Francois R. Velde
2004-06-01 13:35:08 UTC
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR ALT.TALK.ROYALTY
-- ROYAL & NOBLE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD --
SUMMARY:
This regular posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) and their answers and other useful information about royal and
noble families of the world, excluding Britain's royal and noble
families. (The British Royal & Noble Families FAQ can be found at
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/britfaq.html) It should be read by
anyone who wishes to post to the alt.talk.royalty newsgroup.
Note: the FAQ contains European characters (accented letters) which
may not show on your browser/newsreader or may show garbled
characters. Ask your Internet Service Provider for an "8-bit clean
feed" if you have this problem.
Last updated: 28 May 2004
For comments, additions, or suggestions, please contact the maintainer
François Velde (http://www.heraldica.org/contact.html).
_________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents:
Part I: Introduction
1. What is alt.talk.royalty?
2. How do I access alt.talk.royalty?
3. Welcome to alt.talk.royalty!
4. History of the alt.talk.royalty FAQ
5. Basic newsgroup "netiquette".
6. What kind of postings are appropriate in alt.talk.royalty?
7. Examples of "good" and "bad" posts.
8. Are there archives where I can find older posts on a subject?
9. What other newsgroups and chat groups are there?
10. Can I sell or advertise in this newsgroup?
11. Where can I get the latest version of the FAQ?
Part II: Royal Families of the World
1. Are there other monarchies in the world besides England?
2. Who are the members of the European royal families?
3. What are the dynastic names of the European royal families?
4. Lines of succession to the current European Thrones.
5. Laws of succession for the current European monarchies.
6. Lines of succession to the current non-European Thrones.
7. What are the differences between HRH, HH and HSH?
8. What are the styles and titles of the world's current monarchs?
9. What are the full titles of the current European monarchs?
10. Formerly-reigning monarchs and present-day claimants in Europe and
the Americas since 1849.
11. When did the world's current monarchs succeed?
12. Birthdays of the world's current monarchs.
13. Official Birthdays and National Holidays.
14. Royal Landmarks (Places of Interest).
15. What are the addresses of the world's current monarchs?
16. How are the Reuss princes numbered and why are they all named
Heinrich?
17. What happens when a king dies and his widow is pregnant?
Part III: Nobility
1. What does it mean to be a noble?
2. What does it mean to be a German noble?
Part IV: Resources
1. On-line Sources of Information
2. Useful Addresses
3. Electronic (on-line) Magazines
4. Bibliography
5. Lexicon
_________________________________________________________________
Part I: Introduction
1. What is alt.talk.royalty?
alt.talk.royalty is an unmoderated newsgroup created for the purpose
of discussion of all aspects of royalty and nobility of any time
period anywhere in the world. There is no mailing list gated to this
group. Please remember that one cannot subscribe to or unsubscribe
from alt.talk.royalty via a mailing list, as is the case, e.g., for
soc.genealogy.medieval.
alt.talk.royalty was first proposed in December 1994 and was created
in February 1995 (according to:
ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/control/alt/alt.talk.royalty)
Despite the FAQ compiler's efforts, it has not been determined who
began alt.talk.royalty nor who is responsible for composing its
charter.
The charter states: "The group is oriented to discussion of royalty
and nobility of all nationalities, both present day and historical.
Discussions of the British royal family, the possibility of a restored
Russian monarchy, Henry VIII's foibles, and the forms of address used
in the Spanish court would all be appropriate. Advertising and
commercialism are not welcome, especially since everyone knows that
involvement in retail commerce results in attainder!"
All those who have access to alt.talk.royalty and are interested in
royalty and nobility are encouraged to participate. (Before interested
individuals "discovered" alt.talk.royalty and began posting to it
regularly, they posted their questions in rec.heraldry.) The scope of
the group encompasses topics such as the sovereigns or rulers of
nations, royal and noble genealogies, vital statistics (births,
marriages, deaths), lines of succession, royal residences,
biographies, current events, pretenders or claimants to thrones,
mistresses and illegitimate children, so on and so forth.
alt.talk.royalty is not here for the glorification of royalty. All
views, positive, negative and in-between, are permitted. We are here
to talk about royalty and nobility. You will find, however, most
people who post to alt.talk.royalty talk in favor of royalty and that
they are not anti-royalist. You can express anti-royalist sentiments,
but it is a fair assumption that you will get a heated and vociferous
response. Royalty discussions can bring out the best and the worst in
people; they engender strong emotions and opinions.
alt.talk.royalty has in its midst authors, genealogists, historians,
journalists and other such posters (and lurkers). Some of our members
post to the group while others prefer to lurk. Our members are
international: as of this edition of the FAQ, the majority are from
the United States, while the rest are from Australia, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and
the United Kingdom.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. How do I access alt.talk.royalty?
alt.talk.royalty is an Internet (or Usenet) newsgroup. To access it,
you need a "client" (software application) on your computer and access
to a "news (or Usenet) server". The client will connect to the server,
retrieve the posts, and send your own replies. The server will then
disseminate your posts to the rest of the world.
If you have access to the Web, your web browser can serve as client,
and you can access a server over the Web. See Yahoo directory for
"Usenet servers" for a list. Google Groups (http://groups.google.com)
also offers access.
Alternatively, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ask
them if they have a news server and what software they provide to
connect to it. Again, your web browser can serve as a news client to
connect to the news server.
Back to Table of Contents
3. Welcome to alt.talk.royalty!
This purpose of this chapter is to provide useful information for new
members of alt.talk.royalty. First-time users, or even those who've
been here a few times, have found the newsgroup's atmosphere
intimidating. When posting for the first time, some people find
themselves the object of criticism or downright abuse. The
new-to-the-group poster might not understand that that kind of
behavior happens with regularity in newsgroups. And so, at the
suggestion of some alt.talk.royalty regulars, the FAQ compiler and
maintainer has developed this section which will hopefully explain the
personalities of the regular members as well as provide tips on how to
"survive" in alt.talk.royalty.
One of the first things that is noticeable about alt.talk.royalty is
that it has a dual personality. Some days, it has a pleasant, quiet,
stress-free atmosphere, while on other days it can be testy, noisy and
combative. Some days, it can be academic and instructive in tone, yet
gossipy and disruptive on other days. It has been suggested that,
generally speaking, the male members of alt.talk.royalty are
competitive (with some positively thriving on this), while the female
members seem cooperative. For the most part, alt.talk.royalty's
members are pro-royalty/monarchy. What sets us apart are our personal
perspectives and biases.
alt.talk.royalty has quite an interesting mix of people. While we
can't tell you about the lurkers (they obviously prefer to remain
anonymous), we can tell you about those who post with some regularity.
There are authors (Greg King, author of The Last Empress; Marlene
Koenig, author under the name of Marlene A. Eilers, of Queen
Victoria's Descendants; Peter Kurth, author of Anastasia: The Riddle
of Anna Anderson; Ted Rosvall, author of Bernadotte-Attlingar; William
Addams Reitwiesner, author of The American Ancestors and Relatives of
Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Guy Stair Sainty, author of The Orders of
Chivalry and Merit of the Bourbon Two Sicilies Dynasty, Daniel Willis,
author under the name of Daniel Brewer-Ward of The House of Habsburg:
a genealogy of the descendants of Empress Maria Theresia), art dealer
(Guy Stair Sainty), journalist and translator (Grant Menzies), lawyer
(Patrick Cracroft- Brennan), librarian (Noel McFerran), medical doctor
(Sam Dotson), university professors (Stephen Stillwell, Peter
Kurrild-Klitgaard, and Jeffrey Taliaferro, the last two political
scientists), some who share ancestors with royalty or are descendants
of royalty (Frank Johansen and Grant Menzies), and even an aristocrat
or two (Gilbert von Studnitz and Eric von Ehrenberg). Of course, there
are also the average, everyday type of person who posts to
alt.talk.royalty.
If one observes alt.talk.royalty for some time, individual types
become obvious and one finds that they usually view and respond about
royalty/monarchy in a predictable way. For example, there are the
absolute monarchists (Louis Epstein, Noel McFerran), the genealogists
(Sam Dotson, Marlene Koenig, Steven Lavallee, William Addams
Reitwiesner, Darren Shelton, Paul Theroff, Daniel Willis), the
historians (François Velde), the legalists (Paul Johnson, Guy Stair
Sainty), the legitimists (Dimitry Macedonsky), so on and so on. One
can continue to categorize alt.talk.royalty's members into those types
who enjoy the gossip/daily lives aspect of royalty, those whose only
interest is the British royal family enthusiasts (with a subset
focussed on Diana, Princess of Wales), those who view royalty from a
religious aspect, from a political aspect, so on and so forth.
Some of alt.talk.royalty's members use an alias, but most post under
their real names. Some posters have obvious favorite areas and share
willingly their knowledge. Other posters are more generalists, but
share their knowledge with the same generosity. Some posters will only
post or reply when their favorite topic comes up for discussion. Other
posters will reply to just about everything and anything. Some of the
regulars always provide references for their replies which can annoy
some people, while others feel it useful and informative. Other
posters never cite their sources. Some posters reply to questions
succinctly while others provide mini-essays. Some posters will point
out spelling and grammar errors while others never do so. Some
posters reply to others in a light- hearted way while others are
business-like. Some posters will criticize another member's question
for whatever reason, while other posters will reply kindly and
helpfully. Some posters have strong beliefs and won't budge an inch
when discussing a particular topic, while others seem flexible and
willing to see other points of view. Lastly, some of the nastier
posters (and they are only a handful, thankfully) almost always use
foul language, are rude and hurtful and seem to be in alt.talk.royalty
only to disrupt the group.
New members and not-so-new ones will probably realize at this point
that given these types of personalities, it would not be easy to post
with confidence in alt.talk.royalty. The FAQ compiler and maintainer
has received emails from people who feel they've been poorly treated
by the regulars. Because of this, they chose to lurk instead of
posting in the group or vow never to return to alt.talk.royalty. Some
posters almost always behave in a certain way and their criticisms
shouldn't be taken personally because that is how they behave to just
about everyone. It is almost guaranteed that when a person posts to a
newsgroup he or she will eventually be criticized or abused. Please
don't be intimidated by the bad manners of some and leave
alt.talk.royalty too soon. There are lots of us who welcome newcomers
and we appreciate your ideas and input!
Back to Table of Contents
4. History of the alt.talk.royalty FAQ
There was talk in early 1996 of creating a FAQ for alt.talk.royalty
and some work for one had been started by members of the group. It
did not materialize into a finished product, however. A few months
later, in August 1996, another member of the group (Mark Odegard)
posted a titles FAQ to the group. It was called "A Glossary of
European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles". (It can now be
found on the WWW at:
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm.)
Nonetheless, alt.talk.royalty remained without a general, all-purpose
FAQ until May 1997. At that time, a rough draft version of a FAQ was
posted to the group; it had been created by Yvonne Demoskoff with the
help of several members. A number of additions, corrections and
suggestions were made over the next few months and by November 1997
the rough draft was replaced with an official first version.
In June 1998, the FAQ was posted once again to the newsgroup but this
time it was in two distinct parts: one was called the Brit-FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions for alt.talk.royalty - British Royal &
Noble Families) and the other was called the non-Brit-FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions for alt.talk.royalty - Non-British Royal & Noble
Families).
In August 1998, François Velde took over the maintenance of the
various alt.talk.royalty FAQs.
Back to Table of Contents
5. Basic newsgroup "netiquette".
Before posting to any Usenet group, please read the introductory
articles in the newsgroup news.announce.newusers. There, Emily
Postnews will help you through some netiquette you need to know before
posting.
We highly recommend "lurking", that is, reading messages without
posting anything for a few weeks so that you get an idea of how people
typically phrase their postings. This will also give you an idea of
the flow of the newsgroup, the personalities of the regulars, and the
like. The easiest way to learn how to post in a.t.r. is to watch how
others do it. Start by reading the posts and try to figure out what
people are doing and why. After a few weeks, you will start to
understand why certain things are done and what things shouldn't be
done.
Occasionally, you will see trolls (strong worded postings intended
only to provoke a lot of replies), flames and off-topic posts. The
best way to deal with these kinds of postings is to ignore them. If
your newsreader program allows the use of a kill-file make use of it
to filter out undesirable postings. Alternatively, if you see a
blatantly offensive message, do not respond with another post.
Instead, send a strong complaint to <***@posters.site> and
<***@posters.site>.
One last point to remember concerning inappropriate behavior: our
newsgroup, in common with other newsgroups, has its share of people
who seek to disrupt the group collectively and/or its posters
individually. alt.talk.royalty and its FAQ might not have an official
policy as to how one should deal with such disruptive behavior, but it
can suggest the following: DNFTEC. This stands for "Do Not Feed The
Energy Creature". An energy creature's favorite feeding tactic is to
try to hurt people's feelings or get them angry. The Energy Creature
can then feed off the pain and anger it has generated. Its second
favorite tactic is to hurt one person or the group's feelings while
gathering the sympathy of others. That way, when the injured party
lashes back, others will jump to the Energy Creature's defense. The
Energy Creature feeds off the attention and the negative energy
generated by the people fighting. Newsgroups will never be completely
rid of such obnoxious, offensive and ill-mannered beings, but much can
be done to keep the situation under control by remembering this simple
formula: DNFTEC. If the Energy Creature gets a response, it gets
stronger. If it is ignored, it will eventually weaken, wither and go
away. Remember: do not to feed the energy creatures.
Back to Table of Contents
6. What kind of postings are appropriate in alt.talk.royalty?
We are an unmoderated newsgroup. The only things not allowed here are
things prohibited by Usenet protocol, such as spams (the posting of
off-topic material to many Usenet groups) and illegal postings (e.g.
chain letters, sending non-exportable things, threatening to kill
people). However, inappropriate topics or posts are those which are
completely unrelated to royalty and nobility.
Attachments, whether they are text (batch files, system files) or
binaries (audio, video, pictures such as .JPGs, .GIFs, .TIFs and the
like, programs, and "web" files such as HTML, HTM, SHTML) are also
inappropriate. Binaries must be kept in groups with binaries in the
name; they cannot appear in alt.talk.royalty. If news administrators
find binaries in a.t.r., they could kill the group and move it to the
alt.binaries section. A better way of dealing with binaries is to post
the binary in a binaries group and to write a note in a.t.r. telling
the group where the particular binary can be found. In other words, do
not post anything other than plain text in our non-binary newsgroup.
Posts which refer to royalty and nobility in a negative way (such as
suggesting that one monarchy in particular, or all monarchies in
general should be overthrown), while not off-topic, will usually get
no response. Most of the posters in alt.talk.royalty are fully aware
of the strengths and weaknesses of hereditary systems, and are
participating in this newsgroup to explore the intricacies of these
systems, rather than to engage in flamewars with persons who are
opposed to the idea of these systems.
Patently offensive remarks are inappropriate.
Back to Table of Contents
7. Examples of "good" and "bad" posts.
Let's begin with "bad" posts:
"Please tell me EVERYTHING about Princess Diana."
"I need to know ALL the people in line to the British throne;
my homework is due tomorrow!"
"I'm looking for information about the kings of England."
-- these types of posts are usually met with well deserved
sarcasm or risk being completely ignored
"So-and-so is an idiot and should be shot!"
-- personal comments or attacks on a.t.r. members have no place
in a royalty newsgroup; take it to private e-mail, if you must
"This is a test."
-- there isn't any reason to test alt.talk.royalty, the system
works fine. If you have to test something, do it in a group
with 'test' in it such as alt.test or misc.test.
And now "good" posts:
"Who succeeded King George II?"
"Why does Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her birthday in April and in
June?"
"Where is King Henry VIII buried?"
"Can someone tell me how King George V and Tsar Nicholas II are
related?"
(these "bad" and "good" posts are examples only and will not be
necessarily found in the FAQ)
Points to Remember:
* when the topic in a post has changed, please reflect that in the
subject heading by indicating the new subject and including a
reference to the old subject heading
* we suggest reading all the existing responses to a query before
posting one's own response; maybe the question has already been
answered, and the name of the game is not to show off how much one
knows
* people don't like to read things again and again; therefore, try
to avoid large quotes; quote only what you respond to
* please keep the lines of your messages to under 70 characters;
long lines will overflow when quoted by others and become very
difficult to read
* remember, it is generally considered rude to post private e-mail
correspondence without the permission of the author of that mail
* be careful about infringing upon copyrights and licenses; when
quoting, do not use more of the work than is necessary to make
your commentary; for more information on copyright, read
"Copyright Myths FAQ: 10 big myths about copyright explained"
found at the following URL:
http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html
* posts may be in any language, but will probably be understood by
the largest audience if in English
Back to Table of Contents
8. Are there archives where I can find older posts on a subject?
Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not keep posts for more than
one or two weeks. Therefore, to find older posts, head over to the WWW
and check out "Google Groups" (formerly known as Deja News) at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=alt.talk.royalty
Once there, you will be able to search old posts back to April 1995.
This is also a good starting point to see what questions have already
been asked in our newsgroup. It's possible that your particular
question has already been asked.
Back to Table of Contents
9. What other newsgroups and chat groups are there?
Some newsgroups that deal with royalty and/or related subjects are:
* alt.gossip.royalty
* rec.heraldry (discussions of coats of arms and of the honors they
can depict)
* soc.genealogy.medieval (discussions of genealogy, royal or
otherwise, mainly of the Middle Ages)
* soc.history
* soc.history.ancient
* soc.history.medieval
N.B.: not all ISPs carry "alt." and "clari." newsgroups; however, they
can be accessed by visiting the Google Groups web site at:
http://groups.google.com
We suggest that you find out more about these newsgroups by reading
their FAQs, if available, or by lurking, so that you post your queries
in the appropriate group and not haphazardly cross-post to all of
them.
America Online (AOL) features chat groups about royalty for its
members. The royalty chats meet almost daily and the topics range from
discussions about the late Diana, Princess of Wales to the Romanovs to
the Tudors.
Back to Table of Contents
10. Can I sell or advertise in this newsgroup?
Usenet procedures heavily discourage advertising in newsgroups not
specifically designed for commerce. Having said that, one-time offers
to sell or buy books, and such, about British royalty and nobility,
will be tolerated. Those who wish to regularly advertise should post
their messages in the appropriate newsgroups (for example,
alt.genealogy.marketplace).
Back to Table of Contents
11. Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?
You can obtain the latest version of the FAQ by visiting its web site
at:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/atrfaq.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Part II: Royal Families of the World
1. Are there other monarchies in the world besides England?
We're glad you asked this question because it certainly seems to many
people that the United Kingdom (aka England) has the monopoly on
"royalty" and "royal family". The U.K. is but one of thirty-one
monarchies left today. Note that this list does not include
Commonwealth monarchies where Queen Elizabeth II is a monarch of an
independent monarchy (such as Canada or Australia, for example) nor
does it include Vatican City (The Holy See).
1. EUROPE
+ Grand Duchy:
o Luxembourg
+ Kingdoms:
o Belgium
o Denmark
o Netherlands
o Norway
o Spain
o Sweden
o United Kingdom
+ Principalities:
o Andorra (see Note 1)
o Liechtenstein
o Monaco
2. AFRICA
+ Kingdoms:
o Lesotho
o Morocco
o Swaziland
3. ASIA
+ Elected Monarchy:
o Malaysia (see Note 2)
+ Empire:
o Japan
+ Kingdoms:
o Bhutan
o Cambodia
o Nepal
o Thailand
+ Sultanate:
o Brunei
4. MIDDLE EAST
+ Emirates:
o Kuwait
o Qatar
o United Arab Emirates (see Note 4)
+ Kingdoms:
o Bahrain (since 14/2/2002)
o Jordan
o Saudi Arabia
+ Sultanate:
o Oman
5. OCEANIA
+ Kingdoms:
o Tonga
o Western Samoa (see Note 5)
Notes
1. Andorra is a co-principality, under the suzerainty of the
President of France and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel. Since 1993,
these positions are almost purely honorary and they are considered
titular Heads of States.
2. Malaysia is a federation consisting of thirteen states: Johore,
Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak,
Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Trengganu. Its Head of State
(or, Supreme Head of Malaysia) is a monarch who is elected for a
five-year term by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the
states.
3. The United Arab Emirates became independent of the United Kingdom
in 1971. They consist of seven sheikhdoms: Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ajman, Fujairah. The Head
of State is an elected President chosen from one of the hereditary
rulers of the seven emirates.
4. Western Samoa achieved independent status from New Zealand in
1962. Its Heads of State were two joint rulers, but in 1963 when
one of them died, the other became sole Head of State for life.
His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II performs the duties of a
constitutional monarch but does not seem to be titled 'king'. The
Head of State is elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of
five years (this will take effect upon the death of the current
Head of State).
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
2. Who are the members of the European royal families? Conflicting
information has been received as to who are official members of
these royal families, therefore, if anyone will be suggesting
additions or corrections, the FAQ maintainer would be grateful if
a source of information would be provided.
Belgium:
HM The King, his wife, their children, their
grandchildren, HM Queen Fabiola
Denmark:
HM The Queen, her husband, their sons and grandchildren,
their daughter-in-law, Princess Benedikte, her children,
Princess Elisabeth
Liechtenstein:
HSH Prince Hans Adam II, his wife, their children, their
grandchildren, Prince Philipp, his wife, their sons,
Prince Nikolaus, his wife, their children
Luxembourg:
HRH Grand Duke Henri, his wife, their children, HRH (the
former) Grand Duke Jean, his wife, their children,
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume
Monaco:
HSH Prince Rainier III, his son, his daughters, Princess
Antoinette
Netherlands:
HM The Queen, her sons and daughters-in-law and
grandchildren, HRH Prince Bernhard, HRH Princess
Margriet, her husband, their sons and their
daughters-in-law
Norway:
HM The King, his wife, their children and
daughter-in-law, their grandchild, Princess Ragnhild,
Princess Astrid
Spain:
HM The King, his wife, their children, his sisters
(Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz, Infanta Margarita,
Duchess of Soria), Infante Don Carlos de Borbón (first
cousin of the king).
Sweden:
HM The King, his wife, their children, HRH Princess
Lilian, Duchess of Halland, Princess Birgitta
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
3. What are the dynastic names of the European royal families? The
dynastic names for the European royal families are taken from
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume I, 1977. Other
possibly correct dynastic names will be indicated in parentheses.
Belgium:
House of Wettin (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
Denmark:
House of Glücksborg
(cadet line of the house of Oldenborg, on the throne
since 1853)
(the house of Oldenborg had been on the throne since
1448)
Liechtenstein:
House of Liechtenstein
Luxembourg:
House of Nassau
Monaco:
House of Grimaldi
Netherlands:
House of Orange-Nassau (van Oranje-Nassau)
Norway:
House of Glücksburg
Spain:
House of Borbón
Sweden:
House of Bernadotte
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
4. Lines of succession to the current European thrones. The
following lines of succession are limited to the first ten or less
people in line of succession of the present European thrones. Each
person's relationship is indicated by one or two letters (s=son,
d=daughter, b=brother, ss=sister, u=uncle, a=aunt, fc=first
cousin, sc=second cousin) followed by a digit (0 stands for the
current sovereign). For example, s0 means son of the current
sovereign, d4 means daughter of person 4 on the list.
Belgium
1. HRH Prince Philippe of Belgium, Duke of Brabant (b. 1960, s0)
2. HRH Princess Elisabeth of Belgium (b. 2001, d1)
3. HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium (b. 1962, d0)
4. Amadeo of Habsburg-Lorraine, Prince of Belgium, Prince Imperial
and Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
(b. 1986, s3)
5. Maria Laura of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1988, d3)
6. Joachim of Habsburg-Lorraine, Prince of Belgium, Prince Imperial
and Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
(b. 1991, s3)
7. Louisa Maria of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1995, d3)
8. Laeticia Maria of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 2003, d3)
9. HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium (b. 1963, s0)
10. HRH Princess Louise of Belgium (b. 2004, d9)
Denmark
1. HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (b. 1968, s0)
2. HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark (b. 1969, s0)
3. HH Prince Nikolai of Denmark (b. 28-8-1999, s2)
4. HH Prince Felix of Denmark (b. 22-7-2002, s2)
5. HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark (b. 1944, ss0)
6. HH Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (b. 1935, fc0)
(For more on the law of succession in Denmark, see the essay by Peter
Kurrild-Klitgaard at http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/dk-suc-law.html.)
Liechtenstein
1. HSH Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein (b. 1968)
2. HSH Prince Joseph-Wenzel of Liechtenstein (b. 1995)
3. HSH Prince Georg of Liechtenstein (b. 1999)
4. HSH Prince Nikolaus Sebastian of Liechtenstein (b. 2000)
5. HSH Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein (b. 1969)
6. HSH Prince Alfons of Liechtenstein (b. 2001)
7. HSH Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein (b. 1972)
8. HSH Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (b. 1946)
9. HSH Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein (b. 1972)
10. HSH Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein (b. 1974)
11. HSH Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein (b. 1975)
12. HSH Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (b. 1947)
13. HSH Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein (b. 1989)
Luxembourg
1. HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg (b. 1981, s0)
2. HRH Prince Felix of Luxembourg (b. 1984, s0)
3. HRH Prince Louis of Luxembourg (b. 1986, s0)
4. HRH Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (b. 1992, s0)
5. HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (b. 1963, b0)
6. HRH Prince Paul-Louis of Nassau (b. 1998, s5)
7. HRH Prince Léopold of Nassau (b. 2000, s5)
Monaco
1. HSH Hereditary Prince Albert of Monaco, Marquis des Baux (b. 1958,
s0)
2. HRH Princess of Hanover [Caroline] (b. 1957, d0)
3. Andrea Casiraghi (b. 1984, s2)
4. Pierre Casiraghi (b. 1987, s2)
5. Charlotte Casiraghi (b. 1986, d2)
6. HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover (b. 1999, d2)
7. HSH Princess Stephanie of Monaco (b. 1965, d0)
8. Louis Ducruet (b. 1992, s7)
9. Pauline Ducruet (b. 1994, d7)
10. HSH Princess Antoinette (b. 1920), ss0)
Netherlands
1. HRH Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange,
Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1967, s0)
2. HRH Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of
Orange-Nassau (b. 2003, d1) <--
3. HRH Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands, Prince of
Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1968, s0) -->
4. HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Prince of
Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1969, s0)
5. Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouw van Amsberg (b. 2002,
d3)
6. Count Claus Casimir of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b.
2004, s3)
7. HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of
Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld (b. 1943, ss0)
8. HH Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1968, s6)
9. HH Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1969, s6)
10. HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b.
1972, s6)
11. HH Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1975, s6)
Norway
1. HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (b. 1973, s0)
2. HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (b. 2004, d1)
3. Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (b. 1971, d0)
4. Maud Angelica Behn (b. 2003, d3)
Spain
1. HRH Infante Felipe of Spain, Prince of Asturias (b. 1968, s0)
2. HRH Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo (b. 1963, d0)
3. HE Felipe de Marichalar y de Borbón (b. 1998, s2)
4. HE Victoria Federica de Marichalar y de Borbón (b. 2000, d2)
5. HRH Infanta Cristina of Spain, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca (b.
1965, d0)
6. HE Juan Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 1999, s5)
7. HE Pablo Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 2000, s5)
8. HE Miguel Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 2002, s5)
9. HRH Infante Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, Duke of Calabria, Prince of
the Two-Sicilies (b. 1938, sc0)
10. HRH Pedro de Borbón y Orleáns, Prince of the Two-Sicilies, Duke of
Noto (b. 1968, s9)
11. Jaime de Borbón y Landaluce (b. 1993, s10)
12. HRH Cristina de Borbón y Orleáns, Sra Lopez-Quesada (b. 1966, d9)
13. Victoria de Lopez-Quesada y Borbón (b. 1997, d12)
14. HRH Maria of Bourbon y Orleáns, Princess of the Two-Sicilies,
(Archduchess Simeon of Austria)(b. 1967, d9)
15. HI&RH Archduke Johannes of Austria (b. 1997, s14)
16. HI&RH Archduke Ludwig of Austria (b. 1998, s14)
17. HI&RH Archduchess Isabel of Austria (b. 2000, d14)
18. HI&RH Archduchess Carlota of Austria (b. 2003, d14)
19. HRH Ines de Borbón y Orleáns, Princess of the Two-Sicilies, Sig.ra
Carrelli Palombi (b. 1971, d9)
20. HRH Victoria de Borbón y Orleáns, Princess of the Two- Sicilies
(b. 1976, d9)
Sweden
1. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland
(b. 1977, d0)
2. HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland (b. 1979, s0)
3. HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and
Gästrikland (b. 1982, d0)
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
5. Laws of succession for the current European monarchies.
Sources: Le Petit Gotha (1993) and the "International Constitutional
Law" website at: http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/home.html
Belgium
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1991
(applicable to the descent of King Albert II; formerly, Salic Law)
Denmark
(Constitution, latest revision 1953; law of succession to the throne,
27 March 1953).
* religion:
Lutheran Evangelical Church (for the King, Const. II.6)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Parliament (for the monarch) the Sovereign with the Council of
Ministers (for all other eventual heirs)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
yes
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note) (was semi-Salic from 1660 to 1853, Salic
from 1853 to 1953)
Liechtenstein
* religion:
Roman Catholic (for the Sovereign Prince)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Sovereign Prince
* must contract a lawful marriage:
yes
* type of succession law:
Semi-Salic Law (see note)
Luxembourg
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Grand Duke (for the princes of the family)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Semi-Salic Law (see note)
Monaco
(Constitution of 17 Dec 1962, revised 2 Apr 2002; House laws of May
15, 1882 modified by ordonnances of 30 and 31 Oct 1918 and 1959)
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Sovereign Prince (however, if a prince or princess marries
without the consent of the Sovereign Prince, no children are born
and the marriage is dissolved, then the prince recovers dynastic
rights)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* other:
- The crown is hereditary in the legitimate issue of the previous
prince, or failing that, in the issue of his or her siblings; in
the absence of heir, the Crown Council appoints a collateral heir
who must be of monegasque citizenship.
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note)
Netherlands
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Parliament
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1983
* other:
- the degrees of relationship between a new monarch and the
predecessor cannot be more than 3.
Norway
* religion:
Evangelical Lutheran faith (the King must always belong to this
faith)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* other:
- a royal prince cannot accept the crown of another country unless
he first seeks the consent of Parliament
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1990
& beginning with descendants of Crown Prince Haakon (b. 1973) with
an exception made for Princess Märtha Louise so as to not displace
her younger brother which is what happened in Sweden in 1980
(formerly, Salic Law)
Spain
* religion:
- marriage cannot occur against express prohibition of: the King
and the Parliament (for all those who have a right to the
succession)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
must also be a Roman Catholic marriage
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note)
Sweden
* religion:
Lutheran (for the King & princes of the royal family)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King with the advice of the Council of Ministers (for princes
& princesses)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1980
(formerly, Salic Law)
Notes On Types of Laws of Succession
Salic Law (a.k.a. agnatic):
- the law "which entirely excludes females from the hereditary
succession" (The Monarchy and the Constitution, by Vernon
Bogdanor, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Albania, Bulgaria, France (Royal; Empire),
Italy, Montenegro, Parma, Prussia (and German Empire),
Roumania, Yugoslavia
Semi-Salic Law:
- in which the succession is reserved firstly to all the male
dynastic descendants of all the eligible branches by order of
primogeniture, then upon total extinction of these male
descendants to the eldest of the dynastic female descendants
- applicable to Liechtenstein, Luxembourg; also applicable to
Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, Russia, Saxony, Tuscany, Two
Sicilies, Württemberg
Primogeniture:
- the law in which "male heirs take precedence over female,
with children representing their deceased ancestors; and under
the rule of primogeniture, the older son precedes the younger"
(The Monarchy and the Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Denmark, Monaco, Spain, United Kingdom; also
applicable to Brazil, Greece, Portugal
Cognatic (absolute) Primogeniture:
- the law in which "the right of succession passes to the
eldest child of the sovereign, regardless of gender, females
enjoying the same right of succession as males" (The Monarchy
and the Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor, Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
6. Lines of succession to the current non-European Thrones.
This section was prepared using The International Who's Who, 1992-93,
56th edition, and Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. II, 1980,
with complements from the Almanach de Bruxelles and C. Buyers's Royal
Ark. Although the people listed in the following lines of succession
are members of their respective families, it is not always certain if
these people actually hold a place in the line of succession.
Bahrain
1. Sheikh Salman, Crown Prince, son of the King (b. 1969)
2. oldest son of Sheikh Salman
3. younger son of Sheikh Salman
4. Sheikh Abdullah, son of the King (b. 1975)
5. Sheikh Khalifa, son of the King (b. 1977)
Bhutan
1. HRH Prince Jigme Gesar Namgyal Wangchuk (b. ----), brother of the
King
Brunei
1. HRH Crown Prince Haji al-Muhtadee Billah (b. 1977), eldest son of
the Sultan
2. HRH Prince Mohammed Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
3. HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
4. HRH Prince Haji Jefri Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
Japan
(see Note 1)
1. HIH Crown Prince Naruhito (b. 1960), son of the Emperor
2. HIH Prince Akishino (b. 1965), son of the Emperor
3. HIH Prince Hitachi (b. 1935), brother of the Emperor
4. HIH Prince Mikasa (b. 1915), uncle of the Emperor
5. HIH Prince Mikasa Tomohito (b. 1946), son of Prince Mikasa
6. HIH Prince Katsura (b. 1948), son of Prince Mikasa
Jordan
The throne of the Kingdom is passed on through inheritance within the
dynasty of King Abdullah Ibn Al Hussein (first king and
great-grandfather of the present king Abdullah), in the direct line of
his male heirs. The King may designate a Crown Prince.
