Usurpation of titular rights
The estimable Museblog Controller has pointed out that a plethora of Queens are making appearances on the blog. He ‘s asked me to explain, from my wealth of knowledge of heraldry and matters Royal (ha!), the correct procedure for setting oneself up as a monarch, and the correct form of address by one who hasn’t to one who has.
Right then. Firstly, you need to own a country. Sorry, but that’s pretty obligatory for a monarch. And it can’t be some poxy little rock in the middle of nowhere, either. The practical minimum is something the size of Tonga. I know it doesn’t look that big on the map, but it’s a big map.
Next, you have to get most of your subjects to agree that you own it. There’s always going to be a rebel element, so you’ll need a gang of thugs (sorry, a glorious army) to stop the rebels getting inconvenient. You also need to control religion. That has a habit of getting out of hand.
That’s about it, really. If everyone else reckons you’re Queen (or King), that’s what you are. Now they just need to show a bit of respect and address you correctly.
If they write to you, they should address you as “Your Majesty” throughout the correspondence, and finish with ‘I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant’. It’s a bit of a mouthful in conversation, so they’ll only have to call you “Your Majesty” the first time they address you. Then, until you throw them out because you’re bored, they can revert to the suitably obsequious “Ma’am” or “Sir”.
Should you have a spouse or immediate progeny, the same rules apply, except that they get called “Your Royal Highness”.
“Your Grace” is reserved for high members of your Church hierarchy. Unless you revert to the early Tudor form, where the monarch was addressed as “Your grace” as head of the Church.
You need to give your most sycophantic cronies some juicy titles to play with. The order of poshness is as follows :
Duke/Duchess, Marquis/Marquess, Earl/Countess, Viscount, Baron, Baronet. Dukes and Duchesses are called “Your Grace” (confusingly). Everyone else is “My Lord” or “My Lady”, which is even more confusing, because there are also Lords of the Manor. This is the only title you can actually buy.
I hope that clarifies the situation. I very much doubt whether it does.
