Monarch

For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation).

Louis XIV, king of France and Navarre (Painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701).

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for life or until abdication. Monarchs may be autocrats (absolute monarchy) or may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power or only reserve power, with actual authority vested in a parliament or other body (constitutional monarchy). Most states only have a single monarch at any given time, although a regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, not present or debilitated. Two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, as in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta or the joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (eg. William and Mary of Kingdom of England and Scotland, Peter and Ivan of Russia, Charles and Joanna of Castile, etc).

Monarchs have various titles — king or queen, prince or princess (eg. Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (eg. Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or grand duke (eg. Grand Duke of Luxembourg). Many monarchs are distinguished by titles and styles. They often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.

Monarchy are associated with political or sociocultural in nature hereditary rule; most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family (over a period of time called a dynasty) and trained for future duties. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While traditionally most monarch have been male, female monarchs have also ruled in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a queen consort refers to the wife of a reigning king.

Some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors but often coming from the same dynasty) and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Modern examples include the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, who serves as Sovereign of the Vatican City State and is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals.

Monarchies have existed throughout the world, although in recent centuries many states have abolished the monarchy and becomes republics. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership, with a usually short interregnum (as seen in the classic phrase "The King is dead. Long live the King!").

Form of governments may be hereditary without being considered monarchies, such as that of family dictatorships or political families are present in many democracies.

Etymology

The word monarch (Template:Lang-la) comes from the Greek μόναρχος (from μόνος, one, singular and ἀρχός, leader, guide, chief) which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. With time, the word has been succeeded in this meaning by others, such as autocrat or dictator. In modern usage the word monarch is generally used when referring to a traditional system of hereditary rulership, with elective monarchies often considered as exceptions.

Classification

A particular case is the French co-prince of Andorra, a position held by the elected President of France. Nonetheless, he is still generally considered a monarch because of the traditional use of a monarchical title (even though Andorra is, strictly speaking, a diarchy.) Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the office for five years at a time. On the other hand, several life-time dictators around the world have not been formally classified as monarchs, but that may be more to do with international political sensitivities than with semantics.

Succession

Hereditary succession within one family has been most common. The usual hereditary succession is based on some cognatic principles and on seniority, though sometimes merit has played a part. Thus, the most common hereditary system in feudal Europe was based on cognatic primogeniture, where a lord was succeeded by his eldest son, and failing sons, by either daughters or by sons of daughters. The system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to merits and capability. The Quasi-Salic succession provided firstly for male members of the family to succeed, and secondarily males descended from female lines. In most feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, should the male line fail, but usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord and most often also received the title, jure uxoris. Great Britain and Spain today continue this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture. In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic.

As the average life span among the nobility increased (thanks to lords limiting their personal participation in dangerous battles, and generally improved sustenance and living conditions among the wealthy), an eldest son was more likely to reach majority age before the death of his father, and primogeniture became increasingly favoured over proximity, tanistry, seniority and election.

Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed, agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as Salic Law) became more usual: the succession would go to the eldest son of the monarch, or, if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative through the male line, to the total exclusion of females.

In some countries however, inheritance through the female line was never wholly abandoned, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter and to her posterity. (This, cognatic primogeniture, was the rule that let Elizabeth II become Queen.)

In 1980, Sweden became the first monarchy to declare equal primogeniture or full cognatic primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other kingdoms (the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, and Belgium in 1991) have since followed suit.

In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority). In some other monarchies (e.g. Jordan), the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.

History

Further information: Monarchy

Tigranes the Great, monarch of Armenia from 95 BC to 55 BC

Monarchs in Africa

Further information: Monarchies in Africa

Further information: History of Africa

A series of Pharaohs ruled Ancient Egypt over the course of three millennia (circa 3150 BC to 31 BC) until it was conquered by the Roman Empire. In the same time period, several kingdoms flourished in the nearby Nubia region.

