Prince Damrong Rajanubhab

A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word ''prince'', from the Latin noun , from (first) and (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince".

Historical background

The Latin word (older Latin *prīsmo-kaps, literally "the one who takes the first lace/position), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the ''princeps senatus''.

Emperor Augustus established the formal position of monarch on the basis of principate, not dominion. He also tasked his grandsons as summer rulers of the city when most of the government were on holiday in the country or attending religious rituals, and, for that task, granted them the title of princeps.

The title has generic and substantive meanings:
* Generically, ''prince'' refers to a member of a family that ruled by hereditary right (such as the House of Sverre in Norway) or to non-reigning descendants, the title referring to sovereigns, former sovereigns' descendants as descendants of King Haakon V) or to cadets of a sovereign's family. The term may be broadly used of persons in various cultures, continents or eras. In Europe, it is the title legally borne by dynastic cadets in monarchies, and borne by courtesy by members of formerly reigning dynasties.
* As a substantive title, a ''prince'' was a monarch of the lowest rank in post-Napoleonic Europe, e.g. Princes of Andorra, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Mingrelia, Monaco, Waldeck and Pyrmont, Wallachia, etc.
* Also substantively, the title was granted by popes and secular monarchs to specific individuals and to the heads of some high-ranking European families who, however, never exercised dynastic sovereignty and whose cadets are not entitled to share the princely title, ''viz'' the Princes de Beauvau-Craon, von Bismarck, Colonna, von Dohna-Schlobitten, von Eulenburg, de Faucigny-Lucinge, von Lichnowsky, von Pless, Ruffo di Calabria, (de Talleyrand) von Sagan, van Ursel, etc.
* Generically, cadets of some non-sovereign families whose head bears the non-dynastic title of prince (or, less commonly, duke) were sometimes also authorized to use the princely title, e.g. von Carolath-Beuthen, de Broglie, Demidoff di San Donato, Lieven, de Merode, Pignatelli, Radziwill, von Wrede, Yussopov, etc.
* Substantively, the heirs apparent in some monarchies use a specific princely title associated with a territory within the monarch's realm, e.g. the Princes of Asturias (Spain), Grão Pará (Brazil, formerly), Orange (Netherlands), Viana (Navarre, formerly), Wales (U.K.), etc.
* Substantively, it became the fashion from the 17th century for the heirs apparent of the leading ducal families to assume a princely title, associated with a ''seigneurie'' in the family's possession. These titles were borne by courtesy and preserved by tradition, not law, e.g. the ''princes de'', respectively, Bidache (Gramont), Marcillac (La Rochefoucauld), Tonnay-Charente (Mortemart), Poix (Noailles), Léon (Rohan-Chabot), etc.

Prince as generic for ruler

The original but now less common use of the word was the application of the Latin word ', from late Roman law and the classical system of government that eventually gave way to the European feudal society. In this sense, a prince is a ruler of a territory that is sovereign or quasi-sovereign, i.e., exercising substantial (though not all) prerogatives associated with monarchs of independent nations, such as the immediate states within the historical boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, there were as many as two hundred such territories, especially in Italy, Germany, and Gaelic Ireland. In this sense, "prince" is used of any and all rulers, regardless of actual title or precise rank. This is the Renaissance use of the term found in Niccolò Machiavelli's famous work, ''Il Principe''."Fürst - Origins and cognates of the title", 2006, webpage
EFest-Frst
. It is also used in this sense in the United States Declaration of Independence.

As a title, by the end of the medieval era, ''prince'' was borne by rulers of territories that were either substantially smaller than those of or exercised fewer of the rights of sovereignty than did emperors and kings. A lord of even a quite small territory might come to be referred to as a ''prince'' before the 13th century, either from translations of a native title into the Latin ' (as for the hereditary ruler of Wales) or when the lord's territory was allodial. The lord of an allodium owned his lands and exercised prerogatives over the subjects in his territory absolutely, owing no feudal homage or duty as a vassal to a liege lord, nor being subject to any higher jurisdiction. Most small territories designated as principalities during feudal eras were allodial, e.g. the Princedom of Dombes.

