I think I should rather call this
Fandangled Friday because I fear that I might be getting too technical here.
Aaaah well, it’s my blog and I’ll post it. There’s no harm in trying to
encourage a bit of brain exercise.
So to rehash the basics of last week, the
categories of Royalty in order of precedence (as discussed so far);
Monarch Level
Emperor/Empress
King/Queen
Sovereign Grand Duke/Sovereign Grand
Duchess
Sovereign Prince/Sovereign Princess
Sovereign Duke/Sovereign Duchess
Sovereign Margrave/Sovereign Margravine
Count Palatine/Countess Palatine
Normally the children and grandchildren of
these are Princes and Princesses by default unless otherwise specified like in
the case of some Empires where they are referred to as Grand
Dukes/Grand Duchesses or Archdukes/Archduchesses.
Royal Level (Royal family)
Crown Prince or Hereditary Prince/Crown
Princess or Hereditary Princess
Prince of the 1st Blood Royal/Princess of
the 1st Blood Royal
Prince of the 2nd Blood Royal/Princess of
the 2nd Blood Royal
A ruling monarch is referred to as Regnant
and the spouse as a Consort. Sometimes these are afforded specific titles to
identify them especially in the case of a male Consort. This also counts for 1st
in line to a throne, who by default would be a Crown or Hereditary Prince but
sometimes have specific titles.
A rare photo taken of the Crown Princess of Hispania in her Hispanian dance recital in Muren. Her full title is, Her Royal Highness the Princess Maria Dolores of Hispania, Princess of Cataljone, Duchess of Alba, Marchioness of Marco-Pirenez, Countess of Barcelona and Baroness of Hidalgo. Please note that the tiltles are Anglicized for our benefit. The Hispanian term for Princess for instance is Infanta. Also note that to shorten her title accurately in order to be recognized as the heir to the Hispanian throne one would refer to her as Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Cataljone.
Noble Level
Noble Prince/Noble Princess
Dukes/Duchess
Marquess/Marchioness
Earl or Count/Countess
Viscount/Viscountess
Baron/Baroness
Lord/Lady
Just like with monarchs, the firstborn of
a Noble inherits his title upon death or abdication. Also, the heir of a Noble
gets to use his father’s highest subsidiary title as his own while in line of
succession. An example will explain it clearly. The current Earl of Cartwright’s
full title and style is as follows; His Lordship, the Lord James Cartwright, 9th
Earl of Cartwright, Viscount Langdon, Baron Langdon of Cartwright. If and when
the Earl has an heir he will be known as, the Honourable Viscount Langdon. All
other children will be referred to as, the Honourable Lord or Lady (name) of
Cartwright. Grandchildren will revert to plain Mr. or Miss. (name) Cartwright. I
know this can get super technical and confusing and above all there are
exceptions and controversies. For any question, please leave a comment on this
post and I will reply.
Wives of Nobility also gain the female
version of their husband’s titles by courtesy. Thus the wife of the Earl
Cartwright will be Her Ladyship the Countess of Cartwright.
Here we see the Earl of Cartwright arriving at the Christmas Ball in 2011 with his mother.
We will discuss the wives of deceased
title holders another day along with what is referred to as the “Gentry Level”
just above commoner.
One of the things that make Royalty and
Nobility, impossible to understand and appreciate is the complete
misunderstanding of “precedence” and “importance’. If one has the sad
misconception of the world of Royalty as being a place of one person being “more
important” than the other then you have and will continue to completely miss
the plot. A King has precedence over his son the Prince. Yet if you ask a
loving father to choose between his own life and that of his son, what would he
choose? The King clearly has importance in one context but then doesn’t in
another. It is for us all to define these contexts and it takes a lifetime.
The point is, a Duke has precedence over a
Baron but he isn’t “more important” or more valuable. That’s a silly notion
caused by hundreds of years of misunderstanding. If you eat food then your lips
touch it before your tongue, then your throat precedes your stomach and then it
gets dissolved into the blood and is transported wherever it is needed. So precedence
explains the fact that everybody has a function and place in the body of a
Kingdom. If the Baron doesn’t like being down the ladder from the King or the
commoner dislikes the Nobility then it just requires putting responsibility
before personal preference. The main factor remains however they are all under
a “crown” and have the benefits and responsibilities of living in a kingdom.
A poignant reminder. The old crown jewels of Scotney, destroyed in the revolution. When Royalty is misunderstood, it either causes conquest from the Royal side or Revolution from the commoner side. To misunderstand Royalty causes sadness. Find the Prince or Princess in your heart, regardless of your place in the world. Be the best "you", you can be.
The main benefit afforded by a Kingdom
over any other government system is plainly, that nothing else provides such an
obvious “fairytale” quality and aspirational forum for happy endings, against all odds.
Hello there!