Central Africa hosted the Kanem Empire (700 - 1376).

In East Africa, the Aksumite Empire and later the Ethiopian Empire (1270-1974) were ruled by a series of monarchs. Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a communist coup.

Southern Africa was isolated from other cultures until the modern era, but did later feature kingdoms like the Kingdom of Kongo (1400 – 1914).

As part of the Scramble for Africa, Europeans conquered, bought, or established African kingdoms and styled themselves as a monarch.

Monarchs in Europe

Further information: European Monarchs

Further information: Monarchies in Europe

Prince was a common title within the Holy Roman Empire, along with a number of higher titles listed below. Such titles were granted by the Emperor, while the titulation of rulers of sovereign states was generally left to their own discretion, most often choosing King or Queen. Such titulations could cause diplomatic problems, and especially the elevation to Emperor or Empress was seen as an offensive action. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries most small monarchies in Europe disappeared, merging to form larger entities, and so King the most common title for male rulers and Queen has become the most common title today for female rulers.

Today in Europe, there are seven kingdoms, one grand duchy, one duchy , one papacy, and three principalities (Liechtenstein, Wales and Monaco), excluding the peculiar case of Andorra and one "Lord of Mann" — the title for the monarch of Isle of Man.

Monarchs in Asia

In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang 王, the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty, China had a number of small kingdoms, each about the size of a county and subordinate to the Empress or Emperor of China.

The Japanese monarchy is now the only monarchy to still use the title of Emperor.

Monarchs in the Americas

The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists. When the Europeans arrived they referred to these tracts of land within territories of different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, and the leaders of these groups were often referred to by the Europeans as Kings, particularly hereditary leaders. Many of the leaders were queens, but this was not understood by the Europeans, who had no knowledge of the indigenous history or languages, much less an understanding of matrilineality

Pre-colonial titles that were used included:

• Cacique - Aboriginal Hispaniola and Borinquen
• Tlatoani - Nahuas
• Ajaw - Maya
• Qhapaq Inka - Tawuantin Suyu (Inca Empire)
• Morubixaba - Tupi tribes
• Sha-quan- King of the world used in some America Indian tribes

The first local monarch to emerge in North America after colonization was Augustin I, who declared himself Emperor of Mexico in 1822. Mexico again had an emperor, Maximilian I from 1863 to 1867. In South America, Brazil had a European royal house ruling as emperor between 1822 and 1889, under Emperors Pedro I and Pedro II.

These American emperors were deposed due to complex issues, including pressure from the highly republican United States, which had declared itself independent of the British monarch in 1776. The British, worried about U.S. colonial expansion, invasion following the American Civil War, and the fact that the U.S. had aided the Mexican republican rebels in overthrowing Maximilian I, pushed for the union of the Canadian provinces into a country in 1867. With Confederation, Canada became a self-governing nation which was considered a kingdom in its own right, though it remained subordinate to the United Kingdom; thus, Victoria was monarch of Canada, but not sovereign of it. It was not until the passing of the Statute of Westminster that Canada was considered to be under a distinct Canadian Crown, separate to that the British, and not until 1953 that the Canadian monarch, at the time Elizabeth II, was titled by Canadian law as Queen of Canada.

Between 1931 and 1983 nine other previous British colonies attained independence as kingdoms, all, including Canada, in a personal union relationship under a shared monarch. Therefore, though today there are legally ten American monarchs, one person occupies each distinct position.

Male Title	Female Title	Realm	Latin	Examples
Emperor	Empress	Empire	Imperator (Imperatrix)	Brazil, Mexico, Sapa Inca
King	Queen	Kingdom	Rex (Regina)	Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Titles

For commonly used names for specific monarchs, see List of monarchs by nickname.

The normal monarch title in Europe — i.e., the one used if the monarch has no higher title — is prince or princess, by convention. As an absolute ruler, a monarch can choose a title. However, titles are usually defined by tradition and diplomatic considerations.