1. HRH Prince Hamzah, Crown Prince (from Feb 7, 1999)(b. Mar 29,
1980), brother of the King
Kuwait
1. Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah, Crown Prince (from 31
January 1978) (b. 1930)
Lesotho
Malaysia
The Malaysian throne is elective and rotating among the sultans of the
member states of the Federation (see art. 38 of the constitution of
Malaysia).
Morocco
The Moroccan Crown and the constitutional rights thereof shall be
hereditary and handed down, from father to son, to descendants in
direct male line and by order of primogeniture among the offspring of
His Majesty King Hassan II, unless the King should, during his
lifetime, designate a successor among his sons apart from the eldest
one. In case of failing descendants in direct male line, the right of
succession to the Throne shall, under the same conditions, be invested
in the closest male in the collateral consanguinity. (art. 20 of the
constitution of 1996)
1. HRH Prince Moulay Hassan (b. 2003), son of the King
2. HRH Prince Moulay Rachid (b. 1970), brother of the King
Nepal
1. HRH Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah (b. 1971), son of the King
2. HRH Young Crown Prince Hridayendra (b. 2002), son of the Crown
Prince
Oman
Qatar
1. N..., son of the Sheikh
2. N..., son of the Sheikh
3. Sheikh Abd al-Aziz, brother of the Sheikh
4. N... (b. 1977), son of the previous Sheikh
Saudi Arabia
(see Note 2)
1. HRH Prince Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince (b. 1923),
younger brother of the King
Swaziland
(see Note 3)
Thailand
1. HRH Prince Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince (from December 1972) (b.
1952), son of the King
Tonga
1. HRH Prince Tupouto'a, Crown Prince (b. 1948), son of the King
2. HRH Prince Fatafehi Alaivahamama'o Tuku'aho (known as Honorable
Maátu) (b. 1954), son of the King
3. HRH Prince Lavaka Ata'Ulukalala (b. 1959), son of the King
United Arab Emirates
Western Samoa
Notes:
* 1. the Imperial Household Law (1947) governs the succession; only
legitimate male descendants of an emperor can succeed; type of
succession law: Salic Law
* 2. in Saudi Arabia, no more than one heir is named at a time,
apparently
* 3. in Swaziland, the heir to the throne is only chosen after a
King's death from among his younger sons
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
7. What are the differences between HRH, HH and HSH?
Because the answer to this question is now formatted using tables,
which don't 'translate' well when viewed as a text document, Part A -
the Styles of Sovereigns, and Part B - the Styles of Children of
Sovereigns can be viewed at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/styles.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
8. What are the styles and titles of the world's current monarchs?
The styles and titles of the world's current monarchs depend whether
they are sovereigns of a kingdom, a principality, a grand duchy, an
empire, etc...
Bahrain:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: King (Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa)
Belgium:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Albert II)
Bhutan:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) (Jigme Singye Wangchuk)
Brunei:
+ type: sultanate
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Sultan and Yang di Pertuan (Haji Hassanal Bolkiah)
Cambodia:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Norodom Sihanouk)
Denmark:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: Her Majesty (HM)
+ title: The Queen (Margrethe II)
Japan:
+ type: empire
+ style: His Imperial Majesty (HIM)
+ title: The Emperor (Akihito)
Jordan:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Abdallah)
Kuwait:
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Emir (Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah)
Lesotho:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Letsie III)
Liechtenstein:
+ type: principality
+ style: His Serene Highness (HSH)
+ title: The Prince (Hans Adam II)
Luxembourg:
+ type: grand duchy
+ style: His Royal Highness (HRH)
+ title: The Grand Duke (Henri)
Malaysia:
(see Note 1)
+ type: federation of states
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Supreme Head of State (Yang di-Pertuan Agong)
(Ja'afar)
Monaco:
+ type: principality
+ style: His Serene Highness (HSH)
+ title: The Prince (Rainier III)
Morocco:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Mohammed VI)
Nepal:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Gyanendra)
Netherlands
:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: Her Majesty (HM)
+ title: The Queen (Beatrix)
Norway:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Harald V)
Oman:
+ type: sultanate
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Sultan (Qaboos bin Said)
Qatar:
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Emir (Hamad Khalifa al-Thani)
Saudi Arabia:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Fahd)
Spain:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Juan Carlos I)
Swaziland:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Mswati III)
Sweden:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Carl XVI Gustaf)
Thailand:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Bhumibol)
Tonga:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Taufa'ahau Tupou IV)
United Arab Emirates:
(see Note 2)
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: President (Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan an-Nahyan)
Western Samoa:
+ type:
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Head of State [King] (Malietoa Tanumafili II)
Notes:
* 1. The nine Hereditary Malay rulers are as follows:
1. Raja of Perlis and Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia: Tuanku
Syed SIRAJUDDIN Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail,
born 16 May 1943, acceded 17 April 2000 (on the death of his
father Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hassan
Jamalullail, who was 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1960-1965 and
was ruling when Malaya united with Sabah and Sarawak to form
Malaysia in 1963); became 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 12 Dec
2001.
2. Sultan of Selangor: Sultan Tengku Idris Shah ibni Sultan
Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (born 24 December 1945), acceded
22 Nov 2001 (on the death of his father Salahuddin Abdul Aziz
Shah Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj,
who was 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1999 to his death).
3. Sultan of Terengganu: Sultan MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN Ibni
Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, born 22
January 1962, acceded 15 May 1998 (grandson and second
successor of Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Zainal Abidin, who was 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong
1965-70). Became Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong (vice-king)
in April 1999.
4. Sultan of Kedah: Al-Sultan Almutasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin
Tuanku Alhaj ABDUL HALIM MUADZAM SHAH ibni Al-Marhum Sultan
Badlishah, born 28 November 1927, acceded 14 July 1958; was
5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1970-1975.
5. Sultan of Kelantan: Tuanku ISMAIL PETRA ibni Al-Marhum Sultan
Yahya Petra, born 11 November 1949, acceded 30 March 1979 (on
the death of his father Tuanku Yahya Petra Ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Ibrahim, who was 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1975-1979).
6. Sultan of Pahang: Sultan Haji AHMAD SHAH Al-Mustain Billah
ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar RiAyatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah,
born 24th October 1930, acceded 7 May 1974; was 7th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1979-1984.
7. Sultan of Johor: Sultan (MAHMUD) ISKANDAR Al-Haj Ibni
Almarhum Sultan Ismail, born 8 April 1932, acceded 11th May
1981; was 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1984-1989.
8. Sultan of Perak: Paduka Seri Sultan AZLAN MUHIBBUDDIN SHAH
ibni Almarhum Sultan Yussuf Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullahu-lah,
born 19 April 1928, acceded 3 February 1984; was 9th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1989-1994.
9. Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan: Tuanku JAAFAR Ibni
Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, born 19 July 1922, acceded 19
April 1967 (son and second successor of Tuanku Abdul Rahman
Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Muhammad, who was the first Yang
di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya 1957-1960); was 10th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1994-1999; Negeri Sembilan is a federation
of six (originally nine) states but the throne is hereditary
in this family.
Sources:
www.penerangan.gov.my
www.almanak.com.my
www.dreamwater.net/regiment/RoyalArk
* 2. The seven Emirs of the United Arab Emirates are as follows:
1. Abu Dhabi: HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan (President of
the U.A.E.), acceded 1966 on deposition of his brother
Shakhbut; his two oldest sons are Khalifa and Sultan
2. Dubai: HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum (Vice
President and Premier of the U.A.E.), acceded 1990 on death
of his father Rashid (a former Vice President and Premier of
the UAE)
3. Sharjah: HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qassimi, acceded
1972 after his brother Khalid was killed by forces loyal to
their cousin Saqr bin Sultan who had been deposed 1965
(Sharjah had been divided in 1866 among the chief Sheikh's
four sons into Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Kalba (absorbed into
Sharjah 1952) and Dibba)
4. Ras al-Khaimah: HH Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi,
acceded 1948
5. Umm al-Qaiwan: HH Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed al-Mualla, acceded
1981, his father had reigned since 1920s
6. Ajman: HH Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid al-Nuaimi, acceded 1981,
his father had reigned since 1920s
7. Fujairah: HH Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi, acceded
1974
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
9. What are the full titles of the current European monarchs?
Belgium
HM Albert II, King of the Belgians, Prince of Belgium (S.M.
Albert II, Roi des Belges, prince de Belgique)
Denmark
HM Margrethe II, by the Grace of God, Denmark's Queen
Liechtenstein
HSH Hans Adam II, by the Grace of God, Sovereign Prince of
Liechtenstein, Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf, Count of
Rietberg
Luxembourg
HRH Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, Prince of
Bourbon of Parma, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Count of Sayn,
of Königstein, of Katzenelnbogen, and of Dietz, Burgrave of
Hammerstein, Lord of Mahlberg, of Wiesbaden, of Idstein, of
Merenberg, of Limburg, of Eppstein.
Grand Duke Henri discontinued the use of the phrase "by the
grace of God".
Monaco
HSH Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Duc de Valentinois, Marquis
des Baux, Comte de Carlades, Baron de Buis, Seigneur de
Saint-Rémy, Sire de Matignon, Comte de Thorigny, Baron de
Saint-Lô, de la Luthumière et de Hambye, Duc d'Estouteville, de
Mazarin et de Mayenne, Prince de Château-Porcien, Comte de
Ferrette, de Belfort, de Thann et de Rosemont, Baron
d'Altkirch, Seigneur d'Isenheim, Marquis de Chilly, Comte de
Longjumeau, Baron de Massy, Marquis de Guiscard
Netherlands
HM Beatrix, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands,
Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld,
Jonkvrouwe Van Amsberg (etc...)
Norway
HM Harald V, King of Norway
Spain
HM Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (according to the 1978
Constitution; however, the titles borne by previous Kings of
Spain have not been abolished; thus: His Catholic Majesty Juan
Carlos, By the Grace of God, King of Spain, Castile, Leon,
Aragon, the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, Navarre, Granada,
Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Menorca, Seville,
Cardeñ;a, Cordoba, Cocega, Murcia, Jaen, Algeria, Algernon,
Gibraltar, the East and West Indies, the Canary Islands, and
the Oceanic Colonies, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy,
Brabant and Milan, Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Tirol and
Barcelona, Lord of Vizcaya and Molina)
Sweden
HM Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
10. Formerly-reigning monarchs and present-day claimants in Europe and the
Americas since 1849.
In this list, one will find first, the formerly-reigning monarch or
the present-day claimant [when known], and second, the year when the
monarchy ceased to reign.
In some instances, there are two claimants. The order in which the two
claimants are listed is determined randomly each time this file is
read.
Those who once reigned will be refered to as 'King N'. Those who have
never reigned (be they Crown Prince, Hereditary Grand Duke, or only a
claimant) will be refered to as 'Titular King N'. In the cases of
Simeon II of Bulgaria and Constantine II of the Hellenes (who have
never abdicated) and Michael of Roumania (who was forced to abdicate),
it is correct to continue to refer to them as King and incorrect to
refer to them as ex-King. According to the late Sir Iain Moncreiffe of
that Ilk: "A king who has not abdicated remains a king, even though
his power may not extend de facto over a former realm." (David
Williamson, Co-Editor of Debrett's Peerage, in a letter to the editor
of 'The Daily Telegraph' of 2 July 1987.) Even for kings who have
abdicated, the custom is that they continue to enjoy their former
styles.
Albania
Leka I, Titular King of the Albanians (b. 1939)
1946: when the monarchy was abolished
Anhalt
+ Eduard II, Titular Duke of Anhalt (b. 1941)
+ 1918: when Prince Aribert of Anhalt, Regent of the Duchy of
Anhalt, abdicated in the name of Joachim Ernst, Duke of
Anhalt
Austria
+ Otto von Habsburg-Lorraine (Otto I, Titular Emperor of
Austria) (b. 1912)
+ 1919: when Emperor Karl I was deposed from his sovereign
rights (see Note 1)
Baden
+ Maximilian (Max), Margrave of Baden (Maximilian, Titular
Grand Duke of Baden) (b. 1933)
+ 1918: when Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden abdicated
Bavaria
+ Franz, Duke of Bavaria (Franz, Titular King of Bavaria) (b.
1933)
+ 1918: when the throne was lost through the revolution
Brazil
+ rival claimants:
o Pedro Gastão, Prince of Orleans e Bragança (b. 1913)
o Luíz Gastao, Prince of Orleans e Bragança (Luíz I,
Titular Emperor of Brazil) (b. 1938)
+ 1889: when Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, was deposed
following a military uprising
Brunswick
+ Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (Ernst August, Titular Duke
of Brunswick) (b. 1954)
+ 1918: when Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg
abdicated (see also Hanover)
Bulgaria
+ Simeon II, King of the Bulgarians (b. 1937)
+ 1946: when King Simeon II left the country, without having
abdicated, following a communist-rigged plebiscite
France
Monarchy
+ rival claimants:
o Luís Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú, duc d'Anjou
(Louis XX, Titular King of France) (b. 1974)
o Henri, Comte de Paris (Henri VII, Titular King of
France) (b. 1933)
+ 1830: when Charles X abdicated following a revolution
+ 1848: when Louis Philippe I abdicated following a revolution
Empire
+ Charles, Prince Napoléon (Charles, Titular Emperor of the
French) (b. 1950)
+ 1870: when Emperor Napoléon III was deposed
Greece
+ Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (b. 1940)
+ 1974: when a plebiscite decided against the return of King
Constantine II (had been deposed in 1973)
Hanover
+ Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (Ernst August V, Titular King
of Hanover) (b. 1954)
+ 1866: when Hanover was annexed to Prussia (see also
Brunswick)
Hesse
(a) Hesse-Cassel
+ Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (Moritz, Titular Elector of Hesse)
(b. 1926)
+ 1866: when Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Hesse lost his
Throne when the Electorate of Hesse was annexed to the
Kingdom of Prussia
(b) Hesse-Philippsthal
(not regnant after 1815)
+ the line of Landgraves of H.-P. became extinct in 1925
(c) Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld
(not regnant after 1815)
+ Wilhelm, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1933)
(d) Hesse and by Rhine
+ Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1926) (had been adopted in
1960/ 1961 by Ludwig V, Titular Grand Duke of Hesse and by
Rhine)
+ 1918: when Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
lost his throne on the proclamation of the Republic of Hesse
(e) Hesse-Homburg
+ the line of Landgraves of H.-H. became extinct in 1866
Hohenzollern
(a) Hohenzollern-Hechingen
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of H.-H. ceded his sovereign rights
to the King of Prussia in December 1849
(b) Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Titular Prince of Hohenzollern (b. 1924)
+ Karl Anton, Prince of H.-S., later Prince of H., ceded his
sovereign rights to the King of Prussia in December 1849
Italy
+ Victor Emanuel, Prince of Naples (Vittorio Emanuele IV,
Titular King of Italy) (b. 1937)
+ 1946: when King Umberto II left the country (following a
referendum which showed a majority in favour of a republic)
Lippe
(a) Lippe (-Detmold)
+ the Princes of Lippe became extinct in the male line in 1905
(b) Lippe-Biesterfeld
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Titular Prince of Lippe (b. 1947)
+ 1918: when Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe abdicated
Mecklenburg
(a) Mecklenburg-Schwerin
+ Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Friedrich Franz V, Titular Grand Duke
of M.-S.) (1910-2001)
The male line is now extinct; but see below
+ 1918 (Nov): when Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of M.-S.
renounced the throne
(b) Mecklenburg-Strelitz
+ same as M.-Schwerin since 1918
+ 1918 (Feb): when the throne became vacant on the death of
Adolf Friedrich VI, Grand Duke of M.-S.
(c) Mecklenburg
+ Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Georg Friedrich, Titular
German Emperor, King of Prussia, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg)
(b. 1976)
by virtue of a 1442 succession pact, the claim to Mecklenburg
reverted to the margraves of Brandenburg on extinction of the
dynasty in 2001
Mexico
(House of Habsburg-Lorraine)
+ 1867: when Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico was shot and the
country became a republic
Modena
+ 1860: when Francesco V, Duke of Modena lost his throne when
Modena was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Montenegro
+ Nicholas, Prince Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro (Nicholas II,
Titular King of Montenegro) (b. 1944)
+ 1918: when Montenegro was annexed to the Kingdom of the
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later, Yugoslavia)
Nassau
+ 1866: when Adolf, Duke of Nassau lost his throne when Nassau
was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia (he later succeeded as
Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890)
Oldenburg
+ Anton Günther, Duke of Oldenburg (Anton Günther, Titular
Grand Duke of Oldenburg) (b. 1923)
+ 1918: when Friedrich August, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
renounced the throne
Parma
+ Carlos Hugo (Charles Hugues), Titular Duke of Parma (b. 1930)
+ 1859: when the Duchy of Parma was annexed to the Kingdom of
Sardinia
Portugal
+ Duarte, Duke of Braganza (Duarte III, Titular King of
Portugal and the Algarves) (b. 1945)
+ 1910: when King Manoel II lost the Throne through the
revolution
Prussia
+ Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Georg Friedrich, Titular
German Emperor, King of Prussia) (b. 1976)
+ 1918: when German Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated (see also
Mecklenburg)
Reuss
I. Reuss Elder Line (Reuss-Greiz)
+ 1918: when Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss zu Greiz renounced the
throne (the Elder Line of the House of Reuss became extinct
in 1927)
II. Reuss Younger Line
(a) Reuss-Schleiz
+ Heinrich VIII, Titular Prince Reuss zu Schleiz (b. 1944)
+ 1918: when Heinrich XXVII, Prince R. zu S. renounced the
throne
(b) Reuss-Schleiz-Köstritz
+ Heinrich IV, Titular Fürst Reuss (on his father's death 1946
but not fully recognized as such until 1962 with effect from
1953)
Roumania
+ Michael, King of Roumania (b. 1921)
+ 1947: when King Michael was forced to abdicate
Russia
+ rival claimants:
o Prince Nicholas Romanov (b. 1922)
o Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna of Russia (Maria,
Titular Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias) (b.
1953)
+ 1917: when Emperor Nicholas II abdicated
Saxon duchies
(a) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
+ Michael-Benedict, Prince of S.-W.-E. (Titular Grand Duke of
S.-W.-E.) (b. 1946)
+ 1918: when Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of S.-W.-E. lost the
throne
(b) Saxe-Meiningen
+ Friedrich-Konrad, Titular Duke of S.-M. (b. 1952)
+ 1918: when Bernhard III, Duke of S.-M. abdicated
(c) Saxe-Altenburg
+ the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg became extinct in 1991
+ 1918: when Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg renounced the
throne
(d) Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
+ Andreas, Titular Duke of S.-C. and G. (b. 1943)
+ 1918: when Karl Eduard, Duke of S.-C. and G. abdicated
Royal Saxony
+ Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (Maria Emanuel, Titular
King of Saxony) (b. 1926)
+ 1918: when King Friedrich August III renounced the Throne
Schaumburg-Lippe
+ Alexander Christian, Titular Prince of S.-L. (b. 1958)
+ 1918: when Adolf II, Prince of S.-L. renounced the throne
Schleswig-Holstein
(present Glücksburg branch not regnant since the 17th c. but
listed because of its branches in Russia, Oldenburg and
Denmark)
(a) Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
+ 1931: when the Augustenburg line of the family became extinct
(b) Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
+ Christoph, Prince of S.-H.-S.-G. (Christoph, Titular Duke of
S.-H.-S.-G.) (b. 1949)
Schwarzburg
(a) Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen
+ 1909: when the male line of S.-S. became extinct
(b) Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
+ 1918: when Gunther, Prince of S. abdicated
+ 1971: the Princely House of Schwarzburg became extinct in
male line
Note: Schwarzburg had semi-Salic succession, so a potential
claimant would be Friedrich Magnus, Graf zu Solms-
Wildenfels, (b. 1927)
Tuscany
+ Sigismund, Titular Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1966) (see Note
2)
+ 1860: when Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany lost his
throne when Tuscany was united to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Two Sicilies
+ rival claimants:
o Ferdinando, Duke of Castro (Ferdinando IV, Titular King
of the Kingdom of The Two Sicilies) (b. 1926)
o Carlos, Duke of Calabria (Carlo VIII, Titular King of
the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily) (b. 1938)
+ 1860: when The Two Sicilies were annexed to the new Kingdom
of Italy
Waldeck and Pyrmont
+ Wittekind, Titular Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (b. 1936)
+ 1918: when Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont abdicated
Württemberg
+ Carl, Duke of Württemberg (Carl II, Titular King of
Württemberg) (b. 1936)
+ 1918: when King Wilhelm II abdicated
Yugoslavia
+ Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (Alexander II, Titular
King of Yugoslavia) (b. 1945)
+ 1945: when the monarchy was abolished
Notes:
1. On 31 May 1961, by written declaration, Archduke Otto renounced
his rights to the Austrian throne as well as his membership in the
House of Habsburg-Lorraine and declared himself to be a citizen of
Austria. This 'political fiction' was done for the benefit of the
Austrian republic and to allow Otto to journey to Austria whenever
he so wished. This "renunciation" was viewed as such and
understood for what it was by the members of the Imperial family.
(Les Manuscrits du C.E.D.R.E.: L'Empire d'Autriche, volume III,
1991, page 69.)
2. On 12 April 1994, Leopold III, Titular Grand Duke of Tuscany,
abdicated as Titular Grand Duke in favor of his elder son,
Archduke Sigismund; his civil remarriage after a divorce
conflicted with heading the Roman Catholic order of St. Stephen.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
11. When did the world's current monarchs succeed?
Here are the dates of succession of the world's presently reigning
monarchs:
Bahrain
- Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa succeeded upon the death of
his father Shaikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa on 6 March 1999.
The constitution promulgated on 14 Feb 2002 defines Bahrain to
be a kingdom.
Belgium
- King Albert II succeeded upon the death of his elder brother
King Baudouin on 31 July 1993 (took the oath on 9 August 1993)
Bhutan
- Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") Jigme Singye Wangchuk succeeded
upon the death of his father Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuk
on 24 July 1972 (crowned 2 June 1974)
Brunei
- Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah succeeded upon the abdication of
his father Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien III on 4 October
1967 (crowned 1 August 1968)
Cambodia
- King Norodom Sihanouk acceded to the throne 24 September 1993
(current reign)
N.B.: King Norodom Sihanouk had previously been King from April
1941 to March 1955 (when he abdicated); he was Head of State
from June 1960 to March 1970 (when he was deposed) as well as
from April 1975 to April 1976 (when he resigned)
Denmark
- Queen Margrethe II succeeded upon the death of her father
King Frederik IX on 14 January 1972
Japan
- Emperor Akihito succeed upon the death of his father Emperor
Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa) on 7 January
1989 (crowned 12 November 1990)
Jordan
- King Abdullah succeeded upon the death of his father King
Hussein on 7 February 1999
Kuwait
- Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah succeeded his
half-first cousin once removed Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah
on 31 December 1977
Lesotho
- King Letsie III succeeded as King on 7 February 1996
following death of his father King Moshoeshoe (on 15 January
1996) current reign (crowned 31 October 1997)
N.B.: King Letsie III had previously been King from November
1990 to January 1995
Liechtenstein
- Prince Hans Adam II succeeded upon the death of his father
Prince Franz Josef II on 13 November 1989
Luxembourg
- Grand Duke Henri succeeded upon the abdication of his father
Grand Duke Jean on 7 October 2000
Malaysia
- Sultan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalulla was
installed as Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) on 12 Dec
2001
Monaco
- Prince Rainier III succeeded upon the death of his
grandfather Prince Louis II on 9 May 1949
Morocco
- King Mohammed VI succeeded upon the death of his father King
Hassan II on 23 July 1999
Nepal
- King Gyanendra succeeded upon the death of his nephew King
Dipendra on 4 June 2001 (crowned the same day)
Netherlands
- Queen Beatrix succeeded upon the abdication of her mother
Queen Juliana on 30 April 1980
Norway
- King Harald V succeeded upon the death of his father King
Olav on 17 January 1991 (sworn in on 21 January 1991;
consecration on 23 June 1991)
Oman
- Sultan Qaboos assumed power after deposing his father Sultan
Said bin Taimur on 23 July 1970
Qatar
- Sheikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani succeeded when he deposed his
father Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani on 27 June 1995
Saudi Arabia
- King Fahd succeeded upon the death of his brother King Khalid
on 13 June 1982
Spain
- King Juan Carlos I was proclaimed king following the death of
Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Chief of State, on 22 November
1975
N.B.: at this time, King Juan Carlos's father, Don Juan, Count
of Barcelona, was de jure King of Spain; it wasn't until 14 May
1977 that Don Juan renounced his rights
Swaziland
- King Mswati III was installed as ruler on 25 April 1986 (his
father King Sobhuza II died on 21 August 1982)
Sweden
- King Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded upon the death of his
grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf on 15 September 1973
Thailand
- King Bhumibol succeeded upon the death of his brother King
Ananda Mahidol on 9 June 1946 (crowned 5 May 1950)
Tonga
- King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV succeeded upon the death of his
mother Queen Salote Tupou III on 15 December 1965
United arab emirates
- Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan an-Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, took
office as President of the U.A.E. on 2 December 1971
Western Samoa
- HH Malietoa Tanumafili II succeeded as co-ruler (joint Head
of State) on 1 January 1962 and as sole ruler (Head of State)
on 5 April 1963
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
12. Birthdays of the world's current monarchs.
See also Netty's Royalty Page which also has anniversaries and
birthdays of close relatives.
January:
4 - Malietoa Tanumafili II, Head of State of Western Samoa (b.
1913)
5 - Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (b. 1938)
28 - Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (b. 1950)
30 - Abdullah, King of Jordan (b. 1962)
31 - Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands (b. 1938)
February:
14 - Hans Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1945)
21 - Harald V, King of Norway (b. 1937)
March:
April:
16 - Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark (b. 1940)
16 - Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1955)
19 - Mswati III, King of Swaziland (b. 1968)
30 - Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden (b. 1946)
May:
16 - Sultan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, king of Malaysia (b. 1943)
31 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
June:
6 - Albert II, King of the Belgians (b. 1934)
29 - Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
(b. 1926)
July:
4 - Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)
7 - Gyanendra, King of Nepal (b. 1947)
15 - Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei (b. 1946)
17 - Letsie III, King of Lesotho (b. 1963)
August:
21 - King Mohammed VI of Morocco (b. 1963)
September:
October:
31 - Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (b. 1922)
November:
11 - Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan (b. 1955)
18 - Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman (b. 1940)
December:
5 - Bhumibol, King of Thailand (b. 1927)
23 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1933)
N.B.: the following monarchs are not shown because of incomplete dates
of birth: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (b. 1921), Sheikh Hamad Khalifa
al-Thani of Qatar (b. 1950) and President Sheikh Zayed of the United
Arab Emirates (b. 1908, 1913 or 1918)
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
13. Official Birthdays and National Holidays.
Some monarchs have both a real birthday and an official birthday, that
is, a birthday which is celebrated publicly on a day other than their
day of birth. Not all monarchs have an official birthday.
Andorra
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 8 September
Bahrain
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 16 December
Belgium
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 21 July
Bhutan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 11 November (Birthday of the King)
17 December
Brunei
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 February
15 July (Sultan's Birthday)
Cambodia
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 9 January
Denmark
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 16 April (which coincides with the Queen's
real
birthday)
Japan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 December (the Emperor's real birthday)
Jordan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 14 November (the King's real birthday)
Kuwait
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 25 February
Lesotho
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 2 May (King's Birthday)
Liechtenstein
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 15 August
Luxembourg
- official birthday: 23 June
- national holiday: 23 June
Malaysia
- official birthday: 3 June (the Yang di-Pertuan Agong)
- national birthday: 31 August
Monaco
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 19 November (Fête du Prince)
Morocco
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 July (Festival of the Throne,
anniversary of King Mohammed's accession)
Nepal
- official birthday:
Netherlands
- official birthday: 30 April (the Queen's real birthday is in
January)
- national holiday: 30 April (Queen's Day; celebration of the
Queen's accession)
Norway
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 17 May
Oman
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 18 November
19 November (Birthday of the Sultan)
Qatar
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 27 June (anniversary of the Emir's
accession)
3 September
Saudi Arabia
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 September
Spain
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 12 October
Swaziland
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 19 April (Birthday of King Mswati)
Sweden
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 6 June
Thailand
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 5 December (King's Birthday)
Tonga
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 4 July (The King's Birthday)
United Arab Emirates
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 2 December
Western Samoa
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 1 January
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
14. Royal Landmarks (Places of Interest).
Eric-Jan Noomen, a member of a.t.r., prepared a list of royal
landmarks in 1996. He posted his list to our newsgroup in the spring
of 1997 and a revised version of the list can now be found as a
separate part of a.t.r.'s FAQ at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/landmark.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
15. What are the addresses of the world's current monarchs?
Before dealing with the addresses, the FAQ wishes to state that it
realises some people chafe at etiquette, protocol and conventions. The
FAQ does not wish to tell how one must deal with royal correspondence;
rather, it suggests the following points:
* it is always correct and in good taste to address one's letter and
envelope to the Private Secretary (or Equerry or Lady-in-Waiting)
to monarchs or other members of royal families
* in Scandinavia, where things are less formal, generally speaking,
one may address one's letter directly to the Sovereign depending
on the nature of one's letter (e.g.: letters of a personal
nature); when writing "business-type" letters, addressing such
correspondence to the P.S. is preferable
* when writing to Private Secretaries, the letter and envelope are
written to the Private Secretary by office, not by name
* for those who wish, reading Debrett's Correct Form, or Titles and
Forms of Address, or even appropriate chapters within etiquette
books such as Emily Post's Etiquette and The Amy Vanderbilt
Complete Book of Etiquette will be of help
ADDRESSES OF SELECTED MONARCHS:
* Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, Sheikh of Abu Dhabi
Amiti Palace
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
* HM Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain
Rifa'a Palace
Manama, Bahrain
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
Palais de Bruxelles
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
* HM Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan
The Royal Palace
Thimphu, Bhutan
* HM Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
Istana Darul Hana
Brunei
* HM Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia
Khemarindra Palace
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
* The Private Secretary to HM The Queen
Amalienborg
DK-1257 Copenhagen K., Denmark
* Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Sheikh of Dubai
The Royal Palace
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
* HIM The Emperor of Japan
The Imperial Palace
1-1 Chiyoda
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Japan
* HM Abdullah, King of Jordan
The Royal Palace
Amman, Jordan
* HH Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
Sief Palace
Amiry Diwan, Kuwait
* The Private Secretary to HSH The Prince
Schloss Vaduz
FL-9490 Vaduz
Liechtenstein
* The Private Secretary to HRH The Grand Duke
Schloss Berg
L-2013 Colmar Berg, Luxembourg
* The Private Secretary to HSH The Prince
Palais de Monaco
Boîte Postale 518
MC-98015 Monaco-Ville, Monaco
* HM Mohammed VI, King of Morocco
The Royal Palace
Rabat, Morocco
* HM Gyanendra, King of Nepal
Narayanhity Royal Palace
Kathmandu, Nepal
* HM The Queen of the Netherlands
Noordeinde 68
2514 GL 's-Gravenhage
The Netherlands
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
The Royal Palace
Drammensveien 1
N-0010 Oslo, Norway
* Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman
The Palace
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
* Hamad Khalifa al-Thani, Sheikh of Qatar
The Royal Palace
Doha, Qatar
* HM Fahd, King of Saudi Arabia
Royal Diwan
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
Palacio de la Zarzuela
El Pardo
E-28048 Madrid, Spain
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
The Royal Palace
S-111 30 Stockholm, Sweden
* HM Bhumibol, King of Thailand
Chitralada Villa
Bangkok, Thailand
* HM Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga
The Palace
P.O. Box 6
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
* Rashid bin Ahmed al-Mu'alla, Sheikh of Uum Al-Qaiwain
The Ruler's Palace
Uum Al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates
* HH Malietoa Tanumanfili II of Western Samoa
Government House
Vailima Apia
Western Samoa, South Pacific
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
16. How are the Reuss princes numbered and why are they all named Heinrich?
[thanks to William Addams Reitwiesner for letting me adapt his post
about the Reuss princes; this post has appeared in alt.talk.royalty on
a number of ocassions - November 1995, April 1997 and July 1998 ]
There's been a lot of confusion about the Reuss family, especially
about how their male members, all of whom are named "Heinrich", are
numbered. Here are the facts, based on Isenburg's Europäische
Stammtafeln, Band I, Tafel 163-174.
The Reuss family divided into two branches, the senior descended from
Heinrich XIV (1506-1572) and the junior descended from his youngest
half-brother Heinrich XVI (1530-1572).