ReplyDeleteWow... what fun! It's 'fascinating reading about Royalty and the fact that all is illustrated by Barbie Dolls is breathtaking!
Thank you for taking the time to appreciate my blog. I'm very glad you enjoy it. I hope the story inspires you as well.I look forward to many comments and interaction.
DeleteFascinating. I hope we get to see some behind the scenes images of how the jewels are constructed in miniature? Surely this this will intrigue miniature royalists endlessly.
ReplyDeleteNow there is something to look into.
DeleteOh and the Crown Princess of Spain looks like real minx. Just saying!
ReplyDeleteShe is a bit of an enigma as she has lived under extreme guard with her mother for years in a secluded castle. The story will unfold over time obviously but with the new Royal era upon us she has been entered into the Seeress of Muren's Finishing School in the Switzer Confederation. So we will see her emerge on the scene more and more. She is super "minxy' and as hot a spanish girl could be.
DeleteI have some questions:
ReplyDelete1) I am a little confused, because you say: Royalty as we know is only acquired through birth up until the second generation but Nobility can extend in perpetuity in the inherited line. However, in the next sentence you wrote: This means that the grand children of Nobility finally revert to “commoner” status if they are not the one inheriting the existing title. This sounds like a contradiction - unless you meant "Royalty" in that last sentence.
2) Does it mean that Nobility can never become a king or queen? Is it just a title?
3) What is the difference between a sovereign prince and crown prince? Which has the higher right to succession?
4) Would it be possible to elaborate on the specific rights / roles / obligations and priviliges of these titles?
Awesome blog post Dan, thank you! :-)
Hi.
DeleteI'm glad to answer your questions as this topic really is my passion.
1. Royalty and Nobility has its ultimate source in a monarch, like a King or any other sovereign. It is gained in two ways. Firstly it is gained through birth and is diluted through various lines like branches of a tree end up in leaves. Secondly it can be directly bestowed by a monarch on any level to anybody but this happens for very specific reasons and boils down to being something that is earned. A monarch has an heir, then first generation Royalty as children and then second generation Royalty as grandchildren. This is where the simplicity ends. Noble titles are bestowed upon the children and grandchildren of monarchs during their rule. Then when the grandchild of a monarch has children they are seen as Nobility with the elder child gaining the title of the parent just like a crown prince becomes king. As there is one king and many princes who eventually become nobility, so there are many single noble titled individuals who have many noble children who eventually become common. None of this is bad if everybody makes the most of their position. Because this tradition is steeped in almost two thousand years of history there are exceptions to the rule and controversies so it would be silly to see it as a general rule but at the same time it does stand as a pretty well established tradition with rules within it to guide it.
2. Listen when it comes to "who gets to be king?" then it really gets interesting. To answer that would be very easy; anybody can become king of whatever he wants, if he is going to do what it takes and if it is really necessary and the opportunities are there. Napoleon was a commoner who became an Emperor. Catherine the Great was the wife of an Emperor who organized herself to rule in her own right. The first Holy Roman Emperors were elected into position by the other Kings and Princes. Some Kings killed their brothers to get the position and some Kings waged war to gain other Kingdoms in order to have more prestige. Some Kings were plainly asked by the people to rule and to establish a hereditary dynasty.We must all do what is in our hearts to do. Following conscience is very important if you still have one. The best way to become King is to submit to the traditional system and inherit it or to be offered it.
3. A Sovereign Prince is like a King. He rules as a sovereign in his own country called a Principality not a Kingdom. The reason why he is called a Prince is mostly because his country, though an independent state, is probably quite small compared to larger Kingdoms. So your question about line of succession as compared to a Crown Prince now becomes irrelevant unless a certain King dies without any immediate family and a Sovereign Prince from another country happens to end up being the closest relative. This can obviously end up causing political problems.
4. The main responsibility of a monarch is to serve his country as its ruler. To rule in a good way that benefits the well being of the people and the economic growth of the country. He has an obligation to protect and as such has the right to raise an army. He has the burden to police his own subjects and as such heads up a national body of law enforcers and judges. He also has the role of being a moral inspiration to his people and as such is the bearer of the kingdom's image and thus has great wealth in order to display the talent and resource of his people. This answer is very generalized but gives a broad overview. Royal families are their to share these responsibilities and often occupy themselves with charities and national developmental efforts along with serving in the armed forces and other governmental positions. Nobility share this on a lower level and especially get involved with farming, rural development and local business enterprises. Again, a very generalized explanation. Often specific Noble families end up being associated with specific fields, like wine.
So i hope this gives a deeper insight into this particular post. My reply constitutes an actual post but now its written and can be appreciated.
DeleteBy the way, for all those who haven't read last week's Fascinating Friday, please do as it is the precursor to this post and you might have missed some facts.
ReplyDelete