Note that some of these titles have several meanings and do not necessarily designate a monarch. A Prince may be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see Fürst). A Duke may be a British peer. In Imperial Russia, a Grand Duke was a son or grandson of the Tsar or Tsarina. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings did not enjoy the same status as the monarchs of the same title.

Within the Holy Roman Empire, there were even more titles that were used occasionally for monarchs although they were normally noble; Margrave, Count Palatine, and Landgrave. A monarch with such a low title still was regarded as more important than a noble Duke.

Male version	Female version	Realm	Adjective	Latin	Examples
Emperor	Empress	Empire	imperial	Imperator (Imperatrix)	Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Russia , First and Second French Empire, Austria, Mexico, Brazil, German Empire (none left in Europe after 1918), Empress of India (ceased to be used after 1947 when India was granted independence from the British Empire), Japan (the only remaining enthroned emperor in the world).
King	Queen	Kingdom	royal	Rex (Regina)	Common in larger sovereign states
Viceroy	Vicereine	Viceroyalty	viceroyal	Proconsul	Historical: Spanish Empire (Peru, New Spain, Rio de la Plata, New Granada), Portuguese Empire, (India, Brazil), British Empire
Grand Duke	Grand Duchess	Grand duchy	Grand Ducal	Magnus Dux	Today: Luxembourg; historical: Lithuania, Baden, Finland, Tuscany et al
Archduke	Archduchess	Archduchy	archducal	Arci Dux	Historical: Unique only in Austria, Archduchy of Austria; title used for member of the Habsburg dynasty
Prince	Princess	Principality, Princely state	princely	Princeps	Today: Monaco, Liechtenstein, Wales; Andorra (Co-Princes). Historical: Albania, Serbia
Duke	Duchess	Duchy	ducal	Dux	There are none left currently. Though historical examples include Normandy.
Count	Countess	County	countly, comital	Comes	Most common in the Holy Roman Empire, translated in German as Graf; historical: Barcelona, Brandenburg, Baden, numerous others
Baron	Baroness	Barony	Baronial	Baro	There are normal baronies and sovereign baronies, a sovereign barony can be compared with a principality, however, this is an historical exception; sovereign barons no longer have a sovereign barony, but only the title and style
Pope	Females cannot hold the office of Pope	Papacy	papal	Papa	Monarch of the Papal States and later Sovereign of the State of Vatican City

The pope is the Bishop of Rome (a celibate office always forbidden to women), in English however, reports of female popes such as (Pope Joan) refer to them as pope and Popess is used, among other things, for the second trump in the Tarot deck; some European languages also have a feminine form of the word pope, such as the Italian papessa, the French papesse, and the German Päpstin

Titles by region

When a difference exists below, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.