Senior Branch
Starting with Heinrich XIV (1506-1572), who was renumbered as Heinrich
I, *every* male in the senior line numbered his sons Heinrich I,
Heinrich II, Heinrich III, etc. After a while this got clumsy, and
starting in about 1640 the entire Senior Branch started numbering its
Heinrichs sequentially, based on birth order *within the Branch*, not
within the sibship. This continued through 1678 with the birth of
Heinrich XVI, and the next birth, in 1693, was Heinrich I. This
sequence continued through the entire Senior Branch, which didn't have
very many males, down to 1878 with the birth of Heinrich XXIV, the
last male of the Senior Branch, who died unmarried in 1927. This
Senior Branch is also called "Reuss-Greiz", and a sister of this
Heinrich XXIV was Hermine, second wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Junior Branch
Heinrich XVI died in 1572 leaving daughters and a pregnant wife. This
turned out to be a son, Heinrich Posthumous (1572-1635). Heinrich
Posthumous had ten sons, Heinrich I through Heinrich X. The grandsons
of Heinrich Posthumous started a new sequence with Heinrich I in 1639.
This sequence continued for the entire Junior Branch through the birth
of Heinrich XXIX in 1699. A new sequence for the Junior Branch started
with Heinrich I in 1695 (okay, so it got a little out of order) and
continued through the birth of Heinrich LXXV in 1800, then a new
sequence started with Heinrich I in 1803 and continued through
Heinrich XLVII in 1897. The current sequence started with Heinrich I
in 1910 and continues through at least Heinrich XXVI, born in 1988.
Territories in this Junior Branch include "Reuss-Gera" (extinct in
1802), "Reuss-Schleiz" (extinct apparently in 1945),
"Reuss-Lobenstein" (extinct in 1824), "Reuss-Ebersdorf" (extinct in
1853, Queen Victoria's grandmother was one of these), and
Reuss-Köstritz, which itself was divided into three branches (the
oldest extinct in 1878 and the younger two still survive). The
numbering has never gone higher than Heinrich LXXV (who died age one
year, but Heinrich LXXIV lived to be 87). Heinrich Licco is son of a
marriage which at various times was considered to be morganatic, which
is why (in my opinion) his name is not standard. The family compact of
1887 didn't make the Counts of Plauen "ebenbürtig", it actually
un-"ebenbürtig"-ed them (what with the marriage of Heinrich LXIX to
Matilda Locke being considered "ebenbürtig" I guess they had to draw
the line somewhere), which is why (in my opinion) they and their
descendants' names are not standard (even though some of them get
numbers).
Back to Table of Contents
17. What happens when a king dies and his widow is pregnant?
It depends on the applicable law of succession. If, under that law, there was
an heir apparent at the time of death, than that heir immediately succeeds.
If there was only an heir presumptive, then in all likelihood a regency of
some kind would be put in place until the birth of the child; a conceivable
alternative being a "conditional proclamation" of the heir presumptive (see
the Brit-FAQ 2.44). The situation is rarely, if ever, explicitly foreseen in
succession laws.
Specifically:
1. If the deceased king already has at least one son, then, under any
existing succession law, the son would immediately succeed.
2. If he has no son but at least one daughter, and if absolute
primogeniture is the rule, then the eldest one would immediately
succeed.
3. In all other cases, the unborn child could displace existing heirs
presumptive.
There are several historical examples:
* In 1316, Louis X of France died leaving a daughter and a pregnant
widow. The daughter was not called to succeed, but the brother of
the deceased became regent until the birth of a son, known as Jean
I, who died within days. The regent succeeded him as Philip V.
* In 1328, Charles IV of France died leaving a daughter and a
pregnant widow. Again, the daughter was excluded, and the heir
presumptive Philip of Valois became regent, until the birth of a
daughter, after which he was retroactively made king from the
death of his predecessor.
* In 1885, Alfonso XII of Spain died leaving two daughters and a
pregnant widow. The succession law was mixed primogeniture
(preference to males). The widow became regent until the birth of
a son, who became Alfonso XIII.
The case may be paradoxical in the face of such maxims as "the king is
dead, long live the king" and the notion of absolute continuity of the
throne. In both instances, the throne was vacant for several months.
Such a vacancy was avoided in the rather exotic case of Shapur II,
Sassanid king of Persia, crowned while in his mother's womb in 309 AD
(after magi had assured that the child would be a boy).
_________________________________________________________________
Part III: Nobility
1. What does it mean to be a noble?
(I hope readers of the FAQ will bear in mind that this answer cannot
enumerate the history, laws or succession rules of every country or
title. There are exceptions to every rule on the nobility, and the
objective of this section is to provide broad guidelines.)
Nobility is, historically, a legally defined status, largely inherited
once acquired, and enjoying once extensive privileges which, in modern
Europe, have been reduced (except see British sub-FAQ) to nominal
membership in the noble class with or without a hereditary title in,
e.g., BeNeLux, Denmark, Spain and Sweden. The nobility has been
abolished, with varying degrees of governmental tolerance for
continued use of once noble attributes, in Czechoslovakia, France,
Germany, Hungary, Italy and Portugal. But titles are not indigenous to
or not permitted in Austria, the Balkans, Greece, Norway, Poland,
Switzerland or former constituent states of the Soviet Union.
The most common titles associated with nobility in Europe were, in
descending order Prince, Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron, Knight
and Noble, although some countries had more titles, some fewer. In
Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain peers were the category of highest
nobles; although most dukes were peers, some peers held lower titles.
Except for peers, titles indicated official rank, but not
substantially different privileges. In fact, the majority of Europe's
nobles never held hereditary titles. Even in countries where many did,
it was often the longevity of a family's membership in the noble class
and/or history of court/military service and/or wealth which was of
greater importance in assessing its status than any legal title.
Evaluating titles across boundaries is virtually impossible, not only
because they were bestowed more liberally in some countries than in
others, but because their rules of descent and attached privileges
also varied.
In France, Portugal, Scandinavia and Spain, the rank of prince was
limited to members of the reigning dynasty, but the title was also
sometimes borne by non-royal nobles in the Balkan countries, Bohemia,
France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia. In Scandinavia,
"duke" usually implies royal kinship and in Germany, semi- sovereign
rank, but until the 16th century, dukes were mostly great land-owning
nobles in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain who often were equal to or
outranked princes, especially in Italy.
Counts, were originally companions of or regional governors appointed
by the Holy Roman Emperor or by kings. In Germany many of these
"grafen" retained semi-sovereign status (Reichsstand), acknowledging
only nominally the authority of the Emperor and inflating their
dignity with prefixes (e.g. margrave, landgrave, palsgrave, etc.) and
their number by eschewing primogeniture. But most European counts were
vassals of greater princes, even within the Empire (i.e. Austria,
Bohemia, Hungary, northern Italy and Poland) where titles were mostly
granted by the Emperor until the 19th century, transmissible to males
and females through the male line.
It was not rare for sovereigns to grant hereditary titles to subjects
of other realms, which honors conferred no legal rank in the
recipient's country. That did not stop the Emperor from living in
Vienna while making princes or counts of Bohemians, Dalmatians,
Hungarians, Lithuanians and Poles. (Nearly all titles of baron in
Poland were foreign.) The King of Spain recognized only his heir
apparent as a prince in Madrid, but he created scores of them in
Naples and Sicily and dozens more in Belgium.
In Scandinavia, there were few counts before the 17th century. In
Russia, there weren't any counts until Peter the Great's reign from
1682 to 1725. Countships and baronies were distributed more sparingly
in the North, sometimes descending to all children and sometime by
masculine primogeniture.
In Latin countries, the titles of Marquis, Count, Viscount and Baron
descended according to primogeniture, although in Italy some also
descended to the entire male-line. In Spain, Marques was the most
common title; in Portugal, Vizconde; and in Italy, Conte.
The Spanish grandee is equivalent to the French peer, ranking above
all other Spanish nobles regardless of title. But Spain is unique
inasmuch as men are far less favored over women than in most
nobilities. Titles descend to daughters or sisters before being
heritable by more distant male kinsmen. A holder of multiple titles is
not bound by primogeniture, but may distribute them among children.
The husband of a duquesa or vizcondesa is a duque or vizconde.
Below the rank of baron, in Germany there was the knight (Ritter),
lord (Herr), nobleman (Edler) and untitled noble who usually took the
predicate "von" or the higher one of "zu" which implied continued
possession of the family seat. Note that lord (Herr) was used as a
title, especially in Bohemia, but for many many years it was just a
designation of an untitled noble. The Netherlands has the Jonkheer
(strictly speaking a predicate rather than a title) below the Ridder,
while Belgium has the chevalier.
Italy's lower titles are Cavaliere, Nobili, Patrician and Coscritto.
Hungary, Bohemia and Poland all have Counts but nearly all titles of
baron were foreign. Russia had princes and counts, and hundred of
barons. Ranking below them were the dvorianstvo (untitled nobles).
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. What does it mean to be a German noble?
The answer to this question is taken from an article written by
Gilbert von Studnitz in "Der Blumenbaum", a publication of the
Sacramento German Genealogy Society, Vol. 9, number 4, April-June
1992. Gilbert, an a.t.r. member, has graciously given his permission
for a revised version of this article to be used in the a.t.r. FAQ.
The German Nobility
Copyright © 1992 by Gilbert von Studnitz
The German system of nobility, as indeed the European system in
general, is quite different from the English system with which most
Americans are familiar. The English have a peerage system and not an
extensive system of nobility, though their squires or landed gentry
would tend to be the closest thing. In England only the eldest son
usually inherits the title and the rest are considered commoners,
though they may bear "courtesy titles" if their father has more than
one, or may be called "Lord" or "Lady" without actually being one.
The German nobility is divided into two major divisions, that of the
lower (niedriger Adel) and the high (hoher Adel). It is further
divided into the ancient nobility (Uradel) and the newer nobility
(commonly known as Briefadel, or literally nobility by letter-cachet,
but also including other groups.) The Uradel may be of either the
lower or high nobility, but the Briefadel is almost always of the
lower.
In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman become nobles
themselves, and most titles pass onto all the children with few
exceptions. All the children of sovereigns did not, of course, become
kings or electors, but did become princes or princesses. In the last
decades of the German Empire, in imitation of the English system, a
few families were ennobled with titles that passed on only to the
eldest son, the remainder retaining either their father's former title
(which he also still carried) or just untitled nobility.
The hereditary and legal privileges of the nobility as the first class
of the realm ended in August of 1919 when the Constitution of the
so-called Weimar Republic came into force. The laws that concerned the
nobility for some one thousand years before 1919 stated that
hereditary nobility could only be passed on through legitimate
biological descent from a noble father but not through adoption and
especially not through purchase. When non-nobles were adopted the
family name could be carried by the adoptee, but none of the noble
designations of the family (such as a title or the "von".) If such an
adoptee wished to become noble, he or she had to apply to their
sovereign for such status in the same manner as any other subject. An
exemption to this was and is still made by the "legitimatio per
matrimonium subsequens", which allowed the legitimation of children
born out of wedlock after the marriage of their noble parents. By this
the children became full hereditary nobles, though some social stigma
still remained.
Since 1919, according to the German republican government, the
nobility no longer exists as a legal entity. Nevertheless, the titles
and noble designations of the nobility have not been abolished, as
they have in Austria, and may still be carried. Legally they are now
merely parts of the family name and in theory convey no status.
Following this rule all children of, for example, a Count von Beust,
whether male or female, would have the family name Count von Beust.
Similarly your could find ladies named Elisabeth Duke of Saxony or
Luise Prince of Prussia. A woman married to the Hereditary Grand Duke
of Baden would, in law, also be named Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden,
as would all their children. To avoid making all this seem too
ridiculous the German government ignores much of its own law and
allows the wives and children of nobles to take the gender-specific
titles appropriate to their sex.
Another example of society ignoring the 1919 law and following
traditional practice is that in all German telephone books a person
named, for instance, Baron von Richthofen would be listed under a "R"
for Richthofen rather than a "v" for "von" or a "B" for "Baron". The
U.S. telephone books are (unwittingly) more compliant with current
German legal writ by listing all persons with a "von" under "v".
The 1919 law also causes difficulties in the case of children
inheriting senior titles of their fathers. For example, in certain
families only the senior member is a count, and the rest are untitled
nobles. For a child to use the inherited title of "count" upon his
father's death would involve a court petition for a name change, which
is not always granted when the judge or magistrate has an anti-noble
bias.
Current law allows a person adopted by a noble to use the noble family
name, and since the title is considered part of the name, that is also
conveyed by adoption. It should be noted that the German nobility
never acknowledges such persons to be noble, no matter what they call
themselves.
Those persons who claim nobility through adoption or purchase, such as
the notorious Claus von Bülow, the Nazi foreign minister von
Ribbentrop, or Zsa-Zsa Gabor's husband who uses a Saxon princely
title, are not recognized as part of the historical nobility and are
no more members of that class than anyone else claiming a status to
which they are not entitled. Most such persons are essentially
deluding themselves while trying to fool others.
The basic designation of the nobility is the predicate "von", which
the vast majority of German nobles carry. There are a small number of
noble houses, almost exclusively of the Uradel, which have never used
the "von" or any other noble predicate, but are nevertheless of fully
equal standing with those that do.
In northern and eastern Germany there are a substantial number of
families (such as the von Kranichfelds) that use the "von" as
designations of the towns where they come from (as is the case with
most older noble families) but have never been noble and make no
pretense to be so.
A few noble houses use "von und zu", meaning they are not only from
the place mentioned but still retain it. Another Uradel house is named
"aus dem Winckel" instead of "von dem Winckel" but having the same
meaning. Other noble predicates sometimes seen are "von dem", "von
der", or "vom". "Van" is not used by German nobles but is Dutch or
Flemish and does not usually connote nobility in those countries. As a
way of differentiating themselves from non-nobles, the aristocracy of
northern Germany in most cases uses the abbreviation "v.", instead of
writing out the "von", while still pronouncing the whole word. The
southern Germans most often write out the "von". It is always spelled
with a small "v" unless it would be grammatically incorrect, such as
in the beginning of a sentence.
Notwithstanding regional preferences, the "Bible" of the nobility, the
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (Genealogical Handbook of the
Nobility), published by C. A. Starke in Limburg/Lahn, uses the "v." to
designate nobles and spells out the "von" for non-noble families or
individual non-nobles within aristocratic families. This handbook,
colloquially known as the "Gotha" for it's predecessor the Almanach de
Gotha (in German, Gothaisches Hofkalendar) attempts a comprehensive
listing of all German noble houses currently or recently in existence
and comes out in several volumes on a yearly basis, listing all living
members of a family and all those deceased since the last edition. The
handbook is divided into several series with the binding in different
colors: Royal & Princely houses, Counts, Barons, Untitled nobles, and
Family histories. Within these series the families are, except since
recently the Counts and Barons, divided into Uradel or Briefadel.
The advantage of having these books is obvious: there is a wealth of
genealogical information, and as it lists addresses, many potential
contacts can be found. It is also a way of being able to investigate
people's claims to noble status, though this kind of checking is not
considered "gentlemanly". The listing are thorough and are checked for
accuracy, though they depend to a large degree on the individual's
honesty in telling the truth about themselves.
Not every German noble family is included, as most often the family
concerned must contribute financially to its inclusion, or the family
may be too small, poor, or unwilling to warrant repeated updating. For
instance, my own family, with some 70 members, appeared lastly in 1985
and will do so again in 1999, but that of my grandmother, von
Bulmerincq, has not appeared since 1936. The current series of books
has been published since 1951, and is available at a number of larger
libraries. German nobles, especially the Uradel, have a particular
class consciousness and consider themselves interrelated and cousins
even if they don't know exactly how. Often in the case of the ancient
families this is correct due to centuries of intermarriage. All
members of the Uradel are considered by themselves to be of the same
status, whether they are untitled, barons, counts, or whatever else
they may be. The particular title of a person is far less important
among the nobility than the age and standing of the family. This is
particularly true as a number of old families have branches of various
levels. For instance, the Counts, Barons, and untitled von Bothmers
are all part of the same family. The Uradel also tend to look down on
the Briefadel as parvenus, even when the Briefadel may have been noble
for centuries. I recall visiting a cousin on the Lüneburger Heath in
Lower Saxony who had a brass plate on his front door stating
"Liferanten und Briefadel zur Hintertuer", meaning "Deliveries and
Briefadel to the rear entrance". Though meant as a joke, there was
still a bit of seriousness behind it.
Uradel
This oldest level of the nobility is made up of those houses which by
no later than 1400 were members of the knightly class, or patricians
of a free Imperial city such as Frankfurt/Main. Most often these
houses are counted as noble since "time immemorial" as at their first
appearance in written records they were already noble. The families
that make up this segment of the nobility usually descend from the
knights or most important warriors of a sovereign that were the basis
of his fighting force, or more rarely from a senior civil official of
the time. The Uradel often had legal privileges over the newer
nobility certifying their higher standing, such as in the Nobles Law
of the Kingdom of Saxony of 1902. There are far fewer Uradel families
still in existence than Briefadel due to the fact that families die
out over the centuries and no Uradel has been created in almost 600
years.
Briefadel
This level of the nobility is made up of those houses which were
ennobled since the beginning of the 15th Century through the end of
the German or Austrian Empires in 1918. There were widely differing
prerequisites for this level of the nobility, though most often
military or civil service to the sovereign were the qualities most
valued. The Briefadel includes houses ennobled or recognized as noble
by the Emperor or one of the sovereigns of the high nobility. Also
included are patricians of the free Imperial cities and non-German
noble houses that immigrated over the centuries, such as the Counts
von Polier from France or the Herren von Zerboni di Sposetti from
Italy.
High Nobility
The High Nobility is made up of those families that had
Reichsstandschaft, or had a seat in the Parliament of the Holy Roman
Empire. These seats were reserved for sovereign houses. These families
were also Reichsunmittelbar, or in a feudal sense holding their lands
directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, who for four centuries, until
the end of the empire in 1806, came from the house of Habsburg. In
essence, these families were rulers of their own countries, often in
times of a weak emperor paying only lip service to their subservience
to him. Their relationship to the emperor was then much like that of
today's Commonwealth rulers to the British Queen. Even in times of a
strong emperor he was to them more like a chairman of the board rather
than a ruler. Up to the early 19th Century, there were some baronial
and untitled families that held lands directly of the emperor, so
essentially being their own rulers, but had no seat in the Parliament,
thus being members of the lower nobility. Many families of the high
nobility have house laws applicable to their members. Often these laws
do not allow marriage outside their ranks, even to the lower nobility
which would be considered a morganatic alliance. Even today, the
children of a member of the high nobility who marries morganatically
become members of the lower nobility.
Ranks of the High Nobility
Within this division of the nobility the highest title is Emperor, or
Kaiser, deriving from Caesar in Latin. Through most of German history,
there was only one of these, the Holy Roman Emperor of the German
Nation, lasting from the crowning of Charlemagne in the year 800
through the renunciation of the last emperor, Franz II, in 1806 under
the influence of Napoleon, who by then had proclaimed himself Emperor
of the French. Kaiser Franz had already declared himself Emperor of
Austria, as Franz I, in 1804. In essence, the emperor just changed his
title so as to more accurately reflect the political realities of the
time.
A second German empire was established in 1871 after the victory of
the German states over Napoleon III, when King Wilhelm I of Prussia
was proclaimed German Emperor. He was never titled Emperor of Germany,
as this nation was not a unitary state but a federation of monarchies
and free city-states with quasi-republican governments. The title of
German Emperor was always carried in conjunction with that of King of
Prussia, and he was addressed as Kaiserliche und Königliche Majestät
(Imperial and Royal Majesty). The Austrian Emperor, based to a large
degree upon his position as King of Hungary, was addressed as
Apostolic Majesty.
Both German and Austrian empires ceased to exist after World War I,
and the imperial titles have not been carried since the last emperors
died (Wilhelm II of Germany in 1941, Karl of Austria in 1922). The
last empress, Zita of Austria, died in 1989.
The children of the German emperor were Princes of Prussia (not
Germany) and royal highnesses, except the eldest, who was German
Kronprinz (Crown Prince) and addressed as Imperial and Royal Highness.
The current heir to the throne is titled the, rather than a, Prince of
Prussia, and is the only one in Germany still addressed as Imperial &
Royal Highness. The children of the Austrian emperor were titled
Archdukes or Archduchesses of Austria rather than princes, and called
Imperial & Royal Highnesses.
Next we come to König and Königin, or King and Queen, which was
carried by the rulers of the larger German states (Bavaria, Hanover,
Prussia, Saxony, Württemberg, ). They were addressed as Majesty, and
their children, princes or princesses, as Royal Highnesses.
After these came the Grossherzog, or Grand Duke, who were styled royal
highness, and were rulers of somewhat smaller states, such as the two
Mecklenburgs or Luxemburg (which until 1918 was considered a German
state). The heir to these thrones was known as an Erbgrossherzog, or
hereditary grand duke, and the other children were princes or
princesses. Additionally in the Saxon kingdom, grand duchy, and
duchies, all the children of the ruler were also styled dukes or
duchesses.
The next level is that of Herzog, or Duke, who was normally styled
Highness.
Kurfürst, or Elector in English, ranked with a Duke. The electors were
originally the greatest lords of the Holy Roman Empire, both temporal
and spiritual, who elected the Emperor before the throne became
hereditary. They later became sovereigns no different from the rest.
The last ruling Elector, Hesse-Cassel, lost his throne to Prussia in
1866.
Landgraf (Landgrave), Markgraf (Margrave), and Pfalzgraf (Palsgrave or
Count Palatine) ranked somewhat with a Duke and are usually considered
higher than a Fürst. All sovereigns of this rank were eventually
"promoted" to higher titles, but the titles were sometimes used
instead of crown prince for their states, and are currently used for
the Heads of the Houses of Baden, Hesse and Saxony. Depending on
circumstances, they could be styled Royal Highness or simply Highness.
In the Middle Ages, some sovereigns were Burggrafs, or Burgraves, but
all these took higher titles early on and Burggraf became a title and
sometimes function, like Wildgraf, of the lower nobility.
Next follows Fürst (for which there is no good translation in English,
but which is confusingly called Prince). These are styled Durchlaucht,
translated as Serene Highness. Children of dukes, kurfürsts, and
fürsts were all princes or princesses. In the third generation their
descendants sometimes become counts, except for the ruling line, which
retains the princely title.
The last category of the high nobility still in existence is that of
Graf, or Count. The last sovereigns of this rank ceased ruling after
the Congress of Vienna in 1815. They are styled Erlaucht, or
Illustrious Highness. Their children are all counts or countesses. A
former somewhat higher rank of gefürsteter graf, or princely count, no
longer exists.
Among all the higher nobility the idea of Ebenbürgtigkeit exists,
meaning all of them, no matter what the title, are considered of equal
birth and standing.
Ranks of the Lower Nobility
Very often a certain level of income, wealth, or social standing was
necessary for appointment to these ranks, so as to demonstrate the
ability of the person ennobled to maintain himself at a proper level.
The highest rank of the non-sovereign nobility is Duke, a title almost
never given them and then only "ad personam", or much like an English
life peer. An example is Otto von Bismarck as Duke of Lauenburg. He
was styled Serene Highness.
The highest rank that normally was part of the lower nobility is
Fürst. This title, like Duke, was given to them only in the last
centuries of the monarchy. Their children were rarely princes, but
more usually counts or barons, depending on what was the original
title of the Fürst.
Next in rank is Count, which in modern times could be given
primogeniture (inherited only by the eldest son), but was usually
given to all the children of the new count. A very few houses also
carry the title Burggraf which is approximately equivalent to Count.
Baron follows, which is almost always called Freiherr in Germany, but
given as Baron to the Germans of the Baltic regions. For many years it
was in dispute whether Baron was equivalent to Freiherr (which was
deemed "better"), but this was settled in the last century in an
affirmative manner. The wife of a Freiherr is a Freifrau, the daughter
a Freiherrin. This last title is sometimes abbreviated Freiin. The
wife of a Baron is a Baronin, the daughter a Baronesse. Another
variant of this rank is called Edler Herr, or Edle Herrin for females,
which is borne by only a few very old families (such as the Gans zu
Putlitz).
The last level is that of the untitled nobility, which nevertheless
includes some titled families. Normally an untitled noble is addressed
as Herr, in this context meaning Lord.
In former times untitled nobles, especially those from the eastern
regions, were addressed as Junker, a title still in usage in the
Netherlands as Jonkheer. It is no longer normally used in Germany. In
Bavaria and especially Austria, the hereditary title of Ritter
(Knight) was given to families, but they were still considered part of
the untitled nobility. Much the same applies to the title of Edler,
which is mainly northern and central German. While the wife and
daughters of an Edler were titled Edle, the wife of a Ritter was
called a Frau (in this sense Lady) and not Ritterin.
Though the formal power of the German nobility is gone, it still
remains a considerable social force. After the debacle of World War
II, the aristocracy gradually reformed in groups based on religious
affiliation or province of origin. For well over 30 years, these
groups have been affiliated as the "Vereinigung der Deutschen
Adelsverbaende" and published the monthly "Deutsches Adelsblatt" in
the small town of Westerbrak (now part of Kirchbrak). The legalistic
"Deutsches Adelsrechtsausschuss" was set up, composed of members from
various noble and chivalric organizations, to determine in
questionable cases who belongs to the nobility or if a person has a
right to a noble title he claims. Only if there is a positive judgment
by this organization can someone join one of the nobles' associations
or have their family listed in the Gotha.
It has been estimated that there are some 40,000 nobles of all ranks
in Germany today.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Part IV: Resources
1. On-line Sources of Information
It is amazing what one can find on-line about royalty, nobility and
related topics. The following sites are but a sampling of what one can
discover while surfing the 'Net. This list is not meant to be
definitive; rather it is a starting point for research. Most of the
following sites are in English, although some are in other languages.
The FAQ compiler and maintainer does not make any judgements as to the
contents or opinions found at these sites. If you are using the World
Wide Web (aka WWW, W3, Mosaic, Netscape, Lynx), you can reach these
pages at the following URLs:
Existing Monarchies
General:
http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/royalty.html
Dag Hoelseth's Royal Corner, with many links as well as a
collection of constitutional and legal documents pertaining to
various monarchies.
Andorra:
http://www.sigma.net/fafhrd/andorra/index.htm
Bahrain:
http://www.bahrain.gov.bh/English/Royal/Royal.asp
Belgium:
http://belgium.fgov.be/Engels/417/41709/41709.htm
Denmark:
http://www.kongehuset.dk/ (official site)
http://www.um.dk/english/danmark/om_danmark/queen.html
Japan:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3953
Jordan:
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/ http://www.jordanview.net/
(official site)
Liechtenstein:
http://www.news.li/fam/index.htm
Luxembourg:
http://www.gouvernement.lu/gouv/fr/doss/savoirlu/famgdduc.html
(official site of the grand-duchy; in French)
http://www.luxcentral.com/LuxDukes.html
Monaco:
http://www.monaco.mc/monaco/700ans/index.html
http://www.monaco.gouv.mc/ (in French)
Netherlands:
http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/ (official site)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/gennl.htm
Norway:
http://www.kongehuset.no/
Oman:
http://www.msdg.com/oman/index.htm
Perak:
http://www.perak.gov.my/perak_250696/june/html/sultan1.html
Saudi Arabia:
http://www.saudi.net/gov_profile/profile_king.html
Spain:
http://www.casareal.es/ (official site)
http://www.DocuWeb.ca/SiSpain/english/politics/royal/index.html
Swaziland:
http://www.pitt.edu/~tgsst10/swaziland.html
Sweden:
http://www.royalcourt.se/ (official site)
Thailand:
http://sunsite.au.ac.th/thailand/rama9/
http://kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/index.en.html
United Arab Emirates:
http://www.uae.org.ae/History/zayed.html
Western Samoa:
http://www.interwebinc.com/samoa/
Other Royal Houses
Afghanistan:
http://www.zaher-shah.fr.fm
Albania:
http://www.kwtelecom.com/heraldry/albania.html
Austria:
http://otto.twschwarzer.de
Bavaria:
http://www.munichfound.de/issues/1996/11/articles/HEIR.html
Brazil:
http://www.arsa.com/monarquia/
Bulgaria:
http://www.seker.es/simeon/reybul.html
France (Royal, duc d'Anjou):
http://www.royaute.org/
France (Royal, comte de Paris):
http://www.royaute-france.com/
France (Imperial):
http://www.napoleon.org
Hannover:
http://www.welfen.de/
Iran:
http://www.irancmi.org
Mexico:
http://www.casaimperial.org/
Portugal:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9734/
http://www.portugal-pt.com/JuventudeLusitana/english.htm
Prussia:
http://www.preussen.de/
Yugoslavia:
http://www.royalfamily.org/
Other Sites
Aga Khan & Family:
The Aga Khan Development Network
http://www.akdn.org/
Albanian Royal Court:
http://www.french-market.com/albania/
Alexander Palace Time Machine:
http://alexanderpalace.org/palace/
Almanach de Bruxelles:
http://www.almanach.be/central.html
Almanach de la Cour:
http://www.chivalricorders.org/index3.htm
Brigitte's Royal & Nobility Genealogy:
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/royal00.htm
Caltrap's Corner:
http://www.caltraps-corner.com
Charlotte's Web: Roots - Noble & Royal Genealogies:
http://www.charweb.org/gen/noblesse.html
Christine's Royal Families Page:
http://wwwedu.cs.utwente.nl/~kersten/royal.html
The Crown of Russian Empire:
http://www.cs.msu.su/heraldry/
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Royalty and
Nobility:
http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/royalty.htm
The Database of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family:
http://www.ardaman.com/
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors:
http://www.salve.edu/~dimaiom/deimprom.html
The European History Web Page:
http://www.eurohistory.com
European Royal Houses:
http://www.chivalricorders.org/royalty/index.htm
The EuroStamm Home Page:
http://members.aol.com/eurostamm/index.html
Federazione Monarchica Italiana:
http://www.vol.it/fede_monarc/
Fundación Príncipe de Asturias:
http://www.fpa.es/
Genealogical Gleanings (Royalty from Cambodia, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii,
Africa and India):
http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy
German Nobility Database:
http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/html/ww-person.html
A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles
(aka Mark Odegard's Titles FAQ):
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm
A Glossary of Titles in 35 languages by Alexander Kirschnig
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/titel.htm
Habsburg Pages:
http://otto.twschwarzer.de
Habsburg Biographies:
http://www.booksatoz.com/antiquesatoz/habsburg/habsburg.htm
Heraldica: François Velde's Heraldry Site:
http://www.heraldica.org/
International Constitutional Law:
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html
Internet Gotha:
http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/stoyan/wwp/LANG=
engl/?gotha
Japan, Inc.: The Emperor System and Japan's Royal Family:
http://www.ccnet.com/~suntzu75/japemps.htm
Juventude Lusitana (a Portuguese monarchist site):
http://www.portugal-pt.com/JuventudeLusitana/english.htm
Marivi's Royalty Page:
http://www.serv.net/~marivim/royalty.html
The Medici of Florence:
http://www.arca.net/tourism/florence/medici.htm
Monarchy Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3417/monarchy.html
Monarchie weltweit:
http://home.wtal.de/monarchie/links.htm
Napoleon Bonaparte:
http://www.mindspring.com/~csr/napoleon/napoleon.htm
Paul Theroff's Dynastic Genealogy Files:
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff
Paul Theroff's Online Gotha:
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/gotha.htm
Queen Marie of Romania, Papers:
http://www.library.kent.edu/speccoll/women/queen.html
Roberto Ortiz de Zarate's Political Datasets (a web site containing a
current list of heads of state & heads of government):
http://web.jet.es/ziaorarr
The Royal Ark: Royal and Ruling Houses of Africa, Asia, Oceania and
the Americas
http://www.dreamwater.net/regiment/RoyalArk/royalark.htm
Royal Descents of famous people:
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/mh10006/FamTree/famous.royal.html
Royal Families of the World:
http://www.royalfamily.com/
Royal Houses - Where They Have Been Reigning and When:
http://www.users.wineasy.se/elias/houses.htm
Royal & Noble Genealogical Data on the Web:
http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/GEDCOM.html
Royal & Noble Lineages:
http://www.uq.edu.au/~zzhsoszy/index.html
Royal Network:
http://www.royalnetwork.com/
Royal Russia:
http://angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/index.html
Royalist's Home Page:
http://www.themonarchist.com
The Royalty in History Site:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/kings.htm
Rulers (heads of state & heads of government):
http://www.rulers.org
Rulers of Bulgaria:
http://www.bulgaria.com/history/rulers/
Spanish Nobiliary Regulations:
http://www.ChivalricOrders.org/nobility/spanoble.htm
The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library:
(constitutions of most of the countries in the world)
http://law.house.gov/1.htm
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. Useful Addresses.
I - Associations:
The Monarchist League
BM Monarchist
London WC1N 3XX
United Kingdom
URL: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7993 (you will find
addresses of other leagues and associations at this website)
The Monarchist League in Australia
P.O. Box 1068
Double Bay, NSW 2028
Australia
e-mail: ***@monarchist.org.au
URL: http://www.monarchist.org.au
The Constantian Society
Randall J. Dicks
Governor and Editor
P.O. Box 12734
Pittsburgh, PA 15241-9734
U.S.A.
