him, right?