Region	Title	Description and use
Africa	Almamy	Fulani people of west Africa
	Asantehene	Ashanti, title of the King of the Ashanti People in Ghana
	Chieftain	Leader of a people
	Eze	Igbo people of Nigeria
	Kabaka	Baganda people of Buganda in Uganda
	Negus	Ethiopia
	Oba	Yoruba people of Nigeria
	Omukama	Bunyoro, title of some kings in Uganda
	Tutsi Mwami	Kings of Rwanda and Burundi
Asia
	Arasan/Arasi	Tamil Nadu(India), Sri Lanka
	Chakrawarti Raja	India Sri Lanka
	Chogyal	"Divine Ruler"; ruled Sikkim until 1975
	Datu	pre-colonial Philippines
	Druk Gyalpo	Hereditary title given to the king of Bhutan
	Emperor of China
	Engku or Ungku	Malaysia, to denote particular family lineage akin to royalty
	Hari	Filipino title for king
	Huángdì	Imperial China Emperor
	Hwangje	States that unified Korea
	Maha Raja	Used in India and Sri Lanka
	Meurah	Title used in Aceh before Islam
	Padshah Shahinshah Shah	Emperor of Iran or Hindustan (India)
	Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Bâromneath	King of Cambodia Khmer , the title literally means "The feet of the Greatest Lord who is on the heads (of his subjects)" (This royal title doesn't refer directly to the king himself but to his feet, according to traditions).
	Patabenda	Sub- king Sri lanka
	Phrabat Somdej Phrachaoyuhua	King of Thailand (Siam), the title literally means "The feet of the Greatest Lord who is on the heads (of his subjects)" (This royal title doesn't refer directly to the king himself but to his feet, according to traditions.)
	Qaghan	Central Asian Tribes
	Racha	Thailand same meaning as Raja
	Raja	Malaysia, Raja denotes royalty in Perak and certain Selangor royal family lineages, is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess.
	Raja	Nepal King
	Raja	pre-colonial Philippines
	Rani	Nepali Queen
	Susuhanan	The Indonesian princely state of Surakarta until its abolition.
	Saopha	Shan, king of Shan, today as a part of Myanmar
	Sayyid	Honorific title given throughout the Islamic regions. Title given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Syed/Sharifah in Perlis if suffixed by the royal clan name, is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess.
	Shogun	Japanese military dictator, always a Samurai
	Sultan	Aceh, Brunei Darussalam, Java, Oman, Malaysia, Sultan is the title of seven (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu) of the nine rulers of the Malay states.
	Sumeramikoto,Okimi	Japan, king
	Tengku	Malaysia, Tengku (also spelled Tunku in Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess
	Tennō or Mikado	Japan
	Veyndhan, ko/Arasi	Tamil Nadu (India)
	Wang	Pre-Imperial China. In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang 王.
	Wang	States of Korea that do not have control over all of Korea
	Yang di-Pertuan Agong	Monarch of Malaysia, elected each five years among the reigning Sultan of each Malaysian state
Europe
	Arqa/Thagavor	Armenian King
	Autocrator	Greek term for the Byzantine Emperor
	Basileus	Greek King
	Despot	Serbia (originating from Byzantium)
	Domn Gospodar	Medieval Romania (Moldova, Wallachia)
	Fejedelem	Ancient/Medieval Hungarian
	Germanic king
	Giray	Crimean King
	High King of Ireland	Also known as Rí, Rúirí, Rí Rúireach and Ard Rí. King, local overking, regional King, and High King in pre-Norman Ireland
	Imperator	The Ruler of Imperial Russia
	Kaiser	Imperial Germany
	Knyaz	Kievan Rus'/Serbia. Generally translated as "prince."
	Kralj	Croatia, Serbia
	Kunigaikshtis (Kunigaikštis)	Lithuanian, duke as in Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
	Mbret	Albanian King
	Tsar/Tsaritsa	Bulgaria, pre-imperial Russia, Serbia
	Vezér	Ancient Hungarian
	Voivode	Serbian/Hungarian/Romany Title
	Župan	Serbia, Croatia
Africa & Middle-East
	Pharaoh	Ancient Egypt
	Shah	Persian/Iranian and Afghanistan King
	Shahenshah	Persian/Iranian "King of Kings" or Emperor
	Sheikh	Arabic leader, King or Prince (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE)
	Sultan/Sultana	Arabic King (Oman and Ottoman Empire)
Oceania
	Chieftain	Leader of a tribe or clan.
	Houʻeiki, matai, aliʻi, tūlafale, tavana, ariki	Usually translated as "chief" in various Polynesian countries.
	Mo'i	Normally translated as King, a title used by Hawaiian monarchs since unification in 1810. The last person to hold that title was Queen Lili'uokalani.
	Tuʻi or Tui	Kings in Oceania: Tonga, Wallis and Futuna, Nauru

Current monarchs

See also: List of current monarchs

NOTE: The table comprises all sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is severely incomplete with regard to the non-sovereign monarchs.