(a monarchist organization with educational goals and
activities)
e-mail: ***@icubed.com
II - Mail Order:
Hatchards
Attention: Robin Piguet
187 Piccadilly
London, W1V 9DA
United Kingdom
e-mail: ***@hatchards.co.uk
Heraldry Today
Parliament Piece
Ramsbury, Wiltshire SN8 2QH
United Kingdom
e-mail: ***@heraldrytoday.co.uk
URL: http://www.heraldrytoday.co.uk
(specialists for books on genealogy, heraldry and royalty)
International Historic Films, Inc.
Dept. S
P.O. Box 29035
Chicago, IL 60629
U.S.A.
(videos of such categories as 'British Heritage' and 'European
Royals' for sale)
URL: http://www.viamall.com/ihf/index.html
Librairie des Editions Christian
14, rue Littré
75006 Paris, France
URL: http://www.karolus.org/christian/index.htm
Rainy Day Books
P.O. Box 775
Route 119
Fitzwilliam, NH 03447
U.S.A.
Rosemary Bennett Rare Books
1077 SW13th Avenue
Albany, OR 97321
U.S.A.
(specializing in books about royalty; write for free brochure)
Rosvall Royal Books
Enasen-Falekvarna
S-52191 Falköping
Sweden
e-mail: ***@falköping.mail.telia.com
(new and antiquarian royal books in various languages)
III - Periodicals:
C.E.D.R.E. (Cercle d'Etudes des dynasties royales européennes)
12, allée des Jonquilles
F-60260 Lamorlaye, France
(quarterly bulletins, in French, about various royal and noble
families)
Deutsches Adelsblatt GmbH
Westerbrak 10
37619 Kirchbrak
Germany
(monthly publication, in German, of the Vereinigung der
Deutschen Adelsverbaende)
The European Royalty History Journal
(six issues per year)
Eurohistory.com
110 Linden Street
Oakland CA 94607
U.S.A.
Phone: (510) 839-4676
Fax: (510) 839-4645
e-mail: ***@eurohistory.com
URL: http://www.eurohistory.com/journal.html
Journal of Royal & Noble Genealogy: An International Journal of the
Augustan Society, Inc.
The Augustan Society, Inc.
P.O. Box P
Torrance, CA 90508-0210
U.S.A.
Majesty Magazine
P.O. Box 301069
Escondido, CA 92030
U.S.A.
(for American and Canadian subscriptions)
Majesty Subscriptions
Tower House, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street
Market Halborough
Leicester LE16 9EF
United Kingdom
(for UK and overseas subscriptions)
(a monthly magazine focussing on royal families)
Point de Vue
Service Abonnement
70, rue Compans
F-75019 Paris, France
(a weekly magazine focussing on British and European royalty
and nobility, in French)
Royal Book News
Marlene Koenig
5590 Jowett Court
Alexandria, VA 22315
U.S.A.
(bi-monthly newsletter for and about royal books)
e-mail: ***@delphi.com
Royalty
P.O. Box 3278
803 Finchley Road
London NW11 8DP
United Kingdom
(a monthly magazine, similar to Majesty magazine)
Royalty Digest
Church Street
Ticehurst, East Sussex TN57 AA
United Kingdom
(a monthly magazine available on subscription)
IV - Publishers:
abiszet Bücher-service GmbH
Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Volkswirt
Ulrich Kraus
Oberländerstr. 21
D-93051 Regensburg
Germany
e-mail: ***@a-zet.de
URL: http://www.a-zet.de
C.A.Starke Verlag
Frankfurterstrasse 51/53
D-65549 Limburg/Lahn
Germany
e-mail: ***@t-online.de
URL: http://www.edition-digital.com/starkeverlag/index.html
Verlag Degener & Co.
Postfach 1360
D-91403 Neustadt/Aisch
Germany
e-mail: ***@waldenfont.com
URL: http://www.waldenfont.com/degener/
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
3. Electronic (on-line) Magazines
This section features a selection of electronic, or on-line, magazines
that occasionally feature articles about members of royal or noble
families. For non-electronic magazines, please see "Periodicals" in
Part IV: 2. Useful Addresses.
ABC Electronico (Spanish-language)
http://www.abc.es
Aftonbladet (Swedish-language)
http://www.aftonbladet.se
Hola/Hello (Spanish- and English-language)
http://www.hola.es
Monaco Actualité (French-language)
http://www.monaco.mc/actualite/index.html
Paris Match (French-language)
http://www.parismatch.com
tuSpain (English-language)
http://tuspain.com/index.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
4. Bibliography
The bibliography is divided into three sections:
I. Biographies, Histories & Related Works
II. Genealogies & Related Works
III. General
Each of the sections are divided into nine language categories in the
following order: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian,
Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish.
I - Biographies, Histories and Related Works
Danish-Language Books:
Bramsen, Bo. Huset Glücksborg, 2 Vols., 1992
Buchwaldt, Randi. Prinsesse Benedikte: Prinsessen i midten.
Copenhagen: Forenede Udgivere, 1994
Wolden-Raethinge, Anne. Dronning I Danmark: Margrethe den Anden
fortaeller om sit liv. Photos by Georg Oddner. Gyldendal, 1989
Dutch-Language Books:
Ditzhuyzen, Reina van. Oranje-Nassau: een biografisch woordenboek.
Haarlem: Becht, 1992 [biographical & genealogical dictionary of
the Royal House of Nassau]
Ruizendaal, Willem. Nassau & Oranje: 600 jaar geschiedenis van ons
vorstenhuis van Engelbert I tot Willem-Alexander. Baarn:
Tirion, 1995
Schenk, M.G. Een Eeuw Vorstinnen: Honderd Jaar Vrouwen op de
Nederlandse Troon. Amsterdam: De Boekerig, 1989
English-Language Books:
The European Royal Families. St. Gallen, Switzerland: Editions Norden,
1993
Great Dynasties: Capets, Hohenstaufens, Plantagenets, Hapsburgs,
Valois, Stuarts, Tudors, Bourbons of France, Romanovs,
Braganzas, Bourbons of Spain, Hohenzollerns, House of Savoy,
House of Hanover-Windsor, Bourbons of Naples, Bonapartes. New
York: Mayflower Books, 1979
Alderson, A.D. The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1956 [Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982]
Aronson, Theo. Defiant Dynasty: the Coburgs of Belgium. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1968 [alternate title: The Coburgs of Belgium.
London: Cassell, 1969]
-----. A Family of Kings: the descendants of Christian IX of Denmark.
London: Cassell, 1976
-----. Grandmama of Europe: the crowned descendants of Queen Victoria.
London: Cassell, 1973
-----. The Kaisers. London: Cassell, 1971 [Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1971]
-----. Royal Vendetta: the crown of Spain, 1829-1965. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1966 [London: Oldbourne, 1967]
Behr, Edward. Hirohito: behind the myth. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd.;
New York: Villard Books, 1989 [New York: Vintage Books, 1990]
Bennett, Daphne. Vicky: Princess Royal of England and German Empress.
London: Collins, Harvill, 1971 [New York: St. Martin's Press,
1971]
Bergamini, John D. The Spanish Bourbons: the history of a tenacious
dynasty. New York: Putnam, 1974
-----. The Tragic Dynasty: a history of the Romanovs. New York:
Putnam, 1969 [New York: Putnam, 1972]
Bjaaland, Patricia C. The Norwegian Royal Family. Oslo: TANO, 1986
Blankenship, Gayle King. Royal and Noble Familes of Medieval Europe.
Poquoson, VA: G.K. Blankenship, 1993
Bokhanov, Alexander, ... et. al. The Romanovs: love, power & tragedy.
(translated by Lyudmila Xenofontova). London: Leppi, 1993
Boulay, Laure & Françoise Jaudel. There are Still Kings: The ten royal
families of Europe. New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1984
Brewster, Hugh. Anastasia's Album. New York: Hyperion Books for
Children,1996
Chapman-Huston, Desmond. Ludwig II. New York: Dorset Press, 1990
Chavchavadze, David, Prince. The Grand Dukes. New York: Atlantic
International Publications, 1990
Chichibu, HIH Princess (Setsuko). The Silver Drum: an imperial memoir.
(translated by Dorothy Britton). Kent, Conn.: Global Books,
1996
Constant, Stephen. Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria.
London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1979 [New York: Franklin Watts,
1980]
Crewe, Quentin. The Last Maharaja: a biography of Sawai Man Singh II,
Maharaja of Jaipur. London: M. Joseph, 1985
Curley, Walter J.P., Jr. Monarchs-in-Waiting. New York: Dodd, Mead and
Company, 1973 [alternate title: Monarchs in Waiting. London:
Hutchinson, 1975]
Davis, Reginald. Royal Families of the World. London: Collins, 1978
-----. The Royal Family of Thailand. London: Nicholas Publications,
1981
Diesbach, Ghislain de. Secrets of the Gotha. New York: Meredith Press,
1968
Dimitroff, Pashanko. Boris III of Bulgaria: Toiler Citizen King. 1986
[Bulgarian title: Boris III, ëtìsar na Bulgariëiìa, 1894-1943,
published 1990]
Duff, David. Hessian Tapestry. London: Muller, 1967 [Newton Abbot
[Eng.]; North Pomfret, Vt.: David & Charles, 1979]
Edwards, Anne. The Grimaldis of Monaco. New York: Morrow, 1992
-----. Throne of Gold: the lives of the Aga Khans. New York: Morrow,
1995
Erickson, Carolly. Great Catherine. New York: Crown Publishers, 1994
[New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1995]
Fenyvesi, Charles. Splendor in Exile: The ex-majesties of Europe.
Washington, D.C.: New Republic Books, 1979
Finestone, Jeffrey. The Royal Family of Thailand: the descendants of
King Chulalongkorn. Bangkok: Phitsanulok Pub. Co., 1989
Fujitani, Takashi. Splendid Monarchy: power and pagentry in modern
Japan. Berkley: University of California Press, 1996
Grabbe, Alexander, Count. The Private World of the Last Tsar: in the
photographs and notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe.
(edited by Paul and Beatrice Grabbe). Boston: Little, Brown,
1984
Greve, Tim. Haakon VII of Norway: founder of a new monarchy.
(translated from the Norwegian and edited by Thomas Kingston
Derry), London: Hurst, 1983 Hall, Trevor. The Golden Age of
Royalty: photography from 1858-1930. New Malden, Surrey,
England: Colour Library, 1981 [Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell
Books, Inc., 1981]
Hohenzollern, Paul of. King Carol II: a life of my grandfather.
London. Methuen, 1988
Judd, Denis. Eclipse of Kings: European monarchies in the Twentieth
Century. London: Book Club Associates, 1976 [New York: Stein
and Day, 1976]
King, Greg. The Last Empress: the Life and Times of Alexandra
Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia. New York: Carol Pub. Group, 1994
Kurth, Peter. Anastasia: the riddle of Anna Anderson. Boston: Little,
Brown & Co., 1983
-----. Tsar: the lost world of Nicholas and Alexandra. Boston,
Toronto: Little, Brown & Co., 1995
Lacey, Robert. Aristocrats. London: Hutchinson, 1983 [Toronto:
McClelland & Stewart Limited, 1983]
-----. Grace. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1984 [Thorndike, Me.: G.K.
Hall; Bath, Avon, England: Chivers Press, 1995]
-----. The Kingdom. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1982 [history
of Saudi Arabia]
Large, Stephen S. Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: a political
biography. London; New York: Routledge, 1992
Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. Above the Clouds: status culture of the modern
Japanese nobility. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1993
Marie, Princess of Greece. A Romanov Diary: the autobiography of H.I.
& R.H. Grand Duchess George. New York: Atlantic International
Publications, 1988
Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra. New York: Atheneum, 1967
[London: Gollancz, 1967]
-----. Peter the Great: his life and world. New York: Knopf, 1980 [New
York: Wings Books, 1991]
-----. The Romanov Family Album. London: Allen Lane, 1982 [New York:
The Vendome Press, 1982]
-----. The Romanovs: the final chapter. New York: Random House, 1995
Massie, Robert K. & Jeffrey Finestone. The Last Courts of Europe: a
royal family album, 1860-1914. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd.,
1981 [New York: The Vendome Press, 1981]
Maylunas, Andrei & Sergei Mironenko. A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and
Alexandra: their own story. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996
[New York: Doubleday, 1997]
Michael, Prince of Greece & Alan Palmer. The Royal House of Greece.
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990
Michael, Prince of Greece & Andrei Maylunas. Nicholas and Alexandra:
the family albums. London: Tauris Parke Books, 1992
Mikos de Tarrodhaza, Charles, Teodoro Amerlinck y Zirion & David
Williamson. The Imperial House of Mexico: the house of Iturbe.
Petergate, York.: Quacks the Booklet Printer, 1994
Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen. London: Constable, 1984
Normington, Susan. Napoleon's Children. Dover, N.H.: A. Sutton, 1993
Pakula, Hannah. The Last Romantic: a biography of Queen Marie of
Romania. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985
-----. An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick, Daughter of Queen
Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser
Wilhelm. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995
Palmer, Alan. The Kaiser: warlord of the Second Reich. London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1978
-----. Twilight of the Habsburgs: the life and times of Emperor
Francis Joseph. New York: Grove Press, 1995
Papanicolaou, Lilika S. Frederica, Queen of the Hellenes: Mission of a
Modern Queen. San Gwann, Malta: Publishers Enterprises Group
(PEG) Ltd., 1994
Ponsonby Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. The Imperial House of Japan.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Fane Memorial Society, 1959.
Powell, Charles T. Juan Carlos of Spain: self-made monarch. New York:
St.Martin's Press, 1996
Powell, William. Saudi Arabia and its Royal Family. Secaucus, N.J.: L.
Stuart, 1982
Pratt, Michael, Lord. The Great Country Houses of Central Europe:
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland. New York: Abbeville Press,
1991
Pu-Yi, Emperor of China. From Emperor to Citizen. Oxford University
Press, 1990
Radzinsky, Edvard. The Last Tsar. New York: Doubleday, 1992
Raleigh, Donald J., ed., & compiled by A.A. Iskenderov. The Emperors
and Empresses of Russia: rediscovering the Romanovs. Armonk,
N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996
Robyns, Gwen. Geraldine of the Albanians: the authorised biography.
London: Muller, Blond & White, 1987
Rowen, Herbert H. The Princes of Orange: the stadholders in the Dutch
Republic. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1988
Rubincam, Milton. America's Only Royal Family: genealogy of the former
Hawaiian ruling house. Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical
Society, 1968
Tantzos, G. Nicholas. The Inheritors of Alexander the Great: an
illustrated history. New York: Atlantic International
Publishers, 1986
-----. King by Chance: a biographical novel of King George I of
Greece,. Sutton, 1996
Viktoria Luise, Princess of Prussia. The Kaiser's Daughter. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965
Villalonga, José Luis. The King. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995
[biography of King Juan Carlos of Spain]
Vorres, Ian. The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand
Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. London: Hutchinson, 1964 [New York:
Scribner, 1965]
Watson, Sophia. Marina: The story of a princess. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1994
Williamson, David. Debrett's Kings and Queens of Europe. Topsfield,
Mass.: Salem House Publishers, 1986
Wolden-Raethinge, Anne. Queen in Denmark: Margrethe II talks about her
life. Photos by Georg Oddner. Gyldendal, 1989
French-Language Books:
Béarn, Stéphane. Les couronnes de l'exil. Paris: Balland, 1990
Behr, Edward. Hiro Hito: l'empereur ambigu. Paris: Robert Laffond,
1989
Boulay, Laure & Françoise Jaudel. Il est encore des rois. Paris:
Presses de la Cité, 1981
Brégeon, Jean-Joël. Les Grimaldi de Monaco. Paris: Criterion, 1991
Cannuyer, Christian. Belgique est leur nom: 160 ans d'histoire de
notre dynastie nationale, 1831-1991. Izegem, Belgique: Editions
Illustra, 1991
-----. Les maisons royales et souveraines d'Europe. Paris: Editions
Brépols, 1989
Colin, Gerty. Rois et reines de Belgique: l'histoire émouvante des
châtelains de Laeken. Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1993
Corti, Egon César, comte. Elisabeth d'Autriche: "Sissi". Paris: Payot,
1987 [rep. ed.]
Dayez-Burgeon, Pascal. La reine Astrid: histoire d'un mythe. Paris:
Criterion, 1995
Decaux, Alain. Monaco et ses princes: sept siècles d'histoire. 1997
Des Cars, Jean. Les châteaux fous de Louis II de Bavière. Paris:
Perrin, 1986
-----. Il était une fois Monaco: une famille, 700 ans d'histoire.
Paris: Editions du Rocher, 1996
Dugast Rouillé, Michel. Charles de Habsbourg, le dernier empereur
(1887-1922). Paris: J. Duculot, 1991
Edwards, Anne. Les Grimaldi: histoire d'une dynastie. Paris: Editions
Belfond, 1993
Eugénie, princesse de Grèce. Le Tsarévitch: enfant martyr. Paris:
Perrin, 1990
Ferrand, Jacques. Romanoff, album de famille. Paris: Librairie
Galignani, 1989 & 1990.
Foran de Saint-Bar, Thomas. Portrait d'un Roi: Pierre II de
Yougoslavie. Serg, 1973
Gauthier, Guy. Les aigles et les lions: histoire des monarchies
balkaniques de 1817 à 1974. Paris: Editions France-Empire, 1996
-----. Missy: reine de Roumanie. Paris: Editions France-Empire, 1994
Henri, Comte de Paris. Mémoires d'exil et de combats. Paris: Atelier
Marcel Jullian, 1979
Henri d'Orléans, prince de France, comte de Clermont. A mes fils.
Paris: Albin Michel, 1990
Isabelle, Comtesse de Paris. Mon bonheur de grand-mère. Paris: Robert
Laffont, 1995
-----. Tout m'est bonheur. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1978-1981
Kermina, Françoise. Bernadotte et Désirée Clary: le Béarnais et la
Marsaillaise, souverains de Suède. Paris: Perrin, 1991
Lafontaine, Paul. Notre Dynastie. 1991 [history & genealogy of the
Luxembourg dynasty]
Le Hête, Thierry. Les Capétiens, le livre du millénaire. Paris:
Editions Christian, 1987
Mension-Rigau, Eric. Aristocrates et grands bourgeois: éducation,
traditions, valeurs. Paris: Plon, 1994
Metzger, Laurent. Les sultanats de Malaisie: un régime monarchique au
vingtième siècle. Paris: Harmattan, 1994
Paul, prince de Hohenzollern-Roumanie. Carol II roi de Roumanie.
Paris: Denoël, 1990
Séguy, Philippe & Antoine Michelland. Fabiola: la reine blanche.
Paris: Bayard, 1995
Stephany, Pierre & Henri van Daele. Cinq Rois. 1989 [history of
Belgium's royal family]
Taubert-Natta, Bernard, baron & Georges Martin. Le sang des Bade. La
Ricamarie: G. Martin, 1982
Troyat, Henri. Alexandre II, le tsar libérateur. Paris: Flammarion,
1990
Valynseele, Joseph. Les maréchaux de Napoléon III: leur famille et
leur descendance. Paris: Valynseele, 1980
Viguié-Desplaces, Philippe. Sa majesté le roi Michel de Roumanie, le
règne inachevé. Paris: Michel Lafon, 1982.
German-Language Books:
Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. Zita, die letzte Kaiserin. (translated by
Gunther Martin). Wien: Zsolnay, 1993
Brunswick, Duchess Viktoria Luise of. Deutschlands Letzte
Kaiserin. Goettingen: Goettinger Verlagsanstalt, 1971
[biography of Empress Auguste Viktoria]
Cordfunke, E.H.P. Zita: Kaiserin von Österreich, Königin von Ungarn.
Vienna: Böhlau, 1986
Griesser-Pecar, Tamara. Zita: die Wahrheit uber Europas letzte
Kaiserin. Bergisch Gladbach: G. Lubbe, 1985
Praschl-Bichler, Gabriele. Das Familienalbum von Kaiser Franz Joseph
und Elisabeth. Wien: Ueberreuter, 1995
-----. Das Familienalbum von Kaiser Karl und Kaiserin Zita. Wien:
Ueberreuter, 1996
Prussia, Prince Louis-Ferdinand of. Die Geschichte meines Lebens.
Goettingen: Goettinger Verlagsanstalt, 1968 [autobiography of
Prince Louis-Ferdinand]
Ritthaler, Anton. Die Hohenzollern. Moers: Steiger, 1979
Schad, Martha. Bayerns Königinnen, Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich
Pustet, 1992
-----. Bayerns Königshaus: die Familiengeschichte der Wittlesbacher in
Bildern. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1994
-----. Das fürstliche Haus Thurn und Taxis: 300 Jahre Geschichte in
Bildern. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1996
Schubert, Ludwig and Rolf Seelman-Eggebert. Europas Königshäuser.
Koeln: vgs, 1991
von Schmettow, Dr. Count Matthias. Gedenkbuch des deutschen Adels.
Limburg/Lahn: C.A. Starke Verlag, 1967 [Nachtrag (addendum),
1980] [memorial book of the German nobility; lists all nobles
who fell in W.W.II]
von Studnitz, Major-Gen. Benno. Kurzer Abriss der Familiengeschichte
derer von Studnitz. Breslau: C. Duelser, 1889 [von Studnitz
family history & genealogy]
Ziehr, Wilhelm. Europas Fürstenhäuser. Koeln: vgs, 1995
Italian-Language Books:
Bracalini, Romano & Maria Gabriella di Savoia & Michele Falzone del
Barbaráo. Casa Savoia: diario di una monarchia. Milano: A.
Mondadori,1996
Norwegian-Language Books:
Benkow, Jo. Olav: menneske og monark. Oslo: Gyldendal norsk forlag,
1991
Benkow, Jo & A.B. Wilse. Haakon, Maud & Olav: Et minnealbum i tekst og
bilder. 1989
Greve, Tim. Haakon VII: menneske og monark. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1980
Möller, Arvid. Dronning Maud: et portrett. Oslo: J. W. Cappelens
forlag, 1992
-----. Kronprinsesse Märtha: hustru, mor, medmenneske. Oslo: Cappelen,
1990
Rosenberg, Brita. Astrid: Prinsesse av Norge. 1988
Spanish-Language Books:
Anson, Luis María. Don Juan. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés Editores, 1994
[biography of Juan, Count of Barcelona, late father of King
Juan Carlos of Spain]
Balansó, Juan. La Casa Real de Espana. 1985
-----. La Familia Real y la familia irreal. Barcelona: Editorial
Planeta, 1992 [history & genealogy of the Spanish dynasty in
all its branches]
-----. La Familia Rival. Barcelona: Editorial Planeta, 1994 [history &
genealogy of the Bourbon-Parma family]
Urbano, Pilar. La Reina. Barcelona: Plaza y Janes, 1996 [interviews
with Queen Sofia of Spain]
Vilallonga, José Luis de. El Rey. Barcelona: Plaza y Janes, 1993
[biography of Juan Carlos, King of Spain]
Swedish-Language Books:
Hammarsten, Charles and Elisabeth Tarras-Wahlberg. Victoria:
Kronprinsessa av Sverige. 1995
II - Genealogies and Related Works
Danish-Language Books:
Aagaard, Bent. Kongernes Lysthus. Copenhagen: Hamlet, 1978
English-Language Books:
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. 1, Europe and Latin America,
London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1977
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. 2, Africa and the Middle
East, London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1980
A Genealogy of the Mohammedzai, the royal family of Afghanistan. 195-?
Royalty, Peerage & Nobility of Europe, 96th ed. of the Almanach de la
Noblesse de France (in English), 1997
Addington, A.C. The Royal House of Stuart: the descendants of King
James VI of Scotland, James I of England, 3 Vols. London:
Skilton, 1969-1976
Brewer-Ward, Daniel. The House of Habsburg: a genealogy of the
descendants of Empress Maria Theresia. Baltimore: Genealogical
Pub. Co., 1996
Broek, Pieter. A Genealogy of the Romanov Dynasty from the Emperor
Nicholas I to the present time. London: Noble House
Publications, 1994
Corfield, Justin J. The Royal Family of Cambodia. 2nd ed. Melbourne,
Australia: The Khmer Language and Culture Center, 1993
[descendants of King Ang Eng of Cambodia, 1779-1796]
Lake, Christopher. European Rulers 1060-1981: a cross-referenced
genealogy with 162 pedigrees. 1981
Louda, Jirí and Michael Maclagan. Heraldry of the Royal Families of
the World. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., Publishers,
1981 [alternate title: Lines of Succession: heraldry of the
royal families of the World. London: Macdonald; New York:
Macmillan; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1991]
McNaughton, Arnold. The Book of Kings: a royal genealogy. New York:
Quadrangle, 1973
Marquis of Ruvigny & Raineval. Titled Nobility of Europe: an
international peerage, or "Who's who", of the sovereigns,
princes and nobles of Europe. London: Harrison & Sons, 1914
[reprint ed. London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1980]
Paget, Gerald. The Lineage and Ancestry of HRH Prince Charles, Prince
of Wales, 2 Vols. Edinburgh: Skilton, 1977
Reitwiesner, William Addams. The Lesbian Ancestors of Prince Rainier
of Monaco, Dr. Otto von Habsburg, Brooke Shields, and the
Marquis de Sade. Washington: W.A. Reitwiesner, 1995
-----. Matrilineal Descents of the European Royalty: a work in
progress. Washington, D.C.: W.A. Reitwiesner, 1993
French-Language Books:
Almanach de Gotha (various editions, from 1763 to 1944)
Etat présent de la maison de Bourbon, Quatrième Edition, 1991 Anselme,
Le Père. Histoire Généalogique et Chronologique de la Maison
Royale de France, des Pairs, Grand Officiers de la Couronne et
de la Maison du Roy et des Anciens Barons du Royaume. Paris,
1726/32 [reprint 1991]
Badts de Cugnac, Chantal de & Guy Coutant de Saisseval. Le Petit
Gotha. Paris: Institut Henri V, 1993
Carretier, Christian. Les ancêtres de Louis XIV, 512 quartiers.
Paris: Editions Christian, 1981
Cuny, Hubert & Nicole Dreneau. Le Gotha français: état présent des
familles ducales et princières depuis 1940. Paris:
L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux, 1989
Dugast Rouillé, Michel. Descendance, ascendance de Charles et Zita de
Habsbourg, empereur et impératrice d'Autriche. Saint-Herblain
(France): CID Editions, 1995
Duroselle, Geneviève & Denys Prache. Les rois de France. Paris:
Hatier, 1995
Enache, Nicolas. La descendance de Marie Thérèse de Habsbourg, reine
de Hongrie et de Bohême. 1996
-----. La descendance de Pierre le Grand, tsar de Russie. Paris:
Sedopols, 1983
Ferrand, Jacques. Il est toujours des Romanov!: les Romanov en 1995.
Paris: J. Ferrand, 1995
Gmeline, Patrick de. Dictionnaire de la noblesse russe. Paris:
Editions Contrepoint, 1978
Gouyé Martignac, Gérald & Michel Sementéry. La descendance de
Joséphine, impératrice des Français. Paris: Editions Christian,
1994
Huberty, Michel, et. al. L'Allemagne Dynastique: les quinzes familles
qui ont fait l'Empire, Tomes I à VIII. Le Perreux: A. Giraud,
1976 -
Kerrebrouck, Patrick Van. La Maison de Bourbon, 1256-1987:
Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste Maison de France,
sept volumes, Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1987
Le Hête, Thierry. Les comtes Palatins de Bourgogne et leur descendance
agnatique: généalogie et histoire d'une dynastie sur huit
siècles (IXème-XVIIème siècle). La Bonneville-sur-Iton: T. Le
Hête, 1995
Manach, Daniel. La descendance de Louis-Philippe Ier, roi des
Français. Paris: Editions Christian, 1985
Parisot, Jacques & Nelly. La descendance de François-Joseph Ier,
empereur d'Autriche. Paris: Editions Christian, 1984.
-----. La descendance de Guillaume Ier, empereur allemand, roi de
Prusse. Paris: Editions Christian, 1987
Sementéry, Michel. La descendance de Nicolas Ier, roi de Monténégro.
Paris: Editions Christian, 1985
Toumanoff, Cyrille. Catalogue de la noblesse titrée de l'Empire de
Russie. Rome, 1982
-----. Les Dynasties de la Caucasie Chrétienne de l'Antiquité jusqu'au
XIXe Siècle. Rome, 1990 Tulard, Jean. Napoléon et la noblesse
d'Empire: avec la liste complète des membres de la noblesse
impériale, 1808-1815. Paris: Tallandier, 1979
German-Language Books:
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels. Limburg/Lahn: C.A. Starke (various
editions, 1951- )
Europaische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der europaieschen
Staaten (begun by Wilhelm Karl, Prinz zu Isenburg, continued by
Frank, Baron Freytag von Loringhoven; new series by Detlev
Schwennicke) Marburg: Stargardt, 1978-
Kneschke, Prof. Dr. Ernst Heinrich. Neues allgemeines Deutsches
Adels-Lexicon (9 volumes). Leipzig: Friedrich Vogt, 1859-186-
[reprint Neustadt/Aisch: Verlag fuer Kunstreproduktionen
Christoph Schmidt, 1995] [comprehensive listing of all German
noble families, living and extinct]
Posse, Otto. Die Wettiner: Genealogie des Gesamthauses. Leipzig,
Berlin: Giesecke & Devrient, 1897 [reprint ed. Leipzig:
Zentralantiquariat Leipzig, 1994]
Italian-Language Books:
Libro d'Oro Della Nobilità Italiano, Rome: Collego Araldico 1990-94
(ed. XX)
Spanish-Language Books:
Elenco de Grandezas y Titulos Nobiliarios Españ;oles, Madrid:
Ediciones de la Revista Hidalguia, 1997
Sampedro, José Luis. La descendencia de don Alfonso XIII. 1991
Zorilla y Gonzales de Mendoz, Francisco Javier. Genealogia de la casa
de Borbon de Españ;a. Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1971
Swedish-Language Books:
Rosvall, Ted. Bernadotte-Ättlingar, Ted Rosvall, Falköping, Sweden:
Rosvall Royal Books, 1992
III - General
English-Language Books:
Constitutions of the Countries of the World: a series of updated
texts, constitutional chronologies and annotated
bibliographies. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1991.
19 volumes + supplements
The Europa World Year Book, London, England: Europa Publications
Limited, 1989-
Gurney, Gene. Kingdoms of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa: an
illustrated encyclopedia of ruling monarchs from ancient times
to the present. New York: Crown Publishers, 1986
-----. Kingdoms of Europe: an illustrated encyclopedia of ruling
monarchs from ancient times to the present. New York: Crown
Publishers, 1982
Michael, Prince of Greece. Crown Jewels of Britain and Europe. J.M.
Dent, 1983 (Harper & Row, 1983; Crescent Books, 1986) Motley,
Mark. Becoming a French Aristocrat: the education of the court
nobility, 1580-1715. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1990
Pinches, John H. European Nobility and Heraldry: a comparative study
of the titles of nobility and their heraldic exterior ornaments
for each country, with historical notes. Ramsbury, Wiltshire:
Heraldry Today, 1994
Sainty, Guy Stair. The Orders of Chivalry and Merit of the Bourbon Two
Sicilies Dynasty. Madrid: S.M.O.C.S.G., 1989 [includes the
history & genealogy of the royal family of the Two Sicilies]
Tapsell, R.F. Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties and Kingdoms of the World.
London: Thames & Huson, 1983
Twining, Lord. History of the Crown Jewels of Europe. Batsford, 1960
French-Language Books:
Texier, Alain. Qu'est-ce-que la noblesse?: annexes, textes et
décisions jurisprudentielles, planches de blasons, lexique de
droit nobiliaire, index pratique. Paris: Tallandier, 1988
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
5. Lexicon.
The Lexicon (words associated with royalty and nobility and shown in
eight languages) is now formatted using tables, which don't
'translate' well when viewed as a text document, therefore it is
available for viewing at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/lexicon.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Credits, Copyright, Disclaimer
AUTHORED BY:
Yvonne Demoskoff
CONTRIBUTIONS BY:
Dag T. Hoelseth, Marlene Koenig, Noel S. McFerran, Eric-Jan Noomen,
William Addams Reitwiesner, Mark Anthony Rodriguez, Gilbert von
Studnitz and François Velde.
COPYRIGHT:
Copyright © 1998-2004 by François Velde. All rights reserved.
This document may be freely distributed in its entirety without
modification provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It
may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents
(e.g. published for sale on CD-ROM, floppy disks, books, magazines or
other print form) without the prior written permission of the
copyright holder. Permission is exEressly granted for this document to
be made available for file transfer from installations offering
unrestricted anonymous file transfer on the Internet.
If this document is incorporated in a commercial document, a
complimentary copy should be sent to François Velde
(http://www.heraldica.org/contact.html).
This document is provided AS IS without any express or implied
warranty.