Lords who exercised lawful authority over territories and people within a feudal hierarchy were also sometimes regarded as ''princes'' in the general sense, especially if they held the rank of count or higher. This is attested in some surviving styles for e.g., British earls, marquesses, and dukes are still addressed by the Crown on ceremonial occasions as ''high and noble princes'' (cf. Royal and noble styles).

In parts of the Holy Roman Empire in which primogeniture did not prevail (e.g., Germany), all legitimate agnates had an equal right to the family's hereditary titles. While offices such as emperor, king, and elector could only be legally occupied by one dynast at a time, holders of such other titles as duke, margrave, landgrave, count palatine, and prince could only differentiate themselves by adding the name of their appanage to the family's original title. This tended to proliferate unwieldy titles (e.g. Princess Katherine of Anhalt-Zerbst; Karl, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Neukastell-Kleeburg; or Prince Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön-Norburg) and, as agnatic primogeniture gradually became the norm in the Holy Roman Empire by the end of the 18th century, another means of distinguishing the monarch from other members of his dynasty became necessary. Gradual substitution of the title of ''Prinz'' for the monarch's title of ''Fürst'' occurred, and became customary for cadets in all German dynasties except in the grand duchies of Mecklenburg and Oldenburg. Both and ' are translated into English as "prince", but they reflect not only different but mutually exclusive concepts.

This distinction had evolved before the 18th century (although Liechtenstein long remained an exception, with cadets and females using into the 19th century) for dynasties headed by a ''Fürst'' in Germany. The custom spread through the Continent to such an extent that a renowned imperial general who belonged to a cadet branch of a reigning ducal family, remains best known to history by the generic dynastic title, "Prince Eugene of Savoy". Note that the princely title was used as a prefix to his Christian name, which also became customary.

Cadets of France's other affected similar usage under the Bourbon kings. Always facing the scepticism of Saint-Simon and like-minded courtiers, these quasi-royal aristocrats' assumption of the princely title as a personal, rather than territorial, designation encountered some resistance. In writing ''Histoire Genealogique et Chonologique'', Père Anselme accepts that, by the end of the 17th century, the heir apparent to the House of La Tour d'Auvergne's sovereign duchy bears the title ''Prince de Bouillon'', but he would record in 1728 that the heir's ''La Tour'' cousin, the Count of Oliergues, is "''known as'' the Prince Frederick" ("''dit'' le prince Frédéric").

The post-medieval rank of (princely count) embraced but elevated the German equivalent of the intermediate French, English and Spanish nobles. In the Holy Roman Empire, these nobles rose to dynastic status by preserving from the Imperial crown ( after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648) the exercise of such sovereign prerogatives as the minting of money; the muster of military troops and the right to wage war and contract treaties; local judicial authority and constabulary enforcement; and the habit of inter-marrying with sovereign dynasties. By the 19th century, cadets of a ' would become known as '.

Princes consort and princes of the blood

The husband of a queen regnant is usually titled " prince consort" or simply "prince", whereas the wives of male monarchs take the female equivalent (e.g., empress, queen) of their husband's title. In Brazil, Portugal and Spain, however, the husband of a female monarch is accorded the masculine equivalent of her title (e.g., emperor, king), at least after he fathered her heir. In previous epochs, husbands of queens regnant were often deemed entitled to the crown matrimonial, sharing their consorts' regnal title and rank .

However, in cultures which allow the ruler to have several wives (e.g., four in Islam) or official concubines (e.g., Imperial China, Ottoman Empire, Thailand, KwaZulu-Natal), these women, sometimes collectively referred to as a harem, often have specific rules determining their relative hierarchy and a variety of titles, which may distinguish between those whose offspring can be in line for the succession or not, or specifically who is mother to the heir to the throne.