Name	Born	Title	Since	Royal House	Succession	Heir
Azlan Shah	1928	Sultan of Perak (in Malaysia)	1984			Crown Prince Nazrin Shah
Bhumibol Adulyadej	1927	King of Thailand	1946	Chakri		Maha Vajiralongkorn
Elizabeth II	1926	Queen of Antigua and Barbuda Queen of Australia Queen of the Bahamas Queen of Barbados Queen of Belize Queen of Canada Paramount Chief of Fiji Queen of Grenada Queen of Jamaica Lord of the Isle of Mann Queen of New Zealand Duke of Normandy (Channel Islands) Queen of Papua New Guinea Queen of Saint Kitts and Nevis Queen of Saint Lucia Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Queen of the Solomon Islands Queen of Tuvalu Queen of the United Kingdom	1981 1952 1973 1966 1981 1952 1998 1974 1962 1952 1952 1952 1973 1983 1979 1979 1978 1978 1952	Windsor	Cognatic primogeniture	The Prince of Wales
Hassanal Bolkiah	1946	Sultan of Brunei	1967	Bolkiah	Agnatic primogeniture	Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah
Goodwill Zwelethini	1948	King of the Zulus (in South Africa)	1968
Qaboos	1940	Sultan of Oman	1970	Sa'id	Hereditary
Margrethe II	1940	Queen of Denmark	1972	Glucksburg	Cognatic primogeniture	Crown Prince Frederik
Carl XVI Gustaf	1946	King of Sweden	1973	Bernadotte	Equal primogeniture	Crown Princess Victoria
Ahmad Shah	1930	Sultan of Pahang (in Malaysia)	1974		Hereditary	Crown Prince Tengku Abdullah
Shaikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi	1949	Emir of Fujairah (one of the United Arab Emirates)	1974	AL Sharqi	Chosen by the Emir	Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Sharqi
Juan Carlos I	1938	King of Spain	1975	Bourbon	Cognatic primogeniture	The Prince of Asturias
Ismail Petra	1949	Sultan of Kelantan (in Malaysia)	1979		Hereditary	Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra
Beatrix	1938	Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	1980	Orange-Nassau	Equal primogeniture	The Prince of Orange
Muhammadu Kabir Usman		Emir of Katsina (in Nigeria)	1981
Rashid ibn Ahmad Al Mu'alla	1930	Emir of Umm al-Qaiwain (one of the United Arab Emirates)	1981
Iskandar	1932	Sultan of Johor (in Malaysia)	1981		Hereditary	Crown Prince Ibrahim Ismail
Humayd ibn Rashid Al Nuaimi	1931	Emir of Ajman (one of the United Arab Emirates)	1981
Mswati III	1968	King of Swaziland	1986	Dlamini
Sultan ibn Muhammad Al-Qasimi	1939	Emir of Sharjah (one of the United Arab Emirates)	1987
vacant Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto acting	1929	Prince Great Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta	1988		Election by a council
Hans-Adam II	1945	Prince of Liechtenstein	1989	Liechtenstein	Agnatic-cognatic primogeniture	Hereditary Prince Alois
Akihito	1933	Emperor of Japan	1989		Agnatic primogeniture	Crown Prince Naruhito
Harald V	1937	King of Norway	1991	Oldenburg	Equal primogeniture	Crown Prince Haakon
Muwenda Mutebi II	1955	King of Buganda (in Uganda)	1993
Albert II	1934	King of the Belgians	1993	Saxe-Coburg-Gotha	Equal primogeniture	The Duke of Brabant
Solomon Gafabusa Iguru	1949	King of Bunyoro-Kitara (in Uganda)	1994
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani	1950	Emir of Qatar	1995	Al-Thani	Appointed from within Royal Family	Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani
Letsie III	1963	King of Lesotho	1996	Seeiso	Appointment by College of Chiefs
Abdullah II	1962	King of Jordan	1999	Hashemite	Choice by predecessor	Prince Hussein
Mohammed VI	1963	King of Morocco	1999	Alaouite	Agnatic primogeniture	Prince Moulay Hassan
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin	1943	Raja of Perlis (in Malaysia)	2000	Dynasty of Jamalullail	Hereditary	Crown Prince Tuanku Syed Faizzuddin.
Henri	1955	Grand Duke of Luxembourg	2000	Bourbon-Parma	Cognatic primogeniture	Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume
Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj	1945	Sultan of Selangor (in Malaysia)	2001		Hereditary	Crown Prince Tengku Amir Shah.
Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah	1950	King of Bahrain	1999	Al-Khalifa	Agnatic primogeniture	Crown Prince Salman
Soane Patita Maituku	1947	King of Alo (in Wallis and Futuna, a French territory in the Pacific Ocean)	2002		Chosen by tribe commission
Joan Enric Vives Sicília	1949	Episcopal Co-prince of Andorra	2003		Appointed
Visesio Moeliku	1922	King of Sigave (in Wallis and Futuna)	2004		Chosen by tribe commission
Norodom Sihamoni	1953	King of Cambodia	2004	Norodom	Election by 9-member "throne council"
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan	1948	Emir of Abu Dhabi, President and Sheikh of United Arab Emirates	2004
Albert II	1958	Prince of Monaco	2005	Grimaldi	Cognatic primogeniture	Hereditary Princess Caroline
Benedict XVI	1927	Pope of the Catholic Church (Sovereign of the State of Vatican City)	2005		Election by College of Cardinals	Election by College of Cardinals upon death
Abdullah	1924	King of Saudi Arabia	2005	Saud	Election by family	Crown Prince Sultan
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum	1949	Emir of Dubai (one of the United Arab Emirates)	2006
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	1929	Emir of Kuwait	2006	Al-Sabah	Appointment by Emir	Sheikh Nawaf
George Tupou V	1948	King of Tonga	2006	Tupou	Cognatic primogeniture	'Aho'eitu 'Unuaki'otonga Tuku'aho
Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck	1980	King of Bhutan	2006		Cognatic primogeniture	Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck
Mizan Zainal Abidin	1962	Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia)	2006		Election among local monarchs
		Sultan of Terengganu (in Malaysia)	1998		Hereditary