-- ROYAL & NOBLE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD --
SUMMARY:
This regular posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) and their answers and other useful information about royal and
noble families of the world, excluding Britain's royal and noble
families. (The British Royal & Noble Families FAQ can be found at
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/britfaq.html) It should be read by
anyone who wishes to post to the alt.talk.royalty newsgroup.
Note: the FAQ contains European characters (accented letters) which
may not show on your browser/newsreader or may show garbled
characters. Ask your Internet Service Provider for an "8-bit clean
feed" if you have this problem.
Last updated: 28 May 2004
For comments, additions, or suggestions, please contact the maintainer
François Velde (http://www.heraldica.org/contact.html).
_________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents:
Part I: Introduction
1. What is alt.talk.royalty?
2. How do I access alt.talk.royalty?
3. Welcome to alt.talk.royalty!
4. History of the alt.talk.royalty FAQ
5. Basic newsgroup "netiquette".
6. What kind of postings are appropriate in alt.talk.royalty?
7. Examples of "good" and "bad" posts.
8. Are there archives where I can find older posts on a subject?
9. What other newsgroups and chat groups are there?
10. Can I sell or advertise in this newsgroup?
11. Where can I get the latest version of the FAQ?
Part II: Royal Families of the World
1. Are there other monarchies in the world besides England?
2. Who are the members of the European royal families?
3. What are the dynastic names of the European royal families?
4. Lines of succession to the current European Thrones.
5. Laws of succession for the current European monarchies.
6. Lines of succession to the current non-European Thrones.
7. What are the differences between HRH, HH and HSH?
8. What are the styles and titles of the world's current monarchs?
9. What are the full titles of the current European monarchs?
10. Formerly-reigning monarchs and present-day claimants in Europe and
the Americas since 1849.
11. When did the world's current monarchs succeed?
12. Birthdays of the world's current monarchs.
13. Official Birthdays and National Holidays.
14. Royal Landmarks (Places of Interest).
15. What are the addresses of the world's current monarchs?
16. How are the Reuss princes numbered and why are they all named
Heinrich?
17. What happens when a king dies and his widow is pregnant?
Part III: Nobility
1. What does it mean to be a noble?
2. What does it mean to be a German noble?
Part IV: Resources
1. On-line Sources of Information
2. Useful Addresses
3. Electronic (on-line) Magazines
4. Bibliography
5. Lexicon
_________________________________________________________________
Part I: Introduction
1. What is alt.talk.royalty?
alt.talk.royalty is an unmoderated newsgroup created for the purpose
of discussion of all aspects of royalty and nobility of any time
period anywhere in the world. There is no mailing list gated to this
group. Please remember that one cannot subscribe to or unsubscribe
from alt.talk.royalty via a mailing list, as is the case, e.g., for
soc.genealogy.medieval.
alt.talk.royalty was first proposed in December 1994 and was created
in February 1995 (according to:
ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/control/alt/alt.talk.royalty)
Despite the FAQ compiler's efforts, it has not been determined who
began alt.talk.royalty nor who is responsible for composing its
charter.
The charter states: "The group is oriented to discussion of royalty
and nobility of all nationalities, both present day and historical.
Discussions of the British royal family, the possibility of a restored
Russian monarchy, Henry VIII's foibles, and the forms of address used
in the Spanish court would all be appropriate. Advertising and
commercialism are not welcome, especially since everyone knows that
involvement in retail commerce results in attainder!"
All those who have access to alt.talk.royalty and are interested in
royalty and nobility are encouraged to participate. (Before interested
individuals "discovered" alt.talk.royalty and began posting to it
regularly, they posted their questions in rec.heraldry.) The scope of
the group encompasses topics such as the sovereigns or rulers of
nations, royal and noble genealogies, vital statistics (births,
marriages, deaths), lines of succession, royal residences,
biographies, current events, pretenders or claimants to thrones,
mistresses and illegitimate children, so on and so forth.
alt.talk.royalty is not here for the glorification of royalty. All
views, positive, negative and in-between, are permitted. We are here
to talk about royalty and nobility. You will find, however, most
people who post to alt.talk.royalty talk in favor of royalty and that
they are not anti-royalist. You can express anti-royalist sentiments,
but it is a fair assumption that you will get a heated and vociferous
response. Royalty discussions can bring out the best and the worst in
people; they engender strong emotions and opinions.
alt.talk.royalty has in its midst authors, genealogists, historians,
journalists and other such posters (and lurkers). Some of our members
post to the group while others prefer to lurk. Our members are
international: as of this edition of the FAQ, the majority are from
the United States, while the rest are from Australia, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and
the United Kingdom.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. How do I access alt.talk.royalty?
alt.talk.royalty is an Internet (or Usenet) newsgroup. To access it,
you need a "client" (software application) on your computer and access
to a "news (or Usenet) server". The client will connect to the server,
retrieve the posts, and send your own replies. The server will then
disseminate your posts to the rest of the world.
If you have access to the Web, your web browser can serve as client,
and you can access a server over the Web. See Yahoo directory for
"Usenet servers" for a list. Google Groups (http://groups.google.com)
also offers access.
Alternatively, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ask
them if they have a news server and what software they provide to
connect to it. Again, your web browser can serve as a news client to
connect to the news server.
Back to Table of Contents
3. Welcome to alt.talk.royalty!
This purpose of this chapter is to provide useful information for new
members of alt.talk.royalty. First-time users, or even those who've
been here a few times, have found the newsgroup's atmosphere
intimidating. When posting for the first time, some people find
themselves the object of criticism or downright abuse. The
new-to-the-group poster might not understand that that kind of
behavior happens with regularity in newsgroups. And so, at the
suggestion of some alt.talk.royalty regulars, the FAQ compiler and
maintainer has developed this section which will hopefully explain the
personalities of the regular members as well as provide tips on how to
"survive" in alt.talk.royalty.
One of the first things that is noticeable about alt.talk.royalty is
that it has a dual personality. Some days, it has a pleasant, quiet,
stress-free atmosphere, while on other days it can be testy, noisy and
combative. Some days, it can be academic and instructive in tone, yet
gossipy and disruptive on other days. It has been suggested that,
generally speaking, the male members of alt.talk.royalty are
competitive (with some positively thriving on this), while the female
members seem cooperative. For the most part, alt.talk.royalty's
members are pro-royalty/monarchy. What sets us apart are our personal
perspectives and biases.
alt.talk.royalty has quite an interesting mix of people. While we
can't tell you about the lurkers (they obviously prefer to remain
anonymous), we can tell you about those who post with some regularity.
There are authors (Greg King, author of The Last Empress; Marlene
Koenig, author under the name of Marlene A. Eilers, of Queen
Victoria's Descendants; Peter Kurth, author of Anastasia: The Riddle
of Anna Anderson; Ted Rosvall, author of Bernadotte-Attlingar; William
Addams Reitwiesner, author of The American Ancestors and Relatives of
Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Guy Stair Sainty, author of The Orders of
Chivalry and Merit of the Bourbon Two Sicilies Dynasty, Daniel Willis,
author under the name of Daniel Brewer-Ward of The House of Habsburg:
a genealogy of the descendants of Empress Maria Theresia), art dealer
(Guy Stair Sainty), journalist and translator (Grant Menzies), lawyer
(Patrick Cracroft- Brennan), librarian (Noel McFerran), medical doctor
(Sam Dotson), university professors (Stephen Stillwell, Peter
Kurrild-Klitgaard, and Jeffrey Taliaferro, the last two political
scientists), some who share ancestors with royalty or are descendants
of royalty (Frank Johansen and Grant Menzies), and even an aristocrat
or two (Gilbert von Studnitz and Eric von Ehrenberg). Of course, there
are also the average, everyday type of person who posts to
alt.talk.royalty.
If one observes alt.talk.royalty for some time, individual types
become obvious and one finds that they usually view and respond about
royalty/monarchy in a predictable way. For example, there are the
absolute monarchists (Louis Epstein, Noel McFerran), the genealogists
(Sam Dotson, Marlene Koenig, Steven Lavallee, William Addams
Reitwiesner, Darren Shelton, Paul Theroff, Daniel Willis), the
historians (François Velde), the legalists (Paul Johnson, Guy Stair
Sainty), the legitimists (Dimitry Macedonsky), so on and so on. One
can continue to categorize alt.talk.royalty's members into those types
who enjoy the gossip/daily lives aspect of royalty, those whose only
interest is the British royal family enthusiasts (with a subset
focussed on Diana, Princess of Wales), those who view royalty from a
religious aspect, from a political aspect, so on and so forth.
Some of alt.talk.royalty's members use an alias, but most post under
their real names. Some posters have obvious favorite areas and share
willingly their knowledge. Other posters are more generalists, but
share their knowledge with the same generosity. Some posters will only
post or reply when their favorite topic comes up for discussion. Other
posters will reply to just about everything and anything. Some of the
regulars always provide references for their replies which can annoy
some people, while others feel it useful and informative. Other
posters never cite their sources. Some posters reply to questions
succinctly while others provide mini-essays. Some posters will point
out spelling and grammar errors while others never do so. Some
posters reply to others in a light- hearted way while others are
business-like. Some posters will criticize another member's question
for whatever reason, while other posters will reply kindly and
helpfully. Some posters have strong beliefs and won't budge an inch
when discussing a particular topic, while others seem flexible and
willing to see other points of view. Lastly, some of the nastier
posters (and they are only a handful, thankfully) almost always use
foul language, are rude and hurtful and seem to be in alt.talk.royalty
only to disrupt the group.
New members and not-so-new ones will probably realize at this point
that given these types of personalities, it would not be easy to post
with confidence in alt.talk.royalty. The FAQ compiler and maintainer
has received emails from people who feel they've been poorly treated
by the regulars. Because of this, they chose to lurk instead of
posting in the group or vow never to return to alt.talk.royalty. Some
posters almost always behave in a certain way and their criticisms
shouldn't be taken personally because that is how they behave to just
about everyone. It is almost guaranteed that when a person posts to a
newsgroup he or she will eventually be criticized or abused. Please
don't be intimidated by the bad manners of some and leave
alt.talk.royalty too soon. There are lots of us who welcome newcomers
and we appreciate your ideas and input!
Back to Table of Contents
4. History of the alt.talk.royalty FAQ
There was talk in early 1996 of creating a FAQ for alt.talk.royalty
and some work for one had been started by members of the group. It
did not materialize into a finished product, however. A few months
later, in August 1996, another member of the group (Mark Odegard)
posted a titles FAQ to the group. It was called "A Glossary of
European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles". (It can now be
found on the WWW at:
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm.)
Nonetheless, alt.talk.royalty remained without a general, all-purpose
FAQ until May 1997. At that time, a rough draft version of a FAQ was
posted to the group; it had been created by Yvonne Demoskoff with the
help of several members. A number of additions, corrections and
suggestions were made over the next few months and by November 1997
the rough draft was replaced with an official first version.
In June 1998, the FAQ was posted once again to the newsgroup but this
time it was in two distinct parts: one was called the Brit-FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions for alt.talk.royalty - British Royal &
Noble Families) and the other was called the non-Brit-FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions for alt.talk.royalty - Non-British Royal & Noble
Families).
In August 1998, François Velde took over the maintenance of the
various alt.talk.royalty FAQs.
Back to Table of Contents
5. Basic newsgroup "netiquette".
Before posting to any Usenet group, please read the introductory
articles in the newsgroup news.announce.newusers. There, Emily
Postnews will help you through some netiquette you need to know before
posting.
We highly recommend "lurking", that is, reading messages without
posting anything for a few weeks so that you get an idea of how people
typically phrase their postings. This will also give you an idea of
the flow of the newsgroup, the personalities of the regulars, and the
like. The easiest way to learn how to post in a.t.r. is to watch how
others do it. Start by reading the posts and try to figure out what
people are doing and why. After a few weeks, you will start to
understand why certain things are done and what things shouldn't be
done.
Occasionally, you will see trolls (strong worded postings intended
only to provoke a lot of replies), flames and off-topic posts. The
best way to deal with these kinds of postings is to ignore them. If
your newsreader program allows the use of a kill-file make use of it
to filter out undesirable postings. Alternatively, if you see a
blatantly offensive message, do not respond with another post.
Instead, send a strong complaint to <***@posters.site> and
<***@posters.site>.
One last point to remember concerning inappropriate behavior: our
newsgroup, in common with other newsgroups, has its share of people
who seek to disrupt the group collectively and/or its posters
individually. alt.talk.royalty and its FAQ might not have an official
policy as to how one should deal with such disruptive behavior, but it
can suggest the following: DNFTEC. This stands for "Do Not Feed The
Energy Creature". An energy creature's favorite feeding tactic is to
try to hurt people's feelings or get them angry. The Energy Creature
can then feed off the pain and anger it has generated. Its second
favorite tactic is to hurt one person or the group's feelings while
gathering the sympathy of others. That way, when the injured party
lashes back, others will jump to the Energy Creature's defense. The
Energy Creature feeds off the attention and the negative energy
generated by the people fighting. Newsgroups will never be completely
rid of such obnoxious, offensive and ill-mannered beings, but much can
be done to keep the situation under control by remembering this simple
formula: DNFTEC. If the Energy Creature gets a response, it gets
stronger. If it is ignored, it will eventually weaken, wither and go
away. Remember: do not to feed the energy creatures.
Back to Table of Contents
6. What kind of postings are appropriate in alt.talk.royalty?
We are an unmoderated newsgroup. The only things not allowed here are
things prohibited by Usenet protocol, such as spams (the posting of
off-topic material to many Usenet groups) and illegal postings (e.g.
chain letters, sending non-exportable things, threatening to kill
people). However, inappropriate topics or posts are those which are
completely unrelated to royalty and nobility.
Attachments, whether they are text (batch files, system files) or
binaries (audio, video, pictures such as .JPGs, .GIFs, .TIFs and the
like, programs, and "web" files such as HTML, HTM, SHTML) are also
inappropriate. Binaries must be kept in groups with binaries in the
name; they cannot appear in alt.talk.royalty. If news administrators
find binaries in a.t.r., they could kill the group and move it to the
alt.binaries section. A better way of dealing with binaries is to post
the binary in a binaries group and to write a note in a.t.r. telling
the group where the particular binary can be found. In other words, do
not post anything other than plain text in our non-binary newsgroup.
Posts which refer to royalty and nobility in a negative way (such as
suggesting that one monarchy in particular, or all monarchies in
general should be overthrown), while not off-topic, will usually get
no response. Most of the posters in alt.talk.royalty are fully aware
of the strengths and weaknesses of hereditary systems, and are
participating in this newsgroup to explore the intricacies of these
systems, rather than to engage in flamewars with persons who are
opposed to the idea of these systems.
Patently offensive remarks are inappropriate.
Back to Table of Contents
7. Examples of "good" and "bad" posts.
Let's begin with "bad" posts:
"Please tell me EVERYTHING about Princess Diana."
"I need to know ALL the people in line to the British throne;
my homework is due tomorrow!"
"I'm looking for information about the kings of England."
-- these types of posts are usually met with well deserved
sarcasm or risk being completely ignored
"So-and-so is an idiot and should be shot!"
-- personal comments or attacks on a.t.r. members have no place
in a royalty newsgroup; take it to private e-mail, if you must
"This is a test."
-- there isn't any reason to test alt.talk.royalty, the system
works fine. If you have to test something, do it in a group
with 'test' in it such as alt.test or misc.test.
And now "good" posts:
"Who succeeded King George II?"
"Why does Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her birthday in April and in
June?"
"Where is King Henry VIII buried?"
"Can someone tell me how King George V and Tsar Nicholas II are
related?"
(these "bad" and "good" posts are examples only and will not be
necessarily found in the FAQ)
Points to Remember:
* when the topic in a post has changed, please reflect that in the
subject heading by indicating the new subject and including a
reference to the old subject heading
* we suggest reading all the existing responses to a query before
posting one's own response; maybe the question has already been
answered, and the name of the game is not to show off how much one
knows
* people don't like to read things again and again; therefore, try
to avoid large quotes; quote only what you respond to
* please keep the lines of your messages to under 70 characters;
long lines will overflow when quoted by others and become very
difficult to read
* remember, it is generally considered rude to post private e-mail
correspondence without the permission of the author of that mail
* be careful about infringing upon copyrights and licenses; when
quoting, do not use more of the work than is necessary to make
your commentary; for more information on copyright, read
"Copyright Myths FAQ: 10 big myths about copyright explained"
found at the following URL:
http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html
* posts may be in any language, but will probably be understood by
the largest audience if in English
Back to Table of Contents
8. Are there archives where I can find older posts on a subject?
Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not keep posts for more than
one or two weeks. Therefore, to find older posts, head over to the WWW
and check out "Google Groups" (formerly known as Deja News) at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=alt.talk.royalty
Once there, you will be able to search old posts back to April 1995.
This is also a good starting point to see what questions have already
been asked in our newsgroup. It's possible that your particular
question has already been asked.
Back to Table of Contents
9. What other newsgroups and chat groups are there?
Some newsgroups that deal with royalty and/or related subjects are:
* alt.gossip.royalty
* rec.heraldry (discussions of coats of arms and of the honors they
can depict)
* soc.genealogy.medieval (discussions of genealogy, royal or
otherwise, mainly of the Middle Ages)
* soc.history
* soc.history.ancient
* soc.history.medieval
N.B.: not all ISPs carry "alt." and "clari." newsgroups; however, they
can be accessed by visiting the Google Groups web site at:
http://groups.google.com
We suggest that you find out more about these newsgroups by reading
their FAQs, if available, or by lurking, so that you post your queries
in the appropriate group and not haphazardly cross-post to all of
them.
America Online (AOL) features chat groups about royalty for its
members. The royalty chats meet almost daily and the topics range from
discussions about the late Diana, Princess of Wales to the Romanovs to
the Tudors.
Back to Table of Contents
10. Can I sell or advertise in this newsgroup?
Usenet procedures heavily discourage advertising in newsgroups not
specifically designed for commerce. Having said that, one-time offers
to sell or buy books, and such, about British royalty and nobility,
will be tolerated. Those who wish to regularly advertise should post
their messages in the appropriate newsgroups (for example,
alt.genealogy.marketplace).
Back to Table of Contents
11. Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?
You can obtain the latest version of the FAQ by visiting its web site
at:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/atrfaq.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Part II: Royal Families of the World
1. Are there other monarchies in the world besides England?
We're glad you asked this question because it certainly seems to many
people that the United Kingdom (aka England) has the monopoly on
"royalty" and "royal family". The U.K. is but one of thirty-one
monarchies left today. Note that this list does not include
Commonwealth monarchies where Queen Elizabeth II is a monarch of an
independent monarchy (such as Canada or Australia, for example) nor
does it include Vatican City (The Holy See).
1. EUROPE
+ Grand Duchy:
o Luxembourg
+ Kingdoms:
o Belgium
o Denmark
o Netherlands
o Norway
o Spain
o Sweden
o United Kingdom
+ Principalities:
o Andorra (see Note 1)
o Liechtenstein
o Monaco
2. AFRICA
+ Kingdoms:
o Lesotho
o Morocco
o Swaziland
3. ASIA
+ Elected Monarchy:
o Malaysia (see Note 2)
+ Empire:
o Japan
+ Kingdoms:
o Bhutan
o Cambodia
o Nepal
o Thailand
+ Sultanate:
o Brunei
4. MIDDLE EAST
+ Emirates:
o Kuwait
o Qatar
o United Arab Emirates (see Note 4)
+ Kingdoms:
o Bahrain (since 14/2/2002)
o Jordan
o Saudi Arabia
+ Sultanate:
o Oman
5. OCEANIA
+ Kingdoms:
o Tonga
o Western Samoa (see Note 5)
Notes
1. Andorra is a co-principality, under the suzerainty of the
President of France and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel. Since 1993,
these positions are almost purely honorary and they are considered
titular Heads of States.
2. Malaysia is a federation consisting of thirteen states: Johore,
Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak,
Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Trengganu. Its Head of State
(or, Supreme Head of Malaysia) is a monarch who is elected for a
five-year term by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the
states.
3. The United Arab Emirates became independent of the United Kingdom
in 1971. They consist of seven sheikhdoms: Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ajman, Fujairah. The Head
of State is an elected President chosen from one of the hereditary
rulers of the seven emirates.
4. Western Samoa achieved independent status from New Zealand in
1962. Its Heads of State were two joint rulers, but in 1963 when
one of them died, the other became sole Head of State for life.
His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II performs the duties of a
constitutional monarch but does not seem to be titled 'king'. The
Head of State is elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of
five years (this will take effect upon the death of the current
Head of State).
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
2. Who are the members of the European royal families? Conflicting
information has been received as to who are official members of
these royal families, therefore, if anyone will be suggesting
additions or corrections, the FAQ maintainer would be grateful if
a source of information would be provided.
Belgium:
HM The King, his wife, their children, their
grandchildren, HM Queen Fabiola
Denmark:
HM The Queen, her husband, their sons and grandchildren,
their daughter-in-law, Princess Benedikte, her children,
Princess Elisabeth
Liechtenstein:
HSH Prince Hans Adam II, his wife, their children, their
grandchildren, Prince Philipp, his wife, their sons,
Prince Nikolaus, his wife, their children
Luxembourg:
HRH Grand Duke Henri, his wife, their children, HRH (the
former) Grand Duke Jean, his wife, their children,
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume
Monaco:
HSH Prince Rainier III, his son, his daughters, Princess
Antoinette
Netherlands:
HM The Queen, her sons and daughters-in-law and
grandchildren, HRH Prince Bernhard, HRH Princess
Margriet, her husband, their sons and their
daughters-in-law
Norway:
HM The King, his wife, their children and
daughter-in-law, their grandchild, Princess Ragnhild,
Princess Astrid
Spain:
HM The King, his wife, their children, his sisters
(Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz, Infanta Margarita,
Duchess of Soria), Infante Don Carlos de Borbón (first
cousin of the king).
Sweden:
HM The King, his wife, their children, HRH Princess
Lilian, Duchess of Halland, Princess Birgitta
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
3. What are the dynastic names of the European royal families? The
dynastic names for the European royal families are taken from
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume I, 1977. Other
possibly correct dynastic names will be indicated in parentheses.
Belgium:
House of Wettin (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
Denmark:
House of Glücksborg
(cadet line of the house of Oldenborg, on the throne
since 1853)
(the house of Oldenborg had been on the throne since
1448)
Liechtenstein:
House of Liechtenstein
Luxembourg:
House of Nassau
Monaco:
House of Grimaldi
Netherlands:
House of Orange-Nassau (van Oranje-Nassau)
Norway:
House of Glücksburg
Spain:
House of Borbón
Sweden:
House of Bernadotte
Back to Table of Contents
_____________________________________________________________
4. Lines of succession to the current European thrones. The
following lines of succession are limited to the first ten or less
people in line of succession of the present European thrones. Each
person's relationship is indicated by one or two letters (s=son,
d=daughter, b=brother, ss=sister, u=uncle, a=aunt, fc=first
cousin, sc=second cousin) followed by a digit (0 stands for the
current sovereign). For example, s0 means son of the current
sovereign, d4 means daughter of person 4 on the list.
Belgium
1. HRH Prince Philippe of Belgium, Duke of Brabant (b. 1960, s0)
2. HRH Princess Elisabeth of Belgium (b. 2001, d1)
3. HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium (b. 1962, d0)
4. Amadeo of Habsburg-Lorraine, Prince of Belgium, Prince Imperial
and Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
(b. 1986, s3)
5. Maria Laura of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1988, d3)
6. Joachim of Habsburg-Lorraine, Prince of Belgium, Prince Imperial
and Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
(b. 1991, s3)
7. Louisa Maria of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1995, d3)
8. Laeticia Maria of Habsburg-Lorraine, Princess of Belgium, Princess
Imperial and Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Royal of
Hungary and Bohemia (b. 2003, d3)
9. HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium (b. 1963, s0)
10. HRH Princess Louise of Belgium (b. 2004, d9)
Denmark
1. HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (b. 1968, s0)
2. HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark (b. 1969, s0)
3. HH Prince Nikolai of Denmark (b. 28-8-1999, s2)
4. HH Prince Felix of Denmark (b. 22-7-2002, s2)
5. HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark (b. 1944, ss0)
6. HH Princess Elisabeth of Denmark (b. 1935, fc0)
(For more on the law of succession in Denmark, see the essay by Peter
Kurrild-Klitgaard at http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/dk-suc-law.html.)
Liechtenstein
1. HSH Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein (b. 1968)
2. HSH Prince Joseph-Wenzel of Liechtenstein (b. 1995)
3. HSH Prince Georg of Liechtenstein (b. 1999)
4. HSH Prince Nikolaus Sebastian of Liechtenstein (b. 2000)
5. HSH Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein (b. 1969)
6. HSH Prince Alfons of Liechtenstein (b. 2001)
7. HSH Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein (b. 1972)
8. HSH Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (b. 1946)
9. HSH Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein (b. 1972)
10. HSH Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein (b. 1974)
11. HSH Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein (b. 1975)
12. HSH Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (b. 1947)
13. HSH Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein (b. 1989)
Luxembourg
1. HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg (b. 1981, s0)
2. HRH Prince Felix of Luxembourg (b. 1984, s0)
3. HRH Prince Louis of Luxembourg (b. 1986, s0)
4. HRH Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (b. 1992, s0)
5. HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (b. 1963, b0)
6. HRH Prince Paul-Louis of Nassau (b. 1998, s5)
7. HRH Prince Léopold of Nassau (b. 2000, s5)
Monaco
1. HSH Hereditary Prince Albert of Monaco, Marquis des Baux (b. 1958,
s0)
2. HRH Princess of Hanover [Caroline] (b. 1957, d0)
3. Andrea Casiraghi (b. 1984, s2)
4. Pierre Casiraghi (b. 1987, s2)
5. Charlotte Casiraghi (b. 1986, d2)
6. HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover (b. 1999, d2)
7. HSH Princess Stephanie of Monaco (b. 1965, d0)
8. Louis Ducruet (b. 1992, s7)
9. Pauline Ducruet (b. 1994, d7)
10. HSH Princess Antoinette (b. 1920), ss0)
Netherlands
1. HRH Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange,
Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1967, s0)
2. HRH Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of
Orange-Nassau (b. 2003, d1) <--
3. HRH Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands, Prince of
Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1968, s0) -->
4. HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Prince of
Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b. 1969, s0)
5. Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouw van Amsberg (b. 2002,
d3)
6. Count Claus Casimir of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (b.
2004, s3)
7. HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of
Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld (b. 1943, ss0)
8. HH Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1968, s6)
9. HH Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1969, s6)
10. HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b.
1972, s6)
11. HH Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (b. 1975, s6)
Norway
1. HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (b. 1973, s0)
2. HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (b. 2004, d1)
3. Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (b. 1971, d0)
4. Maud Angelica Behn (b. 2003, d3)
Spain
1. HRH Infante Felipe of Spain, Prince of Asturias (b. 1968, s0)
2. HRH Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo (b. 1963, d0)
3. HE Felipe de Marichalar y de Borbón (b. 1998, s2)
4. HE Victoria Federica de Marichalar y de Borbón (b. 2000, d2)
5. HRH Infanta Cristina of Spain, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca (b.
1965, d0)
6. HE Juan Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 1999, s5)
7. HE Pablo Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 2000, s5)
8. HE Miguel Urdangarin y de Borbón (b. 2002, s5)
9. HRH Infante Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, Duke of Calabria, Prince of
the Two-Sicilies (b. 1938, sc0)
10. HRH Pedro de Borbón y Orleáns, Prince of the Two-Sicilies, Duke of
Noto (b. 1968, s9)
11. Jaime de Borbón y Landaluce (b. 1993, s10)
12. HRH Cristina de Borbón y Orleáns, Sra Lopez-Quesada (b. 1966, d9)
13. Victoria de Lopez-Quesada y Borbón (b. 1997, d12)
14. HRH Maria of Bourbon y Orleáns, Princess of the Two-Sicilies,
(Archduchess Simeon of Austria)(b. 1967, d9)
15. HI&RH Archduke Johannes of Austria (b. 1997, s14)
16. HI&RH Archduke Ludwig of Austria (b. 1998, s14)
17. HI&RH Archduchess Isabel of Austria (b. 2000, d14)
18. HI&RH Archduchess Carlota of Austria (b. 2003, d14)
19. HRH Ines de Borbón y Orleáns, Princess of the Two-Sicilies, Sig.ra
Carrelli Palombi (b. 1971, d9)
20. HRH Victoria de Borbón y Orleáns, Princess of the Two- Sicilies
(b. 1976, d9)
Sweden
1. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland
(b. 1977, d0)
2. HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland (b. 1979, s0)
3. HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and
Gästrikland (b. 1982, d0)
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
5. Laws of succession for the current European monarchies.
Sources: Le Petit Gotha (1993) and the "International Constitutional
Law" website at: http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/home.html
Belgium
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1991
(applicable to the descent of King Albert II; formerly, Salic Law)
Denmark
(Constitution, latest revision 1953; law of succession to the throne,
27 March 1953).
* religion:
Lutheran Evangelical Church (for the King, Const. II.6)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Parliament (for the monarch) the Sovereign with the Council of
Ministers (for all other eventual heirs)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
yes
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note) (was semi-Salic from 1660 to 1853, Salic
from 1853 to 1953)
Liechtenstein
* religion:
Roman Catholic (for the Sovereign Prince)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Sovereign Prince
* must contract a lawful marriage:
yes
* type of succession law:
Semi-Salic Law (see note)
Luxembourg
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Grand Duke (for the princes of the family)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Semi-Salic Law (see note)
Monaco
(Constitution of 17 Dec 1962, revised 2 Apr 2002; House laws of May
15, 1882 modified by ordonnances of 30 and 31 Oct 1918 and 1959)
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Sovereign Prince (however, if a prince or princess marries
without the consent of the Sovereign Prince, no children are born
and the marriage is dissolved, then the prince recovers dynastic
rights)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* other:
- The crown is hereditary in the legitimate issue of the previous
prince, or failing that, in the issue of his or her siblings; in
the absence of heir, the Crown Council appoints a collateral heir
who must be of monegasque citizenship.
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note)
Netherlands
* religion:
* marriage must be with consent of:
the Parliament
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1983
* other:
- the degrees of relationship between a new monarch and the
predecessor cannot be more than 3.
Norway
* religion:
Evangelical Lutheran faith (the King must always belong to this
faith)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* other:
- a royal prince cannot accept the crown of another country unless
he first seeks the consent of Parliament
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1990
& beginning with descendants of Crown Prince Haakon (b. 1973) with
an exception made for Princess Märtha Louise so as to not displace
her younger brother which is what happened in Sweden in 1980
(formerly, Salic Law)
Spain
* religion:
- marriage cannot occur against express prohibition of: the King
and the Parliament (for all those who have a right to the
succession)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
must also be a Roman Catholic marriage
* type of succession law:
Primogeniture (see note)
Sweden
* religion:
Lutheran (for the King & princes of the royal family)
* marriage must be with consent of:
the King with the advice of the Council of Ministers (for princes
& princesses)
* must contract a lawful marriage:
* type of succession law:
Cognatic (Absolute) Primogeniture (see note) in effect since 1980
(formerly, Salic Law)
Notes On Types of Laws of Succession
Salic Law (a.k.a. agnatic):
- the law "which entirely excludes females from the hereditary
succession" (The Monarchy and the Constitution, by Vernon
Bogdanor, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Albania, Bulgaria, France (Royal; Empire),
Italy, Montenegro, Parma, Prussia (and German Empire),
Roumania, Yugoslavia
Semi-Salic Law:
- in which the succession is reserved firstly to all the male
dynastic descendants of all the eligible branches by order of
primogeniture, then upon total extinction of these male
descendants to the eldest of the dynastic female descendants
- applicable to Liechtenstein, Luxembourg; also applicable to
Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, Russia, Saxony, Tuscany, Two
Sicilies, Württemberg
Primogeniture:
- the law in which "male heirs take precedence over female,
with children representing their deceased ancestors; and under
the rule of primogeniture, the older son precedes the younger"
(The Monarchy and the Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Denmark, Monaco, Spain, United Kingdom; also
applicable to Brazil, Greece, Portugal
Cognatic (absolute) Primogeniture:
- the law in which "the right of succession passes to the
eldest child of the sovereign, regardless of gender, females
enjoying the same right of succession as males" (The Monarchy
and the Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor, Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1995, page 42)
- applicable to Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
6. Lines of succession to the current non-European Thrones.
This section was prepared using The International Who's Who, 1992-93,
56th edition, and Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. II, 1980,
with complements from the Almanach de Bruxelles and C. Buyers's Royal
Ark. Although the people listed in the following lines of succession
are members of their respective families, it is not always certain if
these people actually hold a place in the line of succession.
