His Britannic Majesty, or Her Britannic Majesty (HBM), is a treaty title for the monarch of the United Kingdom, a royal style used in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. It is used on the international plane in the same way that ''His Majesty'' or ''Her Majesty'' is used to refer to the king or queen domestically, the addition of ''Britannic'' serving to identify the state (United Kingdom) in question. It is particularly used in treaties and other formal instruments sent and received between nations. Many other monarchies in Europe used similar conventional terms as treaty titles to identify their respective monarchs. Initially, ''His/Her Britannic Majesty'' referred to monarch of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

. After the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...

, it referred to the monarch of the United Kingdom. With the expansion of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

, the term came to refer to the British monarch as the sovereign of the entire British Empire. With changes in the constitutional relations between different Commonwealth realms, today it is only appropriate to use the term to refer to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

in right of the United Kingdom and not, for example,

in right of Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, or

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is not, however, invoked in agreements signed between the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, because the monarch cannot contract with themselves. Unlike treaties with other countries, agreements amongst Commonwealth realms are concluded between the respective ''governments'', not the respective sovereigns. Examples include: *The

Convention for the Mutual Abandonment of Nootka Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in ...

of 1794 between Spain and Great Britain referred to the Spanish monarch as ''His Catholic Majesty'' and the British monarch as ''His Britannic Majesty''. *The

Treaty of Chaumont The Treaty of Chaumont was a series of separately-signed but identically-worded agreements in 1814 between the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom. They were dated 1 March 1814, although the actual s ...

of 1814 between Austria and the United Kingdom referred to the Austrian monarch as ''His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty'' and the British monarch as ''His Britannic Majesty''. *In the Mandate for Palestine of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, that instrument designated ''His Britannic Majesty'' as the

Mandatory Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...

for Palestine. *

British passports A British passport is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requ ...

bear a request which invokes ''His Britannic Majesty'':

His Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of His Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

References

{{Royal styles Diplomacy Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Style of the British sovereign

See also

References