To complicate matters, the style ''His/Her (Imperial/Royal) Highness'', a prefix often accompanying the title of a dynastic prince, may be awarded/withheld separately (as a compromise or consolation prize, in some sense, e.g., Duke of Cádiz, Duchess of Windsor, Princesse de Réthy, Prince d'Orléans-Braganza).

Although the arrangement set out above is the one that is most commonly understood, there are also different systems. Depending on country, epoch, and translation, other usages of "prince" are possible.

Foreign-language titles such as , , , (non-reigning descendant of a reigning monarch), Duden; Definition of the German title ''Fürst'' (in German)

Duden; Definition of the German title ''Prinz'' (in German)

russian: князь, knyaz, etc., are usually translated as "prince" in English.

Some princely titles are derived from those of national rulers, such as tsarevich from tsar. Other examples are (all using the Persian patronymic suffix ''-zada'', meaning "son, descendant"). However, some princely titles develop in unusual ways, such as adoption of a style for dynasts which is not pegged to the ruler's title, but rather continues an old tradition (e.g., "grand duke" in Romanov Russia or "archduke" in Habsburg Austria), claims dynastic succession to a lost monarchy (e.g. for the La Trémoïlle heirs to the Neapolitan throne), or descends from a ruler whose princely title or sovereign status was not de jure hereditary, but attributed to descendants as an international courtesy, (e.g., Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan, Poniatowski, Ypsilanti).

Specific titles

In some dynasties, a specific style other than prince has become customary for dynasts, such as in the House of Capet, and . was borne by children of the monarch other than the heir apparent in all of the Iberian monarchies. Some monarchies used a specific princely title for their heirs, such as Prince of Asturias in Spain and Prince of Brazil in Portugal.

Sometimes a specific title is commonly used by various dynasties in a region, e.g. Mian in various of the Punjabi princely Hill States (lower Himalayan region in British India).

European dynasties usually awarded appanages to princes of the blood, typically attached to a feudal noble title, such as Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, Britain's royal dukes, the in France, the Count of Flanders in Belgium, and the Count of Syracuse in Sicily. Sometimes appanage titles were princely, e.g. Prince of Achaia (Courtenay), (Bourbon), Prince of Carignan (Savoy), but it was the fact that their owners were of princely ''rank'' rather than that they held a princely ''title'' which was the source of their pre-eminence.

For the often specific terminology concerning an heir apparent, see Crown prince.

Prince as a substantive title

Other princes derive their title not from dynastic membership as such, but from inheritance of a title named for a specific and historical territory. The family's possession of prerogatives or properties in that territory might be long past. Such were most of the "princedoms" of France's ''ancien régime'', so resented for their pretentiousness in the memoirs of Saint-Simon. These included the princedoms of Arches-Charleville, Boisbelle-Henrichemont, Chalais, Château-Regnault, Guéménée, Martigues, Mercœur, Sedan, Talmond, Tingrey, and the "kingship" of Yvetot, among others.

Prince as a reigning monarch

A prince or princess who is the head of state of a territory that has a monarchy as a form of government is a reigning prince.

Extant principalities

The current princely monarchies include:
* The co-principality of Andorra (current reigning princes are the French President Emmanuel Macron and HE Joan Enric Vives Sicília)
* The emirate of Kuwait (current reigning emir is Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah)
* The principality of Liechtenstein (current reigning prince is Hans-Adam II)
* The principality of Monaco (current reigning prince is Albert II)
* The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (currently vacant following the death of Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, John T. Dunlap is Lieutenant of the Grand Master and acting head of the order. The election of a permanent successor has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic )
* The emirate of Qatar (current reigning emir is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani)
* The member emirates of the federation in the United Arab Emirates (''United Arab Principalities''):
** Abu Dhabi (Emir Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also President of the UAE)
** Ajman (Emir Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi)
** Dubai (Emir Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE)
** Fujairah (Emir Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi)
** Ras al-Khaimah (Emir Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi)
** Sharjah (Emir Sultan III bin Muhammad al-Qasimi)
** Umm al-Quwain (Emir Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla)

File:Coat of arms of Andorra.svg, Coat of arms of the principality of Andorra (1607).
File:Staatswappen-Liechtensteins.svg, Coat of arms of the principality of Liechtenstein (1719).
File:Great coat of arms of the house of Grimaldi.svg, Coat of arms of the principality of Monaco (1297).

