# Royal Titles



## IrelandBeaver (Aug 5, 2014)

I've recently started work on a short story, and I'm trying to figure out titles for members of a royal family. The story focuses on three cousins. One of them has become king after his father died of an illness. The other two, who are brother and sister, are cousins on his mother's side. I'm trying to figure out what their titles would be. I'm not sure they would be considered a prince/princess, duke/duchess or something else. If it helps, their father and the queen are siblings, and they are related to the king by marriage.


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## skip.knox (Aug 6, 2014)

You can of course call them by whatever title you wish, but if you are following European conventions, then it doesn't matter so much their blood relation as it does what lands they hold. If Cousin Itt has a duchy (which would imply he's of age), then he's a Duke. If it's a marquisate, then he's a Marquis. Or Margrave, depending on the language. And so on.

If they are not of age, then I'm less sure. In fact, I'm not sure they would have a title at all. Much depends on which country you are using for your pattern. For example, earls are English and only English.

For more specifics, just search on 'belgian noble titles' or 'french noble titles' or 'hungarian noble titles" etc.  If you are aiming for historical accuracy, pay attention to the century. For example, there were no dukes in England before Edward III. Or was it Edward I? I always have to look it up.


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## CupofJoe (Aug 6, 2014)

One tweak in the UK and may be other European styles is HRH [Her/His Royal Highness]. This is given to those in line of succession, even if they aren't too close to the succession. So it would fit with cousins within a Royal family. You could be HRH Duke of XXX or HRH Princess YYY...


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## Queshire (Aug 6, 2014)

Hmm... Well I wouldn't go with Prince/ss as they're only connected to the royal bloodline through marriage. Same for HRH. Considering their aunt was high ranked enough to be able to marry the king they would have to be fairly highly ranked as well. A duke is about as high as you can get without being actual royalty so that'd work. You could say they're the son and daughter of a duke. If the old duke is still kicking around then they wouldn't be called Duke whatever or anything, however Sir and Dame are convenient short hand for aristocratic fanciness.


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## Bluesboy (Mar 25, 2015)

It may be of help to you that for most of the middle ages, the way nobles adressed the kings and queens were "my lord" and "my lady". Only with Richard II of England were these titles changed into "majesty" or "highness" and all that. So things like "lord King", "lady Queen", "lord Prince" and "lady Princess" may be used to adress the royalty. If the characters are out of the male line of succession of the current royal family (as those cousins in your case), they most probably would be adressed as only "my lord/my lady".


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