Bahrain
1. Sheikh Salman, Crown Prince, son of the King (b. 1969)
2. oldest son of Sheikh Salman
3. younger son of Sheikh Salman
4. Sheikh Abdullah, son of the King (b. 1975)
5. Sheikh Khalifa, son of the King (b. 1977)
Bhutan
1. HRH Prince Jigme Gesar Namgyal Wangchuk (b. ----), brother of the
King
Brunei
1. HRH Crown Prince Haji al-Muhtadee Billah (b. 1977), eldest son of
the Sultan
2. HRH Prince Mohammed Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
3. HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
4. HRH Prince Haji Jefri Bolkiah (b. ----), brother of the Sultan
Japan
(see Note 1)
1. HIH Crown Prince Naruhito (b. 1960), son of the Emperor
2. HIH Prince Akishino (b. 1965), son of the Emperor
3. HIH Prince Hitachi (b. 1935), brother of the Emperor
4. HIH Prince Mikasa (b. 1915), uncle of the Emperor
5. HIH Prince Mikasa Tomohito (b. 1946), son of Prince Mikasa
6. HIH Prince Katsura (b. 1948), son of Prince Mikasa
Jordan
The throne of the Kingdom is passed on through inheritance within the
dynasty of King Abdullah Ibn Al Hussein (first king and
great-grandfather of the present king Abdullah), in the direct line of
his male heirs. The King may designate a Crown Prince.
1. HRH Prince Hamzah, Crown Prince (from Feb 7, 1999)(b. Mar 29,
1980), brother of the King
Kuwait
1. Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah, Crown Prince (from 31
January 1978) (b. 1930)
Lesotho
Malaysia
The Malaysian throne is elective and rotating among the sultans of the
member states of the Federation (see art. 38 of the constitution of
Malaysia).
Morocco
The Moroccan Crown and the constitutional rights thereof shall be
hereditary and handed down, from father to son, to descendants in
direct male line and by order of primogeniture among the offspring of
His Majesty King Hassan II, unless the King should, during his
lifetime, designate a successor among his sons apart from the eldest
one. In case of failing descendants in direct male line, the right of
succession to the Throne shall, under the same conditions, be invested
in the closest male in the collateral consanguinity. (art. 20 of the
constitution of 1996)
1. HRH Prince Moulay Hassan (b. 2003), son of the King
2. HRH Prince Moulay Rachid (b. 1970), brother of the King
Nepal
1. HRH Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah (b. 1971), son of the King
2. HRH Young Crown Prince Hridayendra (b. 2002), son of the Crown
Prince
Oman
Qatar
1. N..., son of the Sheikh
2. N..., son of the Sheikh
3. Sheikh Abd al-Aziz, brother of the Sheikh
4. N... (b. 1977), son of the previous Sheikh
Saudi Arabia
(see Note 2)
1. HRH Prince Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince (b. 1923),
younger brother of the King
Swaziland
(see Note 3)
Thailand
1. HRH Prince Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince (from December 1972) (b.
1952), son of the King
Tonga
1. HRH Prince Tupouto'a, Crown Prince (b. 1948), son of the King
2. HRH Prince Fatafehi Alaivahamama'o Tuku'aho (known as Honorable
Maátu) (b. 1954), son of the King
3. HRH Prince Lavaka Ata'Ulukalala (b. 1959), son of the King
United Arab Emirates
Western Samoa
Notes:
* 1. the Imperial Household Law (1947) governs the succession; only
legitimate male descendants of an emperor can succeed; type of
succession law: Salic Law
* 2. in Saudi Arabia, no more than one heir is named at a time,
apparently
* 3. in Swaziland, the heir to the throne is only chosen after a
King's death from among his younger sons
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
7. What are the differences between HRH, HH and HSH?
Because the answer to this question is now formatted using tables,
which don't 'translate' well when viewed as a text document, Part A -
the Styles of Sovereigns, and Part B - the Styles of Children of
Sovereigns can be viewed at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/styles.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
8. What are the styles and titles of the world's current monarchs?
The styles and titles of the world's current monarchs depend whether
they are sovereigns of a kingdom, a principality, a grand duchy, an
empire, etc...
Bahrain:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: King (Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa)
Belgium:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Albert II)
Bhutan:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) (Jigme Singye Wangchuk)
Brunei:
+ type: sultanate
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Sultan and Yang di Pertuan (Haji Hassanal Bolkiah)
Cambodia:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Norodom Sihanouk)
Denmark:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: Her Majesty (HM)
+ title: The Queen (Margrethe II)
Japan:
+ type: empire
+ style: His Imperial Majesty (HIM)
+ title: The Emperor (Akihito)
Jordan:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Abdallah)
Kuwait:
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Emir (Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah)
Lesotho:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Letsie III)
Liechtenstein:
+ type: principality
+ style: His Serene Highness (HSH)
+ title: The Prince (Hans Adam II)
Luxembourg:
+ type: grand duchy
+ style: His Royal Highness (HRH)
+ title: The Grand Duke (Henri)
Malaysia:
(see Note 1)
+ type: federation of states
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Supreme Head of State (Yang di-Pertuan Agong)
(Ja'afar)
Monaco:
+ type: principality
+ style: His Serene Highness (HSH)
+ title: The Prince (Rainier III)
Morocco:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Mohammed VI)
Nepal:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Gyanendra)
Netherlands
:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: Her Majesty (HM)
+ title: The Queen (Beatrix)
Norway:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Harald V)
Oman:
+ type: sultanate
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: Sultan (Qaboos bin Said)
Qatar:
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Emir (Hamad Khalifa al-Thani)
Saudi Arabia:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Fahd)
Spain:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Juan Carlos I)
Swaziland:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Mswati III)
Sweden:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Carl XVI Gustaf)
Thailand:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Bhumibol)
Tonga:
+ type: kingdom
+ style: His Majesty (HM)
+ title: The King (Taufa'ahau Tupou IV)
United Arab Emirates:
(see Note 2)
+ type: emirate
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: President (Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan an-Nahyan)
Western Samoa:
+ type:
+ style: His Highness (HH)
+ title: Head of State [King] (Malietoa Tanumafili II)
Notes:
* 1. The nine Hereditary Malay rulers are as follows:
1. Raja of Perlis and Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia: Tuanku
Syed SIRAJUDDIN Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail,
born 16 May 1943, acceded 17 April 2000 (on the death of his
father Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hassan
Jamalullail, who was 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1960-1965 and
was ruling when Malaya united with Sabah and Sarawak to form
Malaysia in 1963); became 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 12 Dec
2001.
2. Sultan of Selangor: Sultan Tengku Idris Shah ibni Sultan
Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (born 24 December 1945), acceded
22 Nov 2001 (on the death of his father Salahuddin Abdul Aziz
Shah Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj,
who was 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1999 to his death).
3. Sultan of Terengganu: Sultan MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN Ibni
Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, born 22
January 1962, acceded 15 May 1998 (grandson and second
successor of Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Zainal Abidin, who was 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong
1965-70). Became Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong (vice-king)
in April 1999.
4. Sultan of Kedah: Al-Sultan Almutasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin
Tuanku Alhaj ABDUL HALIM MUADZAM SHAH ibni Al-Marhum Sultan
Badlishah, born 28 November 1927, acceded 14 July 1958; was
5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1970-1975.
5. Sultan of Kelantan: Tuanku ISMAIL PETRA ibni Al-Marhum Sultan
Yahya Petra, born 11 November 1949, acceded 30 March 1979 (on
the death of his father Tuanku Yahya Petra Ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Ibrahim, who was 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1975-1979).
6. Sultan of Pahang: Sultan Haji AHMAD SHAH Al-Mustain Billah
ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar RiAyatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah,
born 24th October 1930, acceded 7 May 1974; was 7th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1979-1984.
7. Sultan of Johor: Sultan (MAHMUD) ISKANDAR Al-Haj Ibni
Almarhum Sultan Ismail, born 8 April 1932, acceded 11th May
1981; was 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong 1984-1989.
8. Sultan of Perak: Paduka Seri Sultan AZLAN MUHIBBUDDIN SHAH
ibni Almarhum Sultan Yussuf Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullahu-lah,
born 19 April 1928, acceded 3 February 1984; was 9th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1989-1994.
9. Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan: Tuanku JAAFAR Ibni
Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, born 19 July 1922, acceded 19
April 1967 (son and second successor of Tuanku Abdul Rahman
Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Muhammad, who was the first Yang
di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya 1957-1960); was 10th Yang
di-Pertuan Agong 1994-1999; Negeri Sembilan is a federation
of six (originally nine) states but the throne is hereditary
in this family.
Sources:
www.penerangan.gov.my
www.almanak.com.my
www.dreamwater.net/regiment/RoyalArk
* 2. The seven Emirs of the United Arab Emirates are as follows:
1. Abu Dhabi: HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan (President of
the U.A.E.), acceded 1966 on deposition of his brother
Shakhbut; his two oldest sons are Khalifa and Sultan
2. Dubai: HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum (Vice
President and Premier of the U.A.E.), acceded 1990 on death
of his father Rashid (a former Vice President and Premier of
the UAE)
3. Sharjah: HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qassimi, acceded
1972 after his brother Khalid was killed by forces loyal to
their cousin Saqr bin Sultan who had been deposed 1965
(Sharjah had been divided in 1866 among the chief Sheikh's
four sons into Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Kalba (absorbed into
Sharjah 1952) and Dibba)
4. Ras al-Khaimah: HH Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi,
acceded 1948
5. Umm al-Qaiwan: HH Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed al-Mualla, acceded
1981, his father had reigned since 1920s
6. Ajman: HH Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid al-Nuaimi, acceded 1981,
his father had reigned since 1920s
7. Fujairah: HH Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi, acceded
1974
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
9. What are the full titles of the current European monarchs?
Belgium
HM Albert II, King of the Belgians, Prince of Belgium (S.M.
Albert II, Roi des Belges, prince de Belgique)
Denmark
HM Margrethe II, by the Grace of God, Denmark's Queen
Liechtenstein
HSH Hans Adam II, by the Grace of God, Sovereign Prince of
Liechtenstein, Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf, Count of
Rietberg
Luxembourg
HRH Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, Prince of
Bourbon of Parma, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Count of Sayn,
of Königstein, of Katzenelnbogen, and of Dietz, Burgrave of
Hammerstein, Lord of Mahlberg, of Wiesbaden, of Idstein, of
Merenberg, of Limburg, of Eppstein.
Grand Duke Henri discontinued the use of the phrase "by the
grace of God".
Monaco
HSH Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Duc de Valentinois, Marquis
des Baux, Comte de Carlades, Baron de Buis, Seigneur de
Saint-Rémy, Sire de Matignon, Comte de Thorigny, Baron de
Saint-Lô, de la Luthumière et de Hambye, Duc d'Estouteville, de
Mazarin et de Mayenne, Prince de Château-Porcien, Comte de
Ferrette, de Belfort, de Thann et de Rosemont, Baron
d'Altkirch, Seigneur d'Isenheim, Marquis de Chilly, Comte de
Longjumeau, Baron de Massy, Marquis de Guiscard
Netherlands
HM Beatrix, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands,
Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld,
Jonkvrouwe Van Amsberg (etc...)
Norway
HM Harald V, King of Norway
Spain
HM Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (according to the 1978
Constitution; however, the titles borne by previous Kings of
Spain have not been abolished; thus: His Catholic Majesty Juan
Carlos, By the Grace of God, King of Spain, Castile, Leon,
Aragon, the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, Navarre, Granada,
Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Menorca, Seville,
Cardeñ;a, Cordoba, Cocega, Murcia, Jaen, Algeria, Algernon,
Gibraltar, the East and West Indies, the Canary Islands, and
the Oceanic Colonies, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy,
Brabant and Milan, Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Tirol and
Barcelona, Lord of Vizcaya and Molina)
Sweden
HM Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
10. Formerly-reigning monarchs and present-day claimants in Europe and the
Americas since 1849.
In this list, one will find first, the formerly-reigning monarch or
the present-day claimant [when known], and second, the year when the
monarchy ceased to reign.
In some instances, there are two claimants. The order in which the two
claimants are listed is determined randomly each time this file is
read.
Those who once reigned will be refered to as 'King N'. Those who have
never reigned (be they Crown Prince, Hereditary Grand Duke, or only a
claimant) will be refered to as 'Titular King N'. In the cases of
Simeon II of Bulgaria and Constantine II of the Hellenes (who have
never abdicated) and Michael of Roumania (who was forced to abdicate),
it is correct to continue to refer to them as King and incorrect to
refer to them as ex-King. According to the late Sir Iain Moncreiffe of
that Ilk: "A king who has not abdicated remains a king, even though
his power may not extend de facto over a former realm." (David
Williamson, Co-Editor of Debrett's Peerage, in a letter to the editor
of 'The Daily Telegraph' of 2 July 1987.) Even for kings who have
abdicated, the custom is that they continue to enjoy their former
styles.
Albania
Leka I, Titular King of the Albanians (b. 1939)
1946: when the monarchy was abolished
Anhalt
+ Eduard II, Titular Duke of Anhalt (b. 1941)
+ 1918: when Prince Aribert of Anhalt, Regent of the Duchy of
Anhalt, abdicated in the name of Joachim Ernst, Duke of
Anhalt
Austria
+ Otto von Habsburg-Lorraine (Otto I, Titular Emperor of
Austria) (b. 1912)
+ 1919: when Emperor Karl I was deposed from his sovereign
rights (see Note 1)
Baden
+ Maximilian (Max), Margrave of Baden (Maximilian, Titular
Grand Duke of Baden) (b. 1933)
+ 1918: when Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden abdicated
Bavaria
+ Franz, Duke of Bavaria (Franz, Titular King of Bavaria) (b.
1933)
+ 1918: when the throne was lost through the revolution
Brazil
+ rival claimants:
o Pedro Gastão, Prince of Orleans e Bragança (b. 1913)
o Luíz Gastao, Prince of Orleans e Bragança (Luíz I,
Titular Emperor of Brazil) (b. 1938)
+ 1889: when Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, was deposed
following a military uprising
Brunswick
+ Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (Ernst August, Titular Duke
of Brunswick) (b. 1954)
+ 1918: when Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg
abdicated (see also Hanover)
Bulgaria
+ Simeon II, King of the Bulgarians (b. 1937)
+ 1946: when King Simeon II left the country, without having
abdicated, following a communist-rigged plebiscite
France
Monarchy
+ rival claimants:
o Luís Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú, duc d'Anjou
(Louis XX, Titular King of France) (b. 1974)
o Henri, Comte de Paris (Henri VII, Titular King of
France) (b. 1933)
+ 1830: when Charles X abdicated following a revolution
+ 1848: when Louis Philippe I abdicated following a revolution
Empire
+ Charles, Prince Napoléon (Charles, Titular Emperor of the
French) (b. 1950)
+ 1870: when Emperor Napoléon III was deposed
Greece
+ Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (b. 1940)
+ 1974: when a plebiscite decided against the return of King
Constantine II (had been deposed in 1973)
Hanover
+ Ernst August, Prince of Hanover (Ernst August V, Titular King
of Hanover) (b. 1954)
+ 1866: when Hanover was annexed to Prussia (see also
Brunswick)
Hesse
(a) Hesse-Cassel
+ Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (Moritz, Titular Elector of Hesse)
(b. 1926)
+ 1866: when Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Hesse lost his
Throne when the Electorate of Hesse was annexed to the
Kingdom of Prussia
(b) Hesse-Philippsthal
(not regnant after 1815)
+ the line of Landgraves of H.-P. became extinct in 1925
(c) Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld
(not regnant after 1815)
+ Wilhelm, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1933)
(d) Hesse and by Rhine
+ Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1926) (had been adopted in
1960/ 1961 by Ludwig V, Titular Grand Duke of Hesse and by
Rhine)
+ 1918: when Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
lost his throne on the proclamation of the Republic of Hesse
(e) Hesse-Homburg
+ the line of Landgraves of H.-H. became extinct in 1866
Hohenzollern
(a) Hohenzollern-Hechingen
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of H.-H. ceded his sovereign rights
to the King of Prussia in December 1849
(b) Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Titular Prince of Hohenzollern (b. 1924)
+ Karl Anton, Prince of H.-S., later Prince of H., ceded his
sovereign rights to the King of Prussia in December 1849
Italy
+ Victor Emanuel, Prince of Naples (Vittorio Emanuele IV,
Titular King of Italy) (b. 1937)
+ 1946: when King Umberto II left the country (following a
referendum which showed a majority in favour of a republic)
Lippe
(a) Lippe (-Detmold)
+ the Princes of Lippe became extinct in the male line in 1905
(b) Lippe-Biesterfeld
+ Friedrich Wilhelm, Titular Prince of Lippe (b. 1947)
+ 1918: when Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe abdicated
Mecklenburg
(a) Mecklenburg-Schwerin
+ Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Friedrich Franz V, Titular Grand Duke
of M.-S.) (1910-2001)
The male line is now extinct; but see below
+ 1918 (Nov): when Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of M.-S.
renounced the throne
(b) Mecklenburg-Strelitz
+ same as M.-Schwerin since 1918
+ 1918 (Feb): when the throne became vacant on the death of
Adolf Friedrich VI, Grand Duke of M.-S.
(c) Mecklenburg
+ Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Georg Friedrich, Titular
German Emperor, King of Prussia, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg)
(b. 1976)
by virtue of a 1442 succession pact, the claim to Mecklenburg
reverted to the margraves of Brandenburg on extinction of the
dynasty in 2001
Mexico
(House of Habsburg-Lorraine)
+ 1867: when Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico was shot and the
country became a republic
Modena
+ 1860: when Francesco V, Duke of Modena lost his throne when
Modena was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Montenegro
+ Nicholas, Prince Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro (Nicholas II,
Titular King of Montenegro) (b. 1944)
+ 1918: when Montenegro was annexed to the Kingdom of the
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later, Yugoslavia)
Nassau
+ 1866: when Adolf, Duke of Nassau lost his throne when Nassau
was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia (he later succeeded as
Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890)
Oldenburg
+ Anton Günther, Duke of Oldenburg (Anton Günther, Titular
Grand Duke of Oldenburg) (b. 1923)
+ 1918: when Friedrich August, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
renounced the throne
Parma
+ Carlos Hugo (Charles Hugues), Titular Duke of Parma (b. 1930)
+ 1859: when the Duchy of Parma was annexed to the Kingdom of
Sardinia
Portugal
+ Duarte, Duke of Braganza (Duarte III, Titular King of
Portugal and the Algarves) (b. 1945)
+ 1910: when King Manoel II lost the Throne through the
revolution
Prussia
+ Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Georg Friedrich, Titular
German Emperor, King of Prussia) (b. 1976)
+ 1918: when German Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated (see also
Mecklenburg)
Reuss
I. Reuss Elder Line (Reuss-Greiz)
+ 1918: when Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss zu Greiz renounced the
throne (the Elder Line of the House of Reuss became extinct
in 1927)
II. Reuss Younger Line
(a) Reuss-Schleiz
+ Heinrich VIII, Titular Prince Reuss zu Schleiz (b. 1944)
+ 1918: when Heinrich XXVII, Prince R. zu S. renounced the
throne
(b) Reuss-Schleiz-Köstritz
+ Heinrich IV, Titular Fürst Reuss (on his father's death 1946
but not fully recognized as such until 1962 with effect from
1953)
Roumania
+ Michael, King of Roumania (b. 1921)
+ 1947: when King Michael was forced to abdicate
Russia
+ rival claimants:
o Prince Nicholas Romanov (b. 1922)
o Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna of Russia (Maria,
Titular Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias) (b.
1953)
+ 1917: when Emperor Nicholas II abdicated
Saxon duchies
(a) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
+ Michael-Benedict, Prince of S.-W.-E. (Titular Grand Duke of
S.-W.-E.) (b. 1946)
+ 1918: when Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of S.-W.-E. lost the
throne
(b) Saxe-Meiningen
+ Friedrich-Konrad, Titular Duke of S.-M. (b. 1952)
+ 1918: when Bernhard III, Duke of S.-M. abdicated
(c) Saxe-Altenburg
+ the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg became extinct in 1991
+ 1918: when Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg renounced the
throne
(d) Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
+ Andreas, Titular Duke of S.-C. and G. (b. 1943)
+ 1918: when Karl Eduard, Duke of S.-C. and G. abdicated
Royal Saxony
+ Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (Maria Emanuel, Titular
King of Saxony) (b. 1926)
+ 1918: when King Friedrich August III renounced the Throne
Schaumburg-Lippe
+ Alexander Christian, Titular Prince of S.-L. (b. 1958)
+ 1918: when Adolf II, Prince of S.-L. renounced the throne
Schleswig-Holstein
(present Glücksburg branch not regnant since the 17th c. but
listed because of its branches in Russia, Oldenburg and
Denmark)
(a) Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
+ 1931: when the Augustenburg line of the family became extinct
(b) Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
+ Christoph, Prince of S.-H.-S.-G. (Christoph, Titular Duke of
S.-H.-S.-G.) (b. 1949)
Schwarzburg
(a) Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen
+ 1909: when the male line of S.-S. became extinct
(b) Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
+ 1918: when Gunther, Prince of S. abdicated
+ 1971: the Princely House of Schwarzburg became extinct in
male line
Note: Schwarzburg had semi-Salic succession, so a potential
claimant would be Friedrich Magnus, Graf zu Solms-
Wildenfels, (b. 1927)
Tuscany
+ Sigismund, Titular Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1966) (see Note
2)
+ 1860: when Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany lost his
throne when Tuscany was united to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Two Sicilies
+ rival claimants:
o Ferdinando, Duke of Castro (Ferdinando IV, Titular King
of the Kingdom of The Two Sicilies) (b. 1926)
o Carlos, Duke of Calabria (Carlo VIII, Titular King of
the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily) (b. 1938)
+ 1860: when The Two Sicilies were annexed to the new Kingdom
of Italy
Waldeck and Pyrmont
+ Wittekind, Titular Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (b. 1936)
+ 1918: when Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont abdicated
Württemberg
+ Carl, Duke of Württemberg (Carl II, Titular King of
Württemberg) (b. 1936)
+ 1918: when King Wilhelm II abdicated
Yugoslavia
+ Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (Alexander II, Titular
King of Yugoslavia) (b. 1945)
+ 1945: when the monarchy was abolished
Notes:
1. On 31 May 1961, by written declaration, Archduke Otto renounced
his rights to the Austrian throne as well as his membership in the
House of Habsburg-Lorraine and declared himself to be a citizen of
Austria. This 'political fiction' was done for the benefit of the
Austrian republic and to allow Otto to journey to Austria whenever
he so wished. This "renunciation" was viewed as such and
understood for what it was by the members of the Imperial family.
(Les Manuscrits du C.E.D.R.E.: L'Empire d'Autriche, volume III,
1991, page 69.)
2. On 12 April 1994, Leopold III, Titular Grand Duke of Tuscany,
abdicated as Titular Grand Duke in favor of his elder son,
Archduke Sigismund; his civil remarriage after a divorce
conflicted with heading the Roman Catholic order of St. Stephen.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
11. When did the world's current monarchs succeed?
Here are the dates of succession of the world's presently reigning
monarchs:
Bahrain
- Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa succeeded upon the death of
his father Shaikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa on 6 March 1999.
The constitution promulgated on 14 Feb 2002 defines Bahrain to
be a kingdom.
Belgium
- King Albert II succeeded upon the death of his elder brother
King Baudouin on 31 July 1993 (took the oath on 9 August 1993)
Bhutan
- Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") Jigme Singye Wangchuk succeeded
upon the death of his father Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuk
on 24 July 1972 (crowned 2 June 1974)
Brunei
- Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah succeeded upon the abdication of
his father Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien III on 4 October
1967 (crowned 1 August 1968)
Cambodia
- King Norodom Sihanouk acceded to the throne 24 September 1993
(current reign)
N.B.: King Norodom Sihanouk had previously been King from April
1941 to March 1955 (when he abdicated); he was Head of State
from June 1960 to March 1970 (when he was deposed) as well as
from April 1975 to April 1976 (when he resigned)
Denmark
- Queen Margrethe II succeeded upon the death of her father
King Frederik IX on 14 January 1972
Japan
- Emperor Akihito succeed upon the death of his father Emperor
Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa) on 7 January
1989 (crowned 12 November 1990)
Jordan
- King Abdullah succeeded upon the death of his father King
Hussein on 7 February 1999
Kuwait
- Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah succeeded his
half-first cousin once removed Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah
on 31 December 1977
Lesotho
- King Letsie III succeeded as King on 7 February 1996
following death of his father King Moshoeshoe (on 15 January
1996) current reign (crowned 31 October 1997)
N.B.: King Letsie III had previously been King from November
1990 to January 1995
Liechtenstein
- Prince Hans Adam II succeeded upon the death of his father
Prince Franz Josef II on 13 November 1989
Luxembourg
- Grand Duke Henri succeeded upon the abdication of his father
Grand Duke Jean on 7 October 2000
Malaysia
- Sultan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalulla was
installed as Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) on 12 Dec
2001
Monaco
- Prince Rainier III succeeded upon the death of his
grandfather Prince Louis II on 9 May 1949
Morocco
- King Mohammed VI succeeded upon the death of his father King
Hassan II on 23 July 1999
Nepal
- King Gyanendra succeeded upon the death of his nephew King
Dipendra on 4 June 2001 (crowned the same day)
Netherlands
- Queen Beatrix succeeded upon the abdication of her mother
Queen Juliana on 30 April 1980
Norway
- King Harald V succeeded upon the death of his father King
Olav on 17 January 1991 (sworn in on 21 January 1991;
consecration on 23 June 1991)
Oman
- Sultan Qaboos assumed power after deposing his father Sultan
Said bin Taimur on 23 July 1970
Qatar
- Sheikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani succeeded when he deposed his
father Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani on 27 June 1995
Saudi Arabia
- King Fahd succeeded upon the death of his brother King Khalid
on 13 June 1982
Spain
- King Juan Carlos I was proclaimed king following the death of
Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Chief of State, on 22 November
1975
N.B.: at this time, King Juan Carlos's father, Don Juan, Count
of Barcelona, was de jure King of Spain; it wasn't until 14 May
1977 that Don Juan renounced his rights
Swaziland
- King Mswati III was installed as ruler on 25 April 1986 (his
father King Sobhuza II died on 21 August 1982)
Sweden
- King Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded upon the death of his
grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf on 15 September 1973
Thailand
- King Bhumibol succeeded upon the death of his brother King
Ananda Mahidol on 9 June 1946 (crowned 5 May 1950)
Tonga
- King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV succeeded upon the death of his
mother Queen Salote Tupou III on 15 December 1965
United arab emirates
- Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan an-Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, took
office as President of the U.A.E. on 2 December 1971
Western Samoa
- HH Malietoa Tanumafili II succeeded as co-ruler (joint Head
of State) on 1 January 1962 and as sole ruler (Head of State)
on 5 April 1963
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
12. Birthdays of the world's current monarchs.
See also Netty's Royalty Page which also has anniversaries and
birthdays of close relatives.
January:
4 - Malietoa Tanumafili II, Head of State of Western Samoa (b.
1913)
5 - Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (b. 1938)
28 - Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (b. 1950)
30 - Abdullah, King of Jordan (b. 1962)
31 - Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands (b. 1938)
February:
14 - Hans Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1945)
21 - Harald V, King of Norway (b. 1937)
March:
April:
16 - Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark (b. 1940)
16 - Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1955)
19 - Mswati III, King of Swaziland (b. 1968)
30 - Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden (b. 1946)
May:
16 - Sultan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, king of Malaysia (b. 1943)
31 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
June:
6 - Albert II, King of the Belgians (b. 1934)
29 - Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
(b. 1926)
July:
4 - Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)
7 - Gyanendra, King of Nepal (b. 1947)
15 - Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei (b. 1946)
17 - Letsie III, King of Lesotho (b. 1963)
August:
21 - King Mohammed VI of Morocco (b. 1963)
September:
October:
31 - Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (b. 1922)
November:
11 - Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan (b. 1955)
18 - Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman (b. 1940)
December:
5 - Bhumibol, King of Thailand (b. 1927)
23 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1933)
N.B.: the following monarchs are not shown because of incomplete dates
of birth: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (b. 1921), Sheikh Hamad Khalifa
al-Thani of Qatar (b. 1950) and President Sheikh Zayed of the United
Arab Emirates (b. 1908, 1913 or 1918)
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
13. Official Birthdays and National Holidays.
Some monarchs have both a real birthday and an official birthday, that
is, a birthday which is celebrated publicly on a day other than their
day of birth. Not all monarchs have an official birthday.
Andorra
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 8 September
Bahrain
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 16 December
Belgium
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 21 July
Bhutan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 11 November (Birthday of the King)
17 December
Brunei
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 February
15 July (Sultan's Birthday)
Cambodia
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 9 January
Denmark
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 16 April (which coincides with the Queen's
real
birthday)
Japan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 December (the Emperor's real birthday)
Jordan
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 14 November (the King's real birthday)
Kuwait
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 25 February
Lesotho
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 2 May (King's Birthday)
Liechtenstein
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 15 August
Luxembourg
- official birthday: 23 June
- national holiday: 23 June
Malaysia
- official birthday: 3 June (the Yang di-Pertuan Agong)
- national birthday: 31 August
Monaco
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 19 November (Fête du Prince)
Morocco
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 July (Festival of the Throne,
anniversary of King Mohammed's accession)
Nepal
- official birthday:
Netherlands
- official birthday: 30 April (the Queen's real birthday is in
January)
- national holiday: 30 April (Queen's Day; celebration of the
Queen's accession)
Norway
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 17 May
Oman
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 18 November
19 November (Birthday of the Sultan)
Qatar
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 27 June (anniversary of the Emir's
accession)
3 September
Saudi Arabia
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 23 September
Spain
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 12 October
Swaziland
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 19 April (Birthday of King Mswati)
Sweden
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 6 June
Thailand
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 5 December (King's Birthday)
Tonga
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 4 July (The King's Birthday)
United Arab Emirates
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 2 December
Western Samoa
- official birthday:
- national holiday: 1 January
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
14. Royal Landmarks (Places of Interest).
Eric-Jan Noomen, a member of a.t.r., prepared a list of royal
landmarks in 1996. He posted his list to our newsgroup in the spring
of 1997 and a revised version of the list can now be found as a
separate part of a.t.r.'s FAQ at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/landmark.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
15. What are the addresses of the world's current monarchs?
Before dealing with the addresses, the FAQ wishes to state that it
realises some people chafe at etiquette, protocol and conventions. The
FAQ does not wish to tell how one must deal with royal correspondence;
rather, it suggests the following points:
* it is always correct and in good taste to address one's letter and
envelope to the Private Secretary (or Equerry or Lady-in-Waiting)
to monarchs or other members of royal families
* in Scandinavia, where things are less formal, generally speaking,
one may address one's letter directly to the Sovereign depending
on the nature of one's letter (e.g.: letters of a personal
nature); when writing "business-type" letters, addressing such
correspondence to the P.S. is preferable
* when writing to Private Secretaries, the letter and envelope are
written to the Private Secretary by office, not by name
* for those who wish, reading Debrett's Correct Form, or Titles and
Forms of Address, or even appropriate chapters within etiquette
books such as Emily Post's Etiquette and The Amy Vanderbilt
Complete Book of Etiquette will be of help
ADDRESSES OF SELECTED MONARCHS:
* Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, Sheikh of Abu Dhabi
Amiti Palace
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
* HM Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain
Rifa'a Palace
Manama, Bahrain
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
Palais de Bruxelles
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
* HM Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan
The Royal Palace
Thimphu, Bhutan
* HM Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
Istana Darul Hana
Brunei
* HM Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia
Khemarindra Palace
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
* The Private Secretary to HM The Queen
Amalienborg
DK-1257 Copenhagen K., Denmark
* Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Sheikh of Dubai
The Royal Palace
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
* HIM The Emperor of Japan
The Imperial Palace
1-1 Chiyoda
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Japan
* HM Abdullah, King of Jordan
The Royal Palace
Amman, Jordan
* HH Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
Sief Palace
Amiry Diwan, Kuwait
* The Private Secretary to HSH The Prince
Schloss Vaduz
FL-9490 Vaduz
Liechtenstein
* The Private Secretary to HRH The Grand Duke
Schloss Berg
L-2013 Colmar Berg, Luxembourg
* The Private Secretary to HSH The Prince
Palais de Monaco
Boîte Postale 518
MC-98015 Monaco-Ville, Monaco
* HM Mohammed VI, King of Morocco
The Royal Palace
Rabat, Morocco
* HM Gyanendra, King of Nepal
Narayanhity Royal Palace
Kathmandu, Nepal
* HM The Queen of the Netherlands
Noordeinde 68
2514 GL 's-Gravenhage
The Netherlands
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
The Royal Palace
Drammensveien 1
N-0010 Oslo, Norway
* Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman
The Palace
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
* Hamad Khalifa al-Thani, Sheikh of Qatar
The Royal Palace
Doha, Qatar
* HM Fahd, King of Saudi Arabia
Royal Diwan
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
Palacio de la Zarzuela
El Pardo
E-28048 Madrid, Spain
* The Private Secretary to HM The King
The Royal Palace
S-111 30 Stockholm, Sweden
* HM Bhumibol, King of Thailand
Chitralada Villa
Bangkok, Thailand
* HM Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga
The Palace
P.O. Box 6
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
* Rashid bin Ahmed al-Mu'alla, Sheikh of Uum Al-Qaiwain
The Ruler's Palace
Uum Al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates
* HH Malietoa Tanumanfili II of Western Samoa
Government House
Vailima Apia
Western Samoa, South Pacific
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
16. How are the Reuss princes numbered and why are they all named Heinrich?
[thanks to William Addams Reitwiesner for letting me adapt his post
about the Reuss princes; this post has appeared in alt.talk.royalty on
a number of ocassions - November 1995, April 1997 and July 1998 ]
There's been a lot of confusion about the Reuss family, especially
about how their male members, all of whom are named "Heinrich", are
numbered. Here are the facts, based on Isenburg's Europäische
Stammtafeln, Band I, Tafel 163-174.