Micronations

In the same tradition, some self-proclaimed monarchs of so-called micronations style themselves as princes:
* Roy Bates titled himself "Prince Roy" of the Principality of Sealand
* Leonard George Casley titled himself "Prince Leonard I" of the Principality of Hutt River (enclave in Australia)

Prince exercising head of state's authority

Various monarchies provide for different modes in which princes of the dynasty can temporarily or permanently share in the style and/or office of the monarch, e.g. as regent or viceroy.

Though these offices may not be reserved legally for members of the ruling dynasty, in some traditions they are filled by dynasts, a fact which may be reflected in the style of the office, e.g. " prince-president" for Napoleon III as French head of state but not yet emperor, or "prince-lieutenant" in Luxembourg, repeatedly filled by the crown prince before the grand duke's abdication, or in form of .

Some monarchies even have a practice in which the monarch can formally abdicate in favour of his heir and yet retain a kingly title with executive power, e.g. ''Maha Upayuvaraja'' (Sanskrit for ''Great Joint King'' in Cambodia), though sometimes also conferred on powerful regents who exercised executive powers.

Non-dynastic princes

In several countries of the European continent, such as France, prince can be an aristocratic title of someone having a high rank of nobility or as lord of a significant fief, but not ruling any actual territory and without any necessary link to the royal family, which makes it difficult to compare with the British system of royal princes.

France and the Holy Roman Empire

The kings of France started to bestow the style of prince, as a title among the nobility, from the 16th century onwards. These titles were created by elevating a to the nominal status of a principality—although prerogatives of sovereignty were never conceded in the letters patent. Princely titles self-assumed by the and by the were generally tolerated by the king and used at the royal court, outside the Parlement of Paris. These titles held no official place in the hierarchy of the nobility, but were often treated as ranking just below ducal peerages, since they were often inherited (or assumed) by ducal heirs:
* French titles of prince recognized by the king
** Holy Roman Empire states annexed by France
*** Arches-Charleville: in the Ardennes region, near the border with the Empire
*** Château-Renaud: near Arches-Charleville
*** Dombes: on the east bank of the Rhône
*** Orange
*** Sedan: held by the Dukes of Bouillon
** Ancient principalities seated in the Kingdom of France
*** Boisbelle, later Henrichemont: in the Berry region, a sovereign principality recognized in 1598
*** Luxe: in the Béarn region, also styled ''Sovereign Count'' ( cf. Princely Count)
*** Yvetot: in the Normandy region, recognized, nominally, as ''King of Yvetot''
** Principalities created by the King
*** Château-Porcien: in the Ardennes region, created in 1561 for the House of Croÿ
*** Guéméné: in Brittany, created in 1667 for the House of Rohan (title borne by the Duke of Montbazon or his heir)
*** Joinville: in the Champagne region, created in 1552 for the House of Lorraine
*** Martigues: in the Provence region, created 16th century for cadets of the House of Lorraine
*** Mercœur: in the Auvergne region, created in 1563 for cadets of the House of Lorraine, later a duchy; recreated in 1719
*** Tingry: in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, created in 1587 for the House of Luxemburg
** The princes of Condé and Conti, heads of cadet branches of the French royal House of Bourbon: used recognized princely titles, but the lordships of Condé and Conti were never formally created principalities by the King
* Unrecognized titles of Prince
** Aigremont
** Anet: used by the Dukes of Vendôme, then the Dukes of Penthièvre
** Antibes: claimed by the de Grasse family
** Bédeille: in Béarn
** Bidache

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