The Reuss family divided into two branches, the senior descended from
Heinrich XIV (1506-1572) and the junior descended from his youngest
half-brother Heinrich XVI (1530-1572).
Senior Branch
Starting with Heinrich XIV (1506-1572), who was renumbered as Heinrich
I, *every* male in the senior line numbered his sons Heinrich I,
Heinrich II, Heinrich III, etc. After a while this got clumsy, and
starting in about 1640 the entire Senior Branch started numbering its
Heinrichs sequentially, based on birth order *within the Branch*, not
within the sibship. This continued through 1678 with the birth of
Heinrich XVI, and the next birth, in 1693, was Heinrich I. This
sequence continued through the entire Senior Branch, which didn't have
very many males, down to 1878 with the birth of Heinrich XXIV, the
last male of the Senior Branch, who died unmarried in 1927. This
Senior Branch is also called "Reuss-Greiz", and a sister of this
Heinrich XXIV was Hermine, second wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Junior Branch
Heinrich XVI died in 1572 leaving daughters and a pregnant wife. This
turned out to be a son, Heinrich Posthumous (1572-1635). Heinrich
Posthumous had ten sons, Heinrich I through Heinrich X. The grandsons
of Heinrich Posthumous started a new sequence with Heinrich I in 1639.
This sequence continued for the entire Junior Branch through the birth
of Heinrich XXIX in 1699. A new sequence for the Junior Branch started
with Heinrich I in 1695 (okay, so it got a little out of order) and
continued through the birth of Heinrich LXXV in 1800, then a new
sequence started with Heinrich I in 1803 and continued through
Heinrich XLVII in 1897. The current sequence started with Heinrich I
in 1910 and continues through at least Heinrich XXVI, born in 1988.
Territories in this Junior Branch include "Reuss-Gera" (extinct in
1802), "Reuss-Schleiz" (extinct apparently in 1945),
"Reuss-Lobenstein" (extinct in 1824), "Reuss-Ebersdorf" (extinct in
1853, Queen Victoria's grandmother was one of these), and
Reuss-Köstritz, which itself was divided into three branches (the
oldest extinct in 1878 and the younger two still survive). The
numbering has never gone higher than Heinrich LXXV (who died age one
year, but Heinrich LXXIV lived to be 87). Heinrich Licco is son of a
marriage which at various times was considered to be morganatic, which
is why (in my opinion) his name is not standard. The family compact of
1887 didn't make the Counts of Plauen "ebenbürtig", it actually
un-"ebenbürtig"-ed them (what with the marriage of Heinrich LXIX to
Matilda Locke being considered "ebenbürtig" I guess they had to draw
the line somewhere), which is why (in my opinion) they and their
descendants' names are not standard (even though some of them get
numbers).
Back to Table of Contents
17. What happens when a king dies and his widow is pregnant?
It depends on the applicable law of succession. If, under that law, there was
an heir apparent at the time of death, than that heir immediately succeeds.
If there was only an heir presumptive, then in all likelihood a regency of
some kind would be put in place until the birth of the child; a conceivable
alternative being a "conditional proclamation" of the heir presumptive (see
the Brit-FAQ 2.44). The situation is rarely, if ever, explicitly foreseen in
succession laws.
Specifically:
1. If the deceased king already has at least one son, then, under any
existing succession law, the son would immediately succeed.
2. If he has no son but at least one daughter, and if absolute
primogeniture is the rule, then the eldest one would immediately
succeed.
3. In all other cases, the unborn child could displace existing heirs
presumptive.
There are several historical examples:
* In 1316, Louis X of France died leaving a daughter and a pregnant
widow. The daughter was not called to succeed, but the brother of
the deceased became regent until the birth of a son, known as Jean
I, who died within days. The regent succeeded him as Philip V.
* In 1328, Charles IV of France died leaving a daughter and a
pregnant widow. Again, the daughter was excluded, and the heir
presumptive Philip of Valois became regent, until the birth of a
daughter, after which he was retroactively made king from the
death of his predecessor.
* In 1885, Alfonso XII of Spain died leaving two daughters and a
pregnant widow. The succession law was mixed primogeniture
(preference to males). The widow became regent until the birth of
a son, who became Alfonso XIII.
The case may be paradoxical in the face of such maxims as "the king is
dead, long live the king" and the notion of absolute continuity of the
throne. In both instances, the throne was vacant for several months.
Such a vacancy was avoided in the rather exotic case of Shapur II,
Sassanid king of Persia, crowned while in his mother's womb in 309 AD
(after magi had assured that the child would be a boy).
_________________________________________________________________
Part III: Nobility
1. What does it mean to be a noble?
(I hope readers of the FAQ will bear in mind that this answer cannot
enumerate the history, laws or succession rules of every country or
title. There are exceptions to every rule on the nobility, and the
objective of this section is to provide broad guidelines.)
Nobility is, historically, a legally defined status, largely inherited
once acquired, and enjoying once extensive privileges which, in modern
Europe, have been reduced (except see British sub-FAQ) to nominal
membership in the noble class with or without a hereditary title in,
e.g., BeNeLux, Denmark, Spain and Sweden. The nobility has been
abolished, with varying degrees of governmental tolerance for
continued use of once noble attributes, in Czechoslovakia, France,
Germany, Hungary, Italy and Portugal. But titles are not indigenous to
or not permitted in Austria, the Balkans, Greece, Norway, Poland,
Switzerland or former constituent states of the Soviet Union.
The most common titles associated with nobility in Europe were, in
descending order Prince, Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron, Knight
and Noble, although some countries had more titles, some fewer. In
Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain peers were the category of highest
nobles; although most dukes were peers, some peers held lower titles.
Except for peers, titles indicated official rank, but not
substantially different privileges. In fact, the majority of Europe's
nobles never held hereditary titles. Even in countries where many did,
it was often the longevity of a family's membership in the noble class
and/or history of court/military service and/or wealth which was of
greater importance in assessing its status than any legal title.
Evaluating titles across boundaries is virtually impossible, not only
because they were bestowed more liberally in some countries than in
others, but because their rules of descent and attached privileges
also varied.
In France, Portugal, Scandinavia and Spain, the rank of prince was
limited to members of the reigning dynasty, but the title was also
sometimes borne by non-royal nobles in the Balkan countries, Bohemia,
France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia. In Scandinavia,
"duke" usually implies royal kinship and in Germany, semi- sovereign
rank, but until the 16th century, dukes were mostly great land-owning
nobles in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain who often were equal to or
outranked princes, especially in Italy.
Counts, were originally companions of or regional governors appointed
by the Holy Roman Emperor or by kings. In Germany many of these
"grafen" retained semi-sovereign status (Reichsstand), acknowledging
only nominally the authority of the Emperor and inflating their
dignity with prefixes (e.g. margrave, landgrave, palsgrave, etc.) and
their number by eschewing primogeniture. But most European counts were
vassals of greater princes, even within the Empire (i.e. Austria,
Bohemia, Hungary, northern Italy and Poland) where titles were mostly
granted by the Emperor until the 19th century, transmissible to males
and females through the male line.
It was not rare for sovereigns to grant hereditary titles to subjects
of other realms, which honors conferred no legal rank in the
recipient's country. That did not stop the Emperor from living in
Vienna while making princes or counts of Bohemians, Dalmatians,
Hungarians, Lithuanians and Poles. (Nearly all titles of baron in
Poland were foreign.) The King of Spain recognized only his heir
apparent as a prince in Madrid, but he created scores of them in
Naples and Sicily and dozens more in Belgium.
In Scandinavia, there were few counts before the 17th century. In
Russia, there weren't any counts until Peter the Great's reign from
1682 to 1725. Countships and baronies were distributed more sparingly
in the North, sometimes descending to all children and sometime by
masculine primogeniture.
In Latin countries, the titles of Marquis, Count, Viscount and Baron
descended according to primogeniture, although in Italy some also
descended to the entire male-line. In Spain, Marques was the most
common title; in Portugal, Vizconde; and in Italy, Conte.
The Spanish grandee is equivalent to the French peer, ranking above
all other Spanish nobles regardless of title. But Spain is unique
inasmuch as men are far less favored over women than in most
nobilities. Titles descend to daughters or sisters before being
heritable by more distant male kinsmen. A holder of multiple titles is
not bound by primogeniture, but may distribute them among children.
The husband of a duquesa or vizcondesa is a duque or vizconde.
Below the rank of baron, in Germany there was the knight (Ritter),
lord (Herr), nobleman (Edler) and untitled noble who usually took the
predicate "von" or the higher one of "zu" which implied continued
possession of the family seat. Note that lord (Herr) was used as a
title, especially in Bohemia, but for many many years it was just a
designation of an untitled noble. The Netherlands has the Jonkheer
(strictly speaking a predicate rather than a title) below the Ridder,
while Belgium has the chevalier.
Italy's lower titles are Cavaliere, Nobili, Patrician and Coscritto.
Hungary, Bohemia and Poland all have Counts but nearly all titles of
baron were foreign. Russia had princes and counts, and hundred of
barons. Ranking below them were the dvorianstvo (untitled nobles).
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. What does it mean to be a German noble?
The answer to this question is taken from an article written by
Gilbert von Studnitz in "Der Blumenbaum", a publication of the
Sacramento German Genealogy Society, Vol. 9, number 4, April-June
1992. Gilbert, an a.t.r. member, has graciously given his permission
for a revised version of this article to be used in the a.t.r. FAQ.
The German Nobility
Copyright © 1992 by Gilbert von Studnitz
The German system of nobility, as indeed the European system in
general, is quite different from the English system with which most
Americans are familiar. The English have a peerage system and not an
extensive system of nobility, though their squires or landed gentry
would tend to be the closest thing. In England only the eldest son
usually inherits the title and the rest are considered commoners,
though they may bear "courtesy titles" if their father has more than
one, or may be called "Lord" or "Lady" without actually being one.
The German nobility is divided into two major divisions, that of the
lower (niedriger Adel) and the high (hoher Adel). It is further
divided into the ancient nobility (Uradel) and the newer nobility
(commonly known as Briefadel, or literally nobility by letter-cachet,
but also including other groups.) The Uradel may be of either the
lower or high nobility, but the Briefadel is almost always of the
lower.
In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman become nobles
themselves, and most titles pass onto all the children with few
exceptions. All the children of sovereigns did not, of course, become
kings or electors, but did become princes or princesses. In the last
decades of the German Empire, in imitation of the English system, a
few families were ennobled with titles that passed on only to the
eldest son, the remainder retaining either their father's former title
(which he also still carried) or just untitled nobility.
The hereditary and legal privileges of the nobility as the first class
of the realm ended in August of 1919 when the Constitution of the
so-called Weimar Republic came into force. The laws that concerned the
nobility for some one thousand years before 1919 stated that
hereditary nobility could only be passed on through legitimate
biological descent from a noble father but not through adoption and
especially not through purchase. When non-nobles were adopted the
family name could be carried by the adoptee, but none of the noble
designations of the family (such as a title or the "von".) If such an
adoptee wished to become noble, he or she had to apply to their
sovereign for such status in the same manner as any other subject. An
exemption to this was and is still made by the "legitimatio per
matrimonium subsequens", which allowed the legitimation of children
born out of wedlock after the marriage of their noble parents. By this
the children became full hereditary nobles, though some social stigma
still remained.
Since 1919, according to the German republican government, the
nobility no longer exists as a legal entity. Nevertheless, the titles
and noble designations of the nobility have not been abolished, as
they have in Austria, and may still be carried. Legally they are now
merely parts of the family name and in theory convey no status.
Following this rule all children of, for example, a Count von Beust,
whether male or female, would have the family name Count von Beust.
Similarly your could find ladies named Elisabeth Duke of Saxony or
Luise Prince of Prussia. A woman married to the Hereditary Grand Duke
of Baden would, in law, also be named Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden,
as would all their children. To avoid making all this seem too
ridiculous the German government ignores much of its own law and
allows the wives and children of nobles to take the gender-specific
titles appropriate to their sex.
Another example of society ignoring the 1919 law and following
traditional practice is that in all German telephone books a person
named, for instance, Baron von Richthofen would be listed under a "R"
for Richthofen rather than a "v" for "von" or a "B" for "Baron". The
U.S. telephone books are (unwittingly) more compliant with current
German legal writ by listing all persons with a "von" under "v".
The 1919 law also causes difficulties in the case of children
inheriting senior titles of their fathers. For example, in certain
families only the senior member is a count, and the rest are untitled
nobles. For a child to use the inherited title of "count" upon his
father's death would involve a court petition for a name change, which
is not always granted when the judge or magistrate has an anti-noble
bias.
Current law allows a person adopted by a noble to use the noble family
name, and since the title is considered part of the name, that is also
conveyed by adoption. It should be noted that the German nobility
never acknowledges such persons to be noble, no matter what they call
themselves.
Those persons who claim nobility through adoption or purchase, such as
the notorious Claus von Bülow, the Nazi foreign minister von
Ribbentrop, or Zsa-Zsa Gabor's husband who uses a Saxon princely
title, are not recognized as part of the historical nobility and are
no more members of that class than anyone else claiming a status to
which they are not entitled. Most such persons are essentially
deluding themselves while trying to fool others.
The basic designation of the nobility is the predicate "von", which
the vast majority of German nobles carry. There are a small number of
noble houses, almost exclusively of the Uradel, which have never used
the "von" or any other noble predicate, but are nevertheless of fully
equal standing with those that do.
In northern and eastern Germany there are a substantial number of
families (such as the von Kranichfelds) that use the "von" as
designations of the towns where they come from (as is the case with
most older noble families) but have never been noble and make no
pretense to be so.
A few noble houses use "von und zu", meaning they are not only from
the place mentioned but still retain it. Another Uradel house is named
"aus dem Winckel" instead of "von dem Winckel" but having the same
meaning. Other noble predicates sometimes seen are "von dem", "von
der", or "vom". "Van" is not used by German nobles but is Dutch or
Flemish and does not usually connote nobility in those countries. As a
way of differentiating themselves from non-nobles, the aristocracy of
northern Germany in most cases uses the abbreviation "v.", instead of
writing out the "von", while still pronouncing the whole word. The
southern Germans most often write out the "von". It is always spelled
with a small "v" unless it would be grammatically incorrect, such as
in the beginning of a sentence.
Notwithstanding regional preferences, the "Bible" of the nobility, the
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (Genealogical Handbook of the
Nobility), published by C. A. Starke in Limburg/Lahn, uses the "v." to
designate nobles and spells out the "von" for non-noble families or
individual non-nobles within aristocratic families. This handbook,
colloquially known as the "Gotha" for it's predecessor the Almanach de
Gotha (in German, Gothaisches Hofkalendar) attempts a comprehensive
listing of all German noble houses currently or recently in existence
and comes out in several volumes on a yearly basis, listing all living
members of a family and all those deceased since the last edition. The
handbook is divided into several series with the binding in different
colors: Royal & Princely houses, Counts, Barons, Untitled nobles, and
Family histories. Within these series the families are, except since
recently the Counts and Barons, divided into Uradel or Briefadel.
The advantage of having these books is obvious: there is a wealth of
genealogical information, and as it lists addresses, many potential
contacts can be found. It is also a way of being able to investigate
people's claims to noble status, though this kind of checking is not
considered "gentlemanly". The listing are thorough and are checked for
accuracy, though they depend to a large degree on the individual's
honesty in telling the truth about themselves.
Not every German noble family is included, as most often the family
concerned must contribute financially to its inclusion, or the family
may be too small, poor, or unwilling to warrant repeated updating. For
instance, my own family, with some 70 members, appeared lastly in 1985
and will do so again in 1999, but that of my grandmother, von
Bulmerincq, has not appeared since 1936. The current series of books
has been published since 1951, and is available at a number of larger
libraries. German nobles, especially the Uradel, have a particular
class consciousness and consider themselves interrelated and cousins
even if they don't know exactly how. Often in the case of the ancient
families this is correct due to centuries of intermarriage. All
members of the Uradel are considered by themselves to be of the same
status, whether they are untitled, barons, counts, or whatever else
they may be. The particular title of a person is far less important
among the nobility than the age and standing of the family. This is
particularly true as a number of old families have branches of various
levels. For instance, the Counts, Barons, and untitled von Bothmers
are all part of the same family. The Uradel also tend to look down on
the Briefadel as parvenus, even when the Briefadel may have been noble
for centuries. I recall visiting a cousin on the Lüneburger Heath in
Lower Saxony who had a brass plate on his front door stating
"Liferanten und Briefadel zur Hintertuer", meaning "Deliveries and
Briefadel to the rear entrance". Though meant as a joke, there was
still a bit of seriousness behind it.
Uradel
This oldest level of the nobility is made up of those houses which by
no later than 1400 were members of the knightly class, or patricians
of a free Imperial city such as Frankfurt/Main. Most often these
houses are counted as noble since "time immemorial" as at their first
appearance in written records they were already noble. The families
that make up this segment of the nobility usually descend from the
knights or most important warriors of a sovereign that were the basis
of his fighting force, or more rarely from a senior civil official of
the time. The Uradel often had legal privileges over the newer
nobility certifying their higher standing, such as in the Nobles Law
of the Kingdom of Saxony of 1902. There are far fewer Uradel families
still in existence than Briefadel due to the fact that families die
out over the centuries and no Uradel has been created in almost 600
years.
Briefadel
This level of the nobility is made up of those houses which were
ennobled since the beginning of the 15th Century through the end of
the German or Austrian Empires in 1918. There were widely differing
prerequisites for this level of the nobility, though most often
military or civil service to the sovereign were the qualities most
valued. The Briefadel includes houses ennobled or recognized as noble
by the Emperor or one of the sovereigns of the high nobility. Also
included are patricians of the free Imperial cities and non-German
noble houses that immigrated over the centuries, such as the Counts
von Polier from France or the Herren von Zerboni di Sposetti from
Italy.
High Nobility
The High Nobility is made up of those families that had
Reichsstandschaft, or had a seat in the Parliament of the Holy Roman
Empire. These seats were reserved for sovereign houses. These families
were also Reichsunmittelbar, or in a feudal sense holding their lands
directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, who for four centuries, until
the end of the empire in 1806, came from the house of Habsburg. In
essence, these families were rulers of their own countries, often in
times of a weak emperor paying only lip service to their subservience
to him. Their relationship to the emperor was then much like that of
today's Commonwealth rulers to the British Queen. Even in times of a
strong emperor he was to them more like a chairman of the board rather
than a ruler. Up to the early 19th Century, there were some baronial
and untitled families that held lands directly of the emperor, so
essentially being their own rulers, but had no seat in the Parliament,
thus being members of the lower nobility. Many families of the high
nobility have house laws applicable to their members. Often these laws
do not allow marriage outside their ranks, even to the lower nobility
which would be considered a morganatic alliance. Even today, the
children of a member of the high nobility who marries morganatically
become members of the lower nobility.
Ranks of the High Nobility
Within this division of the nobility the highest title is Emperor, or
Kaiser, deriving from Caesar in Latin. Through most of German history,
there was only one of these, the Holy Roman Emperor of the German
Nation, lasting from the crowning of Charlemagne in the year 800
through the renunciation of the last emperor, Franz II, in 1806 under
the influence of Napoleon, who by then had proclaimed himself Emperor
of the French. Kaiser Franz had already declared himself Emperor of
Austria, as Franz I, in 1804. In essence, the emperor just changed his
title so as to more accurately reflect the political realities of the
time.
A second German empire was established in 1871 after the victory of
the German states over Napoleon III, when King Wilhelm I of Prussia
was proclaimed German Emperor. He was never titled Emperor of Germany,
as this nation was not a unitary state but a federation of monarchies
and free city-states with quasi-republican governments. The title of
German Emperor was always carried in conjunction with that of King of
Prussia, and he was addressed as Kaiserliche und Königliche Majestät
(Imperial and Royal Majesty). The Austrian Emperor, based to a large
degree upon his position as King of Hungary, was addressed as
Apostolic Majesty.
Both German and Austrian empires ceased to exist after World War I,
and the imperial titles have not been carried since the last emperors
died (Wilhelm II of Germany in 1941, Karl of Austria in 1922). The
last empress, Zita of Austria, died in 1989.
The children of the German emperor were Princes of Prussia (not
Germany) and royal highnesses, except the eldest, who was German
Kronprinz (Crown Prince) and addressed as Imperial and Royal Highness.
The current heir to the throne is titled the, rather than a, Prince of
Prussia, and is the only one in Germany still addressed as Imperial &
Royal Highness. The children of the Austrian emperor were titled
Archdukes or Archduchesses of Austria rather than princes, and called
Imperial & Royal Highnesses.
Next we come to König and Königin, or King and Queen, which was
carried by the rulers of the larger German states (Bavaria, Hanover,
Prussia, Saxony, Württemberg, ). They were addressed as Majesty, and
their children, princes or princesses, as Royal Highnesses.
After these came the Grossherzog, or Grand Duke, who were styled royal
highness, and were rulers of somewhat smaller states, such as the two
Mecklenburgs or Luxemburg (which until 1918 was considered a German
state). The heir to these thrones was known as an Erbgrossherzog, or
hereditary grand duke, and the other children were princes or
princesses. Additionally in the Saxon kingdom, grand duchy, and
duchies, all the children of the ruler were also styled dukes or
duchesses.
The next level is that of Herzog, or Duke, who was normally styled
Highness.
Kurfürst, or Elector in English, ranked with a Duke. The electors were
originally the greatest lords of the Holy Roman Empire, both temporal
and spiritual, who elected the Emperor before the throne became
hereditary. They later became sovereigns no different from the rest.
The last ruling Elector, Hesse-Cassel, lost his throne to Prussia in
1866.
Landgraf (Landgrave), Markgraf (Margrave), and Pfalzgraf (Palsgrave or
Count Palatine) ranked somewhat with a Duke and are usually considered
higher than a Fürst. All sovereigns of this rank were eventually
"promoted" to higher titles, but the titles were sometimes used
instead of crown prince for their states, and are currently used for
the Heads of the Houses of Baden, Hesse and Saxony. Depending on
circumstances, they could be styled Royal Highness or simply Highness.
In the Middle Ages, some sovereigns were Burggrafs, or Burgraves, but
all these took higher titles early on and Burggraf became a title and
sometimes function, like Wildgraf, of the lower nobility.
Next follows Fürst (for which there is no good translation in English,
but which is confusingly called Prince). These are styled Durchlaucht,
translated as Serene Highness. Children of dukes, kurfürsts, and
fürsts were all princes or princesses. In the third generation their
descendants sometimes become counts, except for the ruling line, which
retains the princely title.
The last category of the high nobility still in existence is that of
Graf, or Count. The last sovereigns of this rank ceased ruling after
the Congress of Vienna in 1815. They are styled Erlaucht, or
Illustrious Highness. Their children are all counts or countesses. A
former somewhat higher rank of gefürsteter graf, or princely count, no
longer exists.
Among all the higher nobility the idea of Ebenbürgtigkeit exists,
meaning all of them, no matter what the title, are considered of equal
birth and standing.
Ranks of the Lower Nobility
Very often a certain level of income, wealth, or social standing was
necessary for appointment to these ranks, so as to demonstrate the
ability of the person ennobled to maintain himself at a proper level.
The highest rank of the non-sovereign nobility is Duke, a title almost
never given them and then only "ad personam", or much like an English
life peer. An example is Otto von Bismarck as Duke of Lauenburg. He
was styled Serene Highness.
The highest rank that normally was part of the lower nobility is
Fürst. This title, like Duke, was given to them only in the last
centuries of the monarchy. Their children were rarely princes, but
more usually counts or barons, depending on what was the original
title of the Fürst.
Next in rank is Count, which in modern times could be given
primogeniture (inherited only by the eldest son), but was usually
given to all the children of the new count. A very few houses also
carry the title Burggraf which is approximately equivalent to Count.
Baron follows, which is almost always called Freiherr in Germany, but
given as Baron to the Germans of the Baltic regions. For many years it
was in dispute whether Baron was equivalent to Freiherr (which was
deemed "better"), but this was settled in the last century in an
affirmative manner. The wife of a Freiherr is a Freifrau, the daughter
a Freiherrin. This last title is sometimes abbreviated Freiin. The
wife of a Baron is a Baronin, the daughter a Baronesse. Another
variant of this rank is called Edler Herr, or Edle Herrin for females,
which is borne by only a few very old families (such as the Gans zu
Putlitz).
The last level is that of the untitled nobility, which nevertheless
includes some titled families. Normally an untitled noble is addressed
as Herr, in this context meaning Lord.
In former times untitled nobles, especially those from the eastern
regions, were addressed as Junker, a title still in usage in the
Netherlands as Jonkheer. It is no longer normally used in Germany. In
Bavaria and especially Austria, the hereditary title of Ritter
(Knight) was given to families, but they were still considered part of
the untitled nobility. Much the same applies to the title of Edler,
which is mainly northern and central German. While the wife and
daughters of an Edler were titled Edle, the wife of a Ritter was
called a Frau (in this sense Lady) and not Ritterin.
Though the formal power of the German nobility is gone, it still
remains a considerable social force. After the debacle of World War
II, the aristocracy gradually reformed in groups based on religious
affiliation or province of origin. For well over 30 years, these
groups have been affiliated as the "Vereinigung der Deutschen
Adelsverbaende" and published the monthly "Deutsches Adelsblatt" in
the small town of Westerbrak (now part of Kirchbrak). The legalistic
"Deutsches Adelsrechtsausschuss" was set up, composed of members from
various noble and chivalric organizations, to determine in
questionable cases who belongs to the nobility or if a person has a
right to a noble title he claims. Only if there is a positive judgment
by this organization can someone join one of the nobles' associations
or have their family listed in the Gotha.
It has been estimated that there are some 40,000 nobles of all ranks
in Germany today.
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Part IV: Resources
1. On-line Sources of Information
It is amazing what one can find on-line about royalty, nobility and
related topics. The following sites are but a sampling of what one can
discover while surfing the 'Net. This list is not meant to be
definitive; rather it is a starting point for research. Most of the
following sites are in English, although some are in other languages.
The FAQ compiler and maintainer does not make any judgements as to the
contents or opinions found at these sites. If you are using the World
Wide Web (aka WWW, W3, Mosaic, Netscape, Lynx), you can reach these
pages at the following URLs:
Existing Monarchies
General:
http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/royalty.html
Dag Hoelseth's Royal Corner, with many links as well as a
collection of constitutional and legal documents pertaining to
various monarchies.
Andorra:
http://www.sigma.net/fafhrd/andorra/index.htm
Bahrain:
http://www.bahrain.gov.bh/English/Royal/Royal.asp
Belgium:
http://belgium.fgov.be/Engels/417/41709/41709.htm
Denmark:
http://www.kongehuset.dk/ (official site)
http://www.um.dk/english/danmark/om_danmark/queen.html
Japan:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3953
Jordan:
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/ http://www.jordanview.net/
(official site)
Liechtenstein:
http://www.news.li/fam/index.htm
Luxembourg:
http://www.gouvernement.lu/gouv/fr/doss/savoirlu/famgdduc.html
(official site of the grand-duchy; in French)
http://www.luxcentral.com/LuxDukes.html
Monaco:
http://www.monaco.mc/monaco/700ans/index.html
http://www.monaco.gouv.mc/ (in French)
Netherlands:
http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/ (official site)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/gennl.htm
Norway:
http://www.kongehuset.no/
Oman:
http://www.msdg.com/oman/index.htm
Perak:
http://www.perak.gov.my/perak_250696/june/html/sultan1.html
Saudi Arabia:
http://www.saudi.net/gov_profile/profile_king.html
Spain:
http://www.casareal.es/ (official site)
http://www.DocuWeb.ca/SiSpain/english/politics/royal/index.html
Swaziland:
http://www.pitt.edu/~tgsst10/swaziland.html
Sweden:
http://www.royalcourt.se/ (official site)
Thailand:
http://sunsite.au.ac.th/thailand/rama9/
http://kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/index.en.html
United Arab Emirates:
http://www.uae.org.ae/History/zayed.html
Western Samoa:
http://www.interwebinc.com/samoa/
Other Royal Houses
Afghanistan:
http://www.zaher-shah.fr.fm
Albania:
http://www.kwtelecom.com/heraldry/albania.html
Austria:
http://otto.twschwarzer.de
Bavaria:
http://www.munichfound.de/issues/1996/11/articles/HEIR.html
Brazil:
http://www.arsa.com/monarquia/
Bulgaria:
http://www.seker.es/simeon/reybul.html
France (Royal, duc d'Anjou):
http://www.royaute.org/
France (Royal, comte de Paris):
http://www.royaute-france.com/
France (Imperial):
http://www.napoleon.org
Hannover:
http://www.welfen.de/
Iran:
http://www.irancmi.org
Mexico:
http://www.casaimperial.org/
Portugal:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9734/
http://www.portugal-pt.com/JuventudeLusitana/english.htm
Prussia:
http://www.preussen.de/
Yugoslavia:
http://www.royalfamily.org/
Other Sites
Aga Khan & Family:
The Aga Khan Development Network
http://www.akdn.org/
Albanian Royal Court:
http://www.french-market.com/albania/
Alexander Palace Time Machine:
http://alexanderpalace.org/palace/
Almanach de Bruxelles:
http://www.almanach.be/central.html
Almanach de la Cour:
http://www.chivalricorders.org/index3.htm
Brigitte's Royal & Nobility Genealogy:
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/royal00.htm
Caltrap's Corner:
http://www.caltraps-corner.com
Charlotte's Web: Roots - Noble & Royal Genealogies:
http://www.charweb.org/gen/noblesse.html
Christine's Royal Families Page:
http://wwwedu.cs.utwente.nl/~kersten/royal.html
The Crown of Russian Empire:
http://www.cs.msu.su/heraldry/
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Royalty and
Nobility:
http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/royalty.htm
The Database of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family:
http://www.ardaman.com/
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors:
http://www.salve.edu/~dimaiom/deimprom.html
The European History Web Page:
http://www.eurohistory.com
European Royal Houses:
http://www.chivalricorders.org/royalty/index.htm
The EuroStamm Home Page:
http://members.aol.com/eurostamm/index.html
Federazione Monarchica Italiana:
http://www.vol.it/fede_monarc/
Fundación Príncipe de Asturias:
http://www.fpa.es/
Genealogical Gleanings (Royalty from Cambodia, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii,
Africa and India):
http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy
German Nobility Database:
http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/html/ww-person.html
A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles
(aka Mark Odegard's Titles FAQ):
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm
A Glossary of Titles in 35 languages by Alexander Kirschnig
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/titel.htm
Habsburg Pages:
http://otto.twschwarzer.de
Habsburg Biographies:
http://www.booksatoz.com/antiquesatoz/habsburg/habsburg.htm
Heraldica: François Velde's Heraldry Site:
http://www.heraldica.org/
International Constitutional Law:
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html
Internet Gotha:
http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/stoyan/wwp/LANG=
engl/?gotha
Japan, Inc.: The Emperor System and Japan's Royal Family:
http://www.ccnet.com/~suntzu75/japemps.htm
Juventude Lusitana (a Portuguese monarchist site):
http://www.portugal-pt.com/JuventudeLusitana/english.htm
Marivi's Royalty Page:
http://www.serv.net/~marivim/royalty.html
The Medici of Florence:
http://www.arca.net/tourism/florence/medici.htm
Monarchy Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3417/monarchy.html
Monarchie weltweit:
http://home.wtal.de/monarchie/links.htm
Napoleon Bonaparte:
http://www.mindspring.com/~csr/napoleon/napoleon.htm
Paul Theroff's Dynastic Genealogy Files:
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff
Paul Theroff's Online Gotha:
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/gotha.htm
Queen Marie of Romania, Papers:
http://www.library.kent.edu/speccoll/women/queen.html
Roberto Ortiz de Zarate's Political Datasets (a web site containing a
current list of heads of state & heads of government):
http://web.jet.es/ziaorarr
The Royal Ark: Royal and Ruling Houses of Africa, Asia, Oceania and
the Americas
http://www.dreamwater.net/regiment/RoyalArk/royalark.htm
Royal Descents of famous people:
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/mh10006/FamTree/famous.royal.html
Royal Families of the World:
http://www.royalfamily.com/
Royal Houses - Where They Have Been Reigning and When:
http://www.users.wineasy.se/elias/houses.htm
Royal & Noble Genealogical Data on the Web:
http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/GEDCOM.html
Royal & Noble Lineages:
http://www.uq.edu.au/~zzhsoszy/index.html
Royal Network:
http://www.royalnetwork.com/
Royal Russia:
http://angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/index.html
Royalist's Home Page:
http://www.themonarchist.com
The Royalty in History Site:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/kings.htm
Rulers (heads of state & heads of government):
http://www.rulers.org
Rulers of Bulgaria:
http://www.bulgaria.com/history/rulers/
Spanish Nobiliary Regulations:
http://www.ChivalricOrders.org/nobility/spanoble.htm
The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library:
(constitutions of most of the countries in the world)
http://law.house.gov/1.htm
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
2. Useful Addresses.
I - Associations:
The Monarchist League
BM Monarchist
London WC1N 3XX
United Kingdom
URL: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7993 (you will find
addresses of other leagues and associations at this website)
The Monarchist League in Australia
P.O. Box 1068
Double Bay, NSW 2028
Australia
e-mail: ***@monarchist.org.au
URL: http://www.monarchist.org.au
The Constantian Society
Randall J. Dicks
Governor and Editor
P.O. Box 12734
Pittsburgh, PA 15241-9734
U.S.A.
(a monarchist organization with educational goals and
activities)
e-mail: ***@icubed.com
II - Mail Order:
Hatchards
Attention: Robin Piguet
187 Piccadilly
London, W1V 9DA
United Kingdom
e-mail: ***@hatchards.co.uk
Heraldry Today
Parliament Piece
Ramsbury, Wiltshire SN8 2QH
United Kingdom
e-mail: ***@heraldrytoday.co.uk
URL: http://www.heraldrytoday.co.uk
(specialists for books on genealogy, heraldry and royalty)
International Historic Films, Inc.
Dept. S
P.O. Box 29035
Chicago, IL 60629
U.S.A.
(videos of such categories as 'British Heritage' and 'European
Royals' for sale)
URL: http://www.viamall.com/ihf/index.html
Librairie des Editions Christian
14, rue Littré
75006 Paris, France
URL: http://www.karolus.org/christian/index.htm
Rainy Day Books
P.O. Box 775
Route 119
Fitzwilliam, NH 03447
U.S.A.
Rosemary Bennett Rare Books
1077 SW13th Avenue
Albany, OR 97321
U.S.A.
(specializing in books about royalty; write for free brochure)
Rosvall Royal Books
Enasen-Falekvarna
S-52191 Falköping
Sweden
e-mail: ***@falköping.mail.telia.com
(new and antiquarian royal books in various languages)
III - Periodicals:
C.E.D.R.E. (Cercle d'Etudes des dynasties royales européennes)
12, allée des Jonquilles
F-60260 Lamorlaye, France
(quarterly bulletins, in French, about various royal and noble
families)
Deutsches Adelsblatt GmbH
Westerbrak 10
37619 Kirchbrak
Germany
(monthly publication, in German, of the Vereinigung der
Deutschen Adelsverbaende)
The European Royalty History Journal
(six issues per year)
Eurohistory.com
110 Linden Street
Oakland CA 94607
U.S.A.
Phone: (510) 839-4676
Fax: (510) 839-4645
e-mail: ***@eurohistory.com
URL: http://www.eurohistory.com/journal.html
Journal of Royal & Noble Genealogy: An International Journal of the
Augustan Society, Inc.
The Augustan Society, Inc.
P.O. Box P
Torrance, CA 90508-0210
U.S.A.
Majesty Magazine
P.O. Box 301069
Escondido, CA 92030
U.S.A.
(for American and Canadian subscriptions)
Majesty Subscriptions
Tower House, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street
Market Halborough
Leicester LE16 9EF
United Kingdom
(for UK and overseas subscriptions)
(a monthly magazine focussing on royal families)
Point de Vue
Service Abonnement
70, rue Compans
F-75019 Paris, France
(a weekly magazine focussing on British and European royalty
and nobility, in French)
Royal Book News
Marlene Koenig
5590 Jowett Court
Alexandria, VA 22315
U.S.A.
(bi-monthly newsletter for and about royal books)
e-mail: ***@delphi.com
Royalty
P.O. Box 3278
803 Finchley Road
London NW11 8DP
United Kingdom
(a monthly magazine, similar to Majesty magazine)
Royalty Digest
Church Street
Ticehurst, East Sussex TN57 AA
United Kingdom
(a monthly magazine available on subscription)
IV - Publishers:
abiszet Bücher-service GmbH
Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Volkswirt
Ulrich Kraus
Oberländerstr. 21
D-93051 Regensburg
Germany
e-mail: ***@a-zet.de
URL: http://www.a-zet.de
C.A.Starke Verlag
Frankfurterstrasse 51/53
D-65549 Limburg/Lahn
Germany
e-mail: ***@t-online.de
URL: http://www.edition-digital.com/starkeverlag/index.html
Verlag Degener & Co.
Postfach 1360
D-91403 Neustadt/Aisch
Germany
e-mail: ***@waldenfont.com
URL: http://www.waldenfont.com/degener/
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
3. Electronic (on-line) Magazines
This section features a selection of electronic, or on-line, magazines
that occasionally feature articles about members of royal or noble
families. For non-electronic magazines, please see "Periodicals" in
Part IV: 2. Useful Addresses.
ABC Electronico (Spanish-language)
http://www.abc.es
Aftonbladet (Swedish-language)
http://www.aftonbladet.se
Hola/Hello (Spanish- and English-language)
http://www.hola.es
Monaco Actualité (French-language)
http://www.monaco.mc/actualite/index.html
Paris Match (French-language)
http://www.parismatch.com
tuSpain (English-language)
http://tuspain.com/index.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
4. Bibliography
The bibliography is divided into three sections:
I. Biographies, Histories & Related Works
II. Genealogies & Related Works
III. General
Each of the sections are divided into nine language categories in the
following order: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian,
Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish.
I - Biographies, Histories and Related Works
Danish-Language Books:
Bramsen, Bo. Huset Glücksborg, 2 Vols., 1992
Buchwaldt, Randi. Prinsesse Benedikte: Prinsessen i midten.
Copenhagen: Forenede Udgivere, 1994
Wolden-Raethinge, Anne. Dronning I Danmark: Margrethe den Anden
fortaeller om sit liv. Photos by Georg Oddner. Gyldendal, 1989
Dutch-Language Books:
Ditzhuyzen, Reina van. Oranje-Nassau: een biografisch woordenboek.
Haarlem: Becht, 1992 [biographical & genealogical dictionary of
the Royal House of Nassau]
Ruizendaal, Willem. Nassau & Oranje: 600 jaar geschiedenis van ons
vorstenhuis van Engelbert I tot Willem-Alexander. Baarn:
Tirion, 1995
Schenk, M.G. Een Eeuw Vorstinnen: Honderd Jaar Vrouwen op de
Nederlandse Troon. Amsterdam: De Boekerig, 1989
English-Language Books:
The European Royal Families. St. Gallen, Switzerland: Editions Norden,
1993
Great Dynasties: Capets, Hohenstaufens, Plantagenets, Hapsburgs,
Valois, Stuarts, Tudors, Bourbons of France, Romanovs,
Braganzas, Bourbons of Spain, Hohenzollerns, House of Savoy,
House of Hanover-Windsor, Bourbons of Naples, Bonapartes. New
York: Mayflower Books, 1979
Alderson, A.D. The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1956 [Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982]
Aronson, Theo. Defiant Dynasty: the Coburgs of Belgium. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1968 [alternate title: The Coburgs of Belgium.
London: Cassell, 1969]
-----. A Family of Kings: the descendants of Christian IX of Denmark.
London: Cassell, 1976
-----. Grandmama of Europe: the crowned descendants of Queen Victoria.
London: Cassell, 1973
-----. The Kaisers. London: Cassell, 1971 [Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1971]
-----. Royal Vendetta: the crown of Spain, 1829-1965. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1966 [London: Oldbourne, 1967]
Behr, Edward. Hirohito: behind the myth. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd.;
New York: Villard Books, 1989 [New York: Vintage Books, 1990]
Bennett, Daphne. Vicky: Princess Royal of England and German Empress.
London: Collins, Harvill, 1971 [New York: St. Martin's Press,
1971]
Bergamini, John D. The Spanish Bourbons: the history of a tenacious
dynasty. New York: Putnam, 1974
-----. The Tragic Dynasty: a history of the Romanovs. New York:
Putnam, 1969 [New York: Putnam, 1972]
Bjaaland, Patricia C. The Norwegian Royal Family. Oslo: TANO, 1986
Blankenship, Gayle King. Royal and Noble Familes of Medieval Europe.
Poquoson, VA: G.K. Blankenship, 1993
Bokhanov, Alexander, ... et. al. The Romanovs: love, power & tragedy.
(translated by Lyudmila Xenofontova). London: Leppi, 1993
Boulay, Laure & Françoise Jaudel. There are Still Kings: The ten royal
families of Europe. New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1984
Brewster, Hugh. Anastasia's Album. New York: Hyperion Books for
Children,1996
Chapman-Huston, Desmond. Ludwig II. New York: Dorset Press, 1990
Chavchavadze, David, Prince. The Grand Dukes. New York: Atlantic
International Publications, 1990
Chichibu, HIH Princess (Setsuko). The Silver Drum: an imperial memoir.
(translated by Dorothy Britton). Kent, Conn.: Global Books,
1996
Constant, Stephen. Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria.
London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1979 [New York: Franklin Watts,
1980]
Crewe, Quentin. The Last Maharaja: a biography of Sawai Man Singh II,
Maharaja of Jaipur. London: M. Joseph, 1985
Curley, Walter J.P., Jr. Monarchs-in-Waiting. New York: Dodd, Mead and
Company, 1973 [alternate title: Monarchs in Waiting. London:
Hutchinson, 1975]
Davis, Reginald. Royal Families of the World. London: Collins, 1978
-----. The Royal Family of Thailand. London: Nicholas Publications,
1981
Diesbach, Ghislain de. Secrets of the Gotha. New York: Meredith Press,
1968
Dimitroff, Pashanko. Boris III of Bulgaria: Toiler Citizen King. 1986
[Bulgarian title: Boris III, ëtìsar na Bulgariëiìa, 1894-1943,
published 1990]
Duff, David. Hessian Tapestry. London: Muller, 1967 [Newton Abbot
[Eng.]; North Pomfret, Vt.: David & Charles, 1979]
Edwards, Anne. The Grimaldis of Monaco. New York: Morrow, 1992
-----. Throne of Gold: the lives of the Aga Khans. New York: Morrow,
1995
Erickson, Carolly. Great Catherine. New York: Crown Publishers, 1994
[New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1995]
Fenyvesi, Charles. Splendor in Exile: The ex-majesties of Europe.
Washington, D.C.: New Republic Books, 1979
Finestone, Jeffrey. The Royal Family of Thailand: the descendants of
King Chulalongkorn. Bangkok: Phitsanulok Pub. Co., 1989
Fujitani, Takashi. Splendid Monarchy: power and pagentry in modern
Japan. Berkley: University of California Press, 1996
Grabbe, Alexander, Count. The Private World of the Last Tsar: in the
photographs and notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe.
(edited by Paul and Beatrice Grabbe). Boston: Little, Brown,
1984
Greve, Tim. Haakon VII of Norway: founder of a new monarchy.
(translated from the Norwegian and edited by Thomas Kingston
Derry), London: Hurst, 1983 Hall, Trevor. The Golden Age of
Royalty: photography from 1858-1930. New Malden, Surrey,
England: Colour Library, 1981 [Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell
Books, Inc., 1981]
Hohenzollern, Paul of. King Carol II: a life of my grandfather.
London. Methuen, 1988
Judd, Denis. Eclipse of Kings: European monarchies in the Twentieth
Century. London: Book Club Associates, 1976 [New York: Stein
and Day, 1976]
King, Greg. The Last Empress: the Life and Times of Alexandra
Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia. New York: Carol Pub. Group, 1994
Kurth, Peter. Anastasia: the riddle of Anna Anderson. Boston: Little,
Brown & Co., 1983
-----. Tsar: the lost world of Nicholas and Alexandra. Boston,
Toronto: Little, Brown & Co., 1995
Lacey, Robert. Aristocrats. London: Hutchinson, 1983 [Toronto:
McClelland & Stewart Limited, 1983]
-----. Grace. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1984 [Thorndike, Me.: G.K.
Hall; Bath, Avon, England: Chivers Press, 1995]
-----. The Kingdom. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1982 [history
of Saudi Arabia]
Large, Stephen S. Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: a political
biography. London; New York: Routledge, 1992
Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. Above the Clouds: status culture of the modern
Japanese nobility. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1993
Marie, Princess of Greece. A Romanov Diary: the autobiography of H.I.
& R.H. Grand Duchess George. New York: Atlantic International
Publications, 1988
Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra. New York: Atheneum, 1967
[London: Gollancz, 1967]
-----. Peter the Great: his life and world. New York: Knopf, 1980 [New
York: Wings Books, 1991]
-----. The Romanov Family Album. London: Allen Lane, 1982 [New York:
The Vendome Press, 1982]
-----. The Romanovs: the final chapter. New York: Random House, 1995
Massie, Robert K. & Jeffrey Finestone. The Last Courts of Europe: a
royal family album, 1860-1914. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd.,
1981 [New York: The Vendome Press, 1981]
Maylunas, Andrei & Sergei Mironenko. A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and
Alexandra: their own story. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996
[New York: Doubleday, 1997]
Michael, Prince of Greece & Alan Palmer. The Royal House of Greece.
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990
Michael, Prince of Greece & Andrei Maylunas. Nicholas and Alexandra:
the family albums. London: Tauris Parke Books, 1992
Mikos de Tarrodhaza, Charles, Teodoro Amerlinck y Zirion & David
Williamson. The Imperial House of Mexico: the house of Iturbe.
Petergate, York.: Quacks the Booklet Printer, 1994
Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen. London: Constable, 1984
Normington, Susan. Napoleon's Children. Dover, N.H.: A. Sutton, 1993
Pakula, Hannah. The Last Romantic: a biography of Queen Marie of
Romania. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985
-----. An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick, Daughter of Queen
Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser
Wilhelm. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995
Palmer, Alan. The Kaiser: warlord of the Second Reich. London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1978
-----. Twilight of the Habsburgs: the life and times of Emperor
Francis Joseph. New York: Grove Press, 1995
Papanicolaou, Lilika S. Frederica, Queen of the Hellenes: Mission of a
Modern Queen. San Gwann, Malta: Publishers Enterprises Group
(PEG) Ltd., 1994
Ponsonby Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. The Imperial House of Japan.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Fane Memorial Society, 1959.
Powell, Charles T. Juan Carlos of Spain: self-made monarch. New York:
St.Martin's Press, 1996
Powell, William. Saudi Arabia and its Royal Family. Secaucus, N.J.: L.
Stuart, 1982
Pratt, Michael, Lord. The Great Country Houses of Central Europe:
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland. New York: Abbeville Press,
1991
Pu-Yi, Emperor of China. From Emperor to Citizen. Oxford University
Press, 1990
Radzinsky, Edvard. The Last Tsar. New York: Doubleday, 1992
Raleigh, Donald J., ed., & compiled by A.A. Iskenderov. The Emperors
and Empresses of Russia: rediscovering the Romanovs. Armonk,
N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996
Robyns, Gwen. Geraldine of the Albanians: the authorised biography.
London: Muller, Blond & White, 1987
Rowen, Herbert H. The Princes of Orange: the stadholders in the Dutch
Republic. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1988
Rubincam, Milton. America's Only Royal Family: genealogy of the former
Hawaiian ruling house. Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical
Society, 1968
Tantzos, G. Nicholas. The Inheritors of Alexander the Great: an
illustrated history. New York: Atlantic International
Publishers, 1986
-----. King by Chance: a biographical novel of King George I of
Greece,. Sutton, 1996
Viktoria Luise, Princess of Prussia. The Kaiser's Daughter. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965
Villalonga, José Luis. The King. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995
[biography of King Juan Carlos of Spain]
Vorres, Ian. The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand
Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. London: Hutchinson, 1964 [New York:
Scribner, 1965]
Watson, Sophia. Marina: The story of a princess. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1994
Williamson, David. Debrett's Kings and Queens of Europe. Topsfield,
Mass.: Salem House Publishers, 1986
Wolden-Raethinge, Anne. Queen in Denmark: Margrethe II talks about her
life. Photos by Georg Oddner. Gyldendal, 1989
French-Language Books:
Béarn, Stéphane. Les couronnes de l'exil. Paris: Balland, 1990
Behr, Edward. Hiro Hito: l'empereur ambigu. Paris: Robert Laffond,
1989
Boulay, Laure & Françoise Jaudel. Il est encore des rois. Paris:
Presses de la Cité, 1981
Brégeon, Jean-Joël. Les Grimaldi de Monaco. Paris: Criterion, 1991
Cannuyer, Christian. Belgique est leur nom: 160 ans d'histoire de
notre dynastie nationale, 1831-1991. Izegem, Belgique: Editions
Illustra, 1991
-----. Les maisons royales et souveraines d'Europe. Paris: Editions
Brépols, 1989
Colin, Gerty. Rois et reines de Belgique: l'histoire émouvante des
châtelains de Laeken. Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1993
Corti, Egon César, comte. Elisabeth d'Autriche: "Sissi". Paris: Payot,
1987 [rep. ed.]
Dayez-Burgeon, Pascal. La reine Astrid: histoire d'un mythe. Paris:
Criterion, 1995
Decaux, Alain. Monaco et ses princes: sept siècles d'histoire. 1997
Des Cars, Jean. Les châteaux fous de Louis II de Bavière. Paris:
Perrin, 1986
-----. Il était une fois Monaco: une famille, 700 ans d'histoire.
Paris: Editions du Rocher, 1996
Dugast Rouillé, Michel. Charles de Habsbourg, le dernier empereur
(1887-1922). Paris: J. Duculot, 1991
Edwards, Anne. Les Grimaldi: histoire d'une dynastie. Paris: Editions
Belfond, 1993
Eugénie, princesse de Grèce. Le Tsarévitch: enfant martyr. Paris:
Perrin, 1990
Ferrand, Jacques. Romanoff, album de famille. Paris: Librairie
Galignani, 1989 & 1990.
Foran de Saint-Bar, Thomas. Portrait d'un Roi: Pierre II de
Yougoslavie. Serg, 1973
Gauthier, Guy. Les aigles et les lions: histoire des monarchies
balkaniques de 1817 à 1974. Paris: Editions France-Empire, 1996
-----. Missy: reine de Roumanie. Paris: Editions France-Empire, 1994
Henri, Comte de Paris. Mémoires d'exil et de combats. Paris: Atelier
Marcel Jullian, 1979
Henri d'Orléans, prince de France, comte de Clermont. A mes fils.
Paris: Albin Michel, 1990
Isabelle, Comtesse de Paris. Mon bonheur de grand-mère. Paris: Robert
Laffont, 1995
-----. Tout m'est bonheur. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1978-1981
Kermina, Françoise. Bernadotte et Désirée Clary: le Béarnais et la
Marsaillaise, souverains de Suède. Paris: Perrin, 1991
Lafontaine, Paul. Notre Dynastie. 1991 [history & genealogy of the
Luxembourg dynasty]
Le Hête, Thierry. Les Capétiens, le livre du millénaire. Paris:
Editions Christian, 1987
Mension-Rigau, Eric. Aristocrates et grands bourgeois: éducation,
traditions, valeurs. Paris: Plon, 1994
Metzger, Laurent. Les sultanats de Malaisie: un régime monarchique au
vingtième siècle. Paris: Harmattan, 1994
Paul, prince de Hohenzollern-Roumanie. Carol II roi de Roumanie.
Paris: Denoël, 1990
Séguy, Philippe & Antoine Michelland. Fabiola: la reine blanche.
Paris: Bayard, 1995
Stephany, Pierre & Henri van Daele. Cinq Rois. 1989 [history of
Belgium's royal family]
Taubert-Natta, Bernard, baron & Georges Martin. Le sang des Bade. La
Ricamarie: G. Martin, 1982
Troyat, Henri. Alexandre II, le tsar libérateur. Paris: Flammarion,
1990
Valynseele, Joseph. Les maréchaux de Napoléon III: leur famille et
leur descendance. Paris: Valynseele, 1980
Viguié-Desplaces, Philippe. Sa majesté le roi Michel de Roumanie, le
règne inachevé. Paris: Michel Lafon, 1982.
German-Language Books:
Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. Zita, die letzte Kaiserin. (translated by
Gunther Martin). Wien: Zsolnay, 1993
Brunswick, Duchess Viktoria Luise of. Deutschlands Letzte
Kaiserin. Goettingen: Goettinger Verlagsanstalt, 1971
[biography of Empress Auguste Viktoria]
Cordfunke, E.H.P. Zita: Kaiserin von Österreich, Königin von Ungarn.
Vienna: Böhlau, 1986
Griesser-Pecar, Tamara. Zita: die Wahrheit uber Europas letzte
Kaiserin. Bergisch Gladbach: G. Lubbe, 1985
Praschl-Bichler, Gabriele. Das Familienalbum von Kaiser Franz Joseph
und Elisabeth. Wien: Ueberreuter, 1995
-----. Das Familienalbum von Kaiser Karl und Kaiserin Zita. Wien:
Ueberreuter, 1996
Prussia, Prince Louis-Ferdinand of. Die Geschichte meines Lebens.
Goettingen: Goettinger Verlagsanstalt, 1968 [autobiography of
Prince Louis-Ferdinand]
Ritthaler, Anton. Die Hohenzollern. Moers: Steiger, 1979
Schad, Martha. Bayerns Königinnen, Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich
Pustet, 1992
-----. Bayerns Königshaus: die Familiengeschichte der Wittlesbacher in
Bildern. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1994
-----. Das fürstliche Haus Thurn und Taxis: 300 Jahre Geschichte in
Bildern. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1996
Schubert, Ludwig and Rolf Seelman-Eggebert. Europas Königshäuser.
Koeln: vgs, 1991
von Schmettow, Dr. Count Matthias. Gedenkbuch des deutschen Adels.
Limburg/Lahn: C.A. Starke Verlag, 1967 [Nachtrag (addendum),
1980] [memorial book of the German nobility; lists all nobles
who fell in W.W.II]
von Studnitz, Major-Gen. Benno. Kurzer Abriss der Familiengeschichte
derer von Studnitz. Breslau: C. Duelser, 1889 [von Studnitz
family history & genealogy]
Ziehr, Wilhelm. Europas Fürstenhäuser. Koeln: vgs, 1995
Italian-Language Books:
Bracalini, Romano & Maria Gabriella di Savoia & Michele Falzone del
Barbaráo. Casa Savoia: diario di una monarchia. Milano: A.
Mondadori,1996
Norwegian-Language Books:
Benkow, Jo. Olav: menneske og monark. Oslo: Gyldendal norsk forlag,
1991
Benkow, Jo & A.B. Wilse. Haakon, Maud & Olav: Et minnealbum i tekst og
bilder. 1989
Greve, Tim. Haakon VII: menneske og monark. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1980
Möller, Arvid. Dronning Maud: et portrett. Oslo: J. W. Cappelens
forlag, 1992
-----. Kronprinsesse Märtha: hustru, mor, medmenneske. Oslo: Cappelen,
1990
Rosenberg, Brita. Astrid: Prinsesse av Norge. 1988
Spanish-Language Books:
Anson, Luis María. Don Juan. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés Editores, 1994
[biography of Juan, Count of Barcelona, late father of King
Juan Carlos of Spain]
Balansó, Juan. La Casa Real de Espana. 1985
-----. La Familia Real y la familia irreal. Barcelona: Editorial
Planeta, 1992 [history & genealogy of the Spanish dynasty in
all its branches]
-----. La Familia Rival. Barcelona: Editorial Planeta, 1994 [history &
genealogy of the Bourbon-Parma family]
Urbano, Pilar. La Reina. Barcelona: Plaza y Janes, 1996 [interviews
with Queen Sofia of Spain]
Vilallonga, José Luis de. El Rey. Barcelona: Plaza y Janes, 1993
[biography of Juan Carlos, King of Spain]
Swedish-Language Books:
Hammarsten, Charles and Elisabeth Tarras-Wahlberg. Victoria:
Kronprinsessa av Sverige. 1995
II - Genealogies and Related Works
Danish-Language Books:
Aagaard, Bent. Kongernes Lysthus. Copenhagen: Hamlet, 1978
English-Language Books:
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. 1, Europe and Latin America,
London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1977
Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. 2, Africa and the Middle
East, London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1980
A Genealogy of the Mohammedzai, the royal family of Afghanistan. 195-?
Royalty, Peerage & Nobility of Europe, 96th ed. of the Almanach de la
Noblesse de France (in English), 1997
Addington, A.C. The Royal House of Stuart: the descendants of King
James VI of Scotland, James I of England, 3 Vols. London:
Skilton, 1969-1976
Brewer-Ward, Daniel. The House of Habsburg: a genealogy of the
descendants of Empress Maria Theresia. Baltimore: Genealogical
Pub. Co., 1996
Broek, Pieter. A Genealogy of the Romanov Dynasty from the Emperor
Nicholas I to the present time. London: Noble House
Publications, 1994
Corfield, Justin J. The Royal Family of Cambodia. 2nd ed. Melbourne,
Australia: The Khmer Language and Culture Center, 1993
[descendants of King Ang Eng of Cambodia, 1779-1796]
Lake, Christopher. European Rulers 1060-1981: a cross-referenced
genealogy with 162 pedigrees. 1981
Louda, Jirí and Michael Maclagan. Heraldry of the Royal Families of
the World. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., Publishers,
1981 [alternate title: Lines of Succession: heraldry of the
royal families of the World. London: Macdonald; New York:
Macmillan; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1991]
McNaughton, Arnold. The Book of Kings: a royal genealogy. New York:
Quadrangle, 1973
Marquis of Ruvigny & Raineval. Titled Nobility of Europe: an
international peerage, or "Who's who", of the sovereigns,
princes and nobles of Europe. London: Harrison & Sons, 1914
[reprint ed. London: Burke's Publishing Co., 1980]
Paget, Gerald. The Lineage and Ancestry of HRH Prince Charles, Prince
of Wales, 2 Vols. Edinburgh: Skilton, 1977
Reitwiesner, William Addams. The Lesbian Ancestors of Prince Rainier
of Monaco, Dr. Otto von Habsburg, Brooke Shields, and the
Marquis de Sade. Washington: W.A. Reitwiesner, 1995
-----. Matrilineal Descents of the European Royalty: a work in
progress. Washington, D.C.: W.A. Reitwiesner, 1993
French-Language Books:
Almanach de Gotha (various editions, from 1763 to 1944)
Etat présent de la maison de Bourbon, Quatrième Edition, 1991 Anselme,
Le Père. Histoire Généalogique et Chronologique de la Maison
Royale de France, des Pairs, Grand Officiers de la Couronne et
de la Maison du Roy et des Anciens Barons du Royaume. Paris,
1726/32 [reprint 1991]
Badts de Cugnac, Chantal de & Guy Coutant de Saisseval. Le Petit
Gotha. Paris: Institut Henri V, 1993
Carretier, Christian. Les ancêtres de Louis XIV, 512 quartiers.
Paris: Editions Christian, 1981
Cuny, Hubert & Nicole Dreneau. Le Gotha français: état présent des
familles ducales et princières depuis 1940. Paris:
L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux, 1989
Dugast Rouillé, Michel. Descendance, ascendance de Charles et Zita de
Habsbourg, empereur et impératrice d'Autriche. Saint-Herblain
(France): CID Editions, 1995
Duroselle, Geneviève & Denys Prache. Les rois de France. Paris:
Hatier, 1995
Enache, Nicolas. La descendance de Marie Thérèse de Habsbourg, reine
de Hongrie et de Bohême. 1996
-----. La descendance de Pierre le Grand, tsar de Russie. Paris:
Sedopols, 1983
Ferrand, Jacques. Il est toujours des Romanov!: les Romanov en 1995.
Paris: J. Ferrand, 1995
Gmeline, Patrick de. Dictionnaire de la noblesse russe. Paris:
Editions Contrepoint, 1978
Gouyé Martignac, Gérald & Michel Sementéry. La descendance de
Joséphine, impératrice des Français. Paris: Editions Christian,
1994
Huberty, Michel, et. al. L'Allemagne Dynastique: les quinzes familles
qui ont fait l'Empire, Tomes I à VIII. Le Perreux: A. Giraud,
1976 -
Kerrebrouck, Patrick Van. La Maison de Bourbon, 1256-1987:
Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste Maison de France,
sept volumes, Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1987
Le Hête, Thierry. Les comtes Palatins de Bourgogne et leur descendance
agnatique: généalogie et histoire d'une dynastie sur huit
siècles (IXème-XVIIème siècle). La Bonneville-sur-Iton: T. Le
Hête, 1995
Manach, Daniel. La descendance de Louis-Philippe Ier, roi des
Français. Paris: Editions Christian, 1985
Parisot, Jacques & Nelly. La descendance de François-Joseph Ier,
empereur d'Autriche. Paris: Editions Christian, 1984.
-----. La descendance de Guillaume Ier, empereur allemand, roi de
Prusse. Paris: Editions Christian, 1987
Sementéry, Michel. La descendance de Nicolas Ier, roi de Monténégro.
Paris: Editions Christian, 1985
Toumanoff, Cyrille. Catalogue de la noblesse titrée de l'Empire de
Russie. Rome, 1982
-----. Les Dynasties de la Caucasie Chrétienne de l'Antiquité jusqu'au
XIXe Siècle. Rome, 1990 Tulard, Jean. Napoléon et la noblesse
d'Empire: avec la liste complète des membres de la noblesse
impériale, 1808-1815. Paris: Tallandier, 1979
German-Language Books:
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels. Limburg/Lahn: C.A. Starke (various
editions, 1951- )
Europaische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der europaieschen
Staaten (begun by Wilhelm Karl, Prinz zu Isenburg, continued by
Frank, Baron Freytag von Loringhoven; new series by Detlev
Schwennicke) Marburg: Stargardt, 1978-
Kneschke, Prof. Dr. Ernst Heinrich. Neues allgemeines Deutsches
Adels-Lexicon (9 volumes). Leipzig: Friedrich Vogt, 1859-186-
[reprint Neustadt/Aisch: Verlag fuer Kunstreproduktionen
Christoph Schmidt, 1995] [comprehensive listing of all German
noble families, living and extinct]
Posse, Otto. Die Wettiner: Genealogie des Gesamthauses. Leipzig,
Berlin: Giesecke & Devrient, 1897 [reprint ed. Leipzig:
Zentralantiquariat Leipzig, 1994]
Italian-Language Books:
Libro d'Oro Della Nobilità Italiano, Rome: Collego Araldico 1990-94
(ed. XX)
Spanish-Language Books:
Elenco de Grandezas y Titulos Nobiliarios Españ;oles, Madrid:
Ediciones de la Revista Hidalguia, 1997
Sampedro, José Luis. La descendencia de don Alfonso XIII. 1991
Zorilla y Gonzales de Mendoz, Francisco Javier. Genealogia de la casa
de Borbon de Españ;a. Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1971
Swedish-Language Books:
Rosvall, Ted. Bernadotte-Ättlingar, Ted Rosvall, Falköping, Sweden:
Rosvall Royal Books, 1992
III - General
English-Language Books:
Constitutions of the Countries of the World: a series of updated
texts, constitutional chronologies and annotated
bibliographies. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1991.
19 volumes + supplements
The Europa World Year Book, London, England: Europa Publications
Limited, 1989-
Gurney, Gene. Kingdoms of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa: an
illustrated encyclopedia of ruling monarchs from ancient times
to the present. New York: Crown Publishers, 1986
-----. Kingdoms of Europe: an illustrated encyclopedia of ruling
monarchs from ancient times to the present. New York: Crown
Publishers, 1982
Michael, Prince of Greece. Crown Jewels of Britain and Europe. J.M.
Dent, 1983 (Harper & Row, 1983; Crescent Books, 1986) Motley,
Mark. Becoming a French Aristocrat: the education of the court
nobility, 1580-1715. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1990
Pinches, John H. European Nobility and Heraldry: a comparative study
of the titles of nobility and their heraldic exterior ornaments
for each country, with historical notes. Ramsbury, Wiltshire:
Heraldry Today, 1994
Sainty, Guy Stair. The Orders of Chivalry and Merit of the Bourbon Two
Sicilies Dynasty. Madrid: S.M.O.C.S.G., 1989 [includes the
history & genealogy of the royal family of the Two Sicilies]
Tapsell, R.F. Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties and Kingdoms of the World.
London: Thames & Huson, 1983
Twining, Lord. History of the Crown Jewels of Europe. Batsford, 1960
French-Language Books:
Texier, Alain. Qu'est-ce-que la noblesse?: annexes, textes et
décisions jurisprudentielles, planches de blasons, lexique de
droit nobiliaire, index pratique. Paris: Tallandier, 1988
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
5. Lexicon.
The Lexicon (words associated with royalty and nobility and shown in
eight languages) is now formatted using tables, which don't
'translate' well when viewed as a text document, therefore it is
available for viewing at this URL:
http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/lexicon.html
Back to Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Credits, Copyright, Disclaimer
AUTHORED BY:
Yvonne Demoskoff
CONTRIBUTIONS BY:
Dag T. Hoelseth, Marlene Koenig, Noel S. McFerran, Eric-Jan Noomen,
William Addams Reitwiesner, Mark Anthony Rodriguez, Gilbert von
Studnitz and François Velde.
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