Use of titles by non-sovereigns

It is not uncommon that people who are not generally seen as monarchs nevertheless use monarchical titles. There are four cases of this:

• Claiming an existing title, challenging the current holder. This has been very common historically. For centuries, the British monarch used, among his other titles, the title King of France, despite the fact that he had had no authority over French territory since the fifteenth century. Such as any one of the numerous antipopes who have claimed the Holy See.
• Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy. This can be coupled with a claim that the monarchy was in fact never, or should never have been, extinct. An example of the first case is the Prince of Seborga. Examples of the second case are several deposed monarchs or otherwise pretenders to thrones of abolished monarchies, e.g., Leka, Crown Prince of Albania who is styled by some as the "King of The Albanians." Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy can, however, be totally free of claims of sovereignty, for example it was customary of numerous European Monarchies to include "King of Jerusalem" in their full titles. When it comes to deposed monarchs, it is customary to continue the usage of their monarchical title (e.g., Constantine II, King of the Hellenes) as a courtesy title, not a constitutional office, for the duration of their lifetime. However the title then dies with them and cannot be used by anyone else unless the crown is restored constitutionally. Monarchs who have freely abdicated lose their right to use their former title. However where a monarch abdicated under duress (e.g., Michael I of Romania), it is customary to see the abdication as invalid and to treat them as deposed monarchs entitled to use their monarchical style for their lifetime.
• Inventing a new title. This is common by founders of micronations, and also may or may not come with a claim of sovereignty. When it does, it is disregarded by state leaders. A notable example is Paddy Roy Bates, styling himself the "Prince of Sealand," but not recognized as such by any national government, thus failing at least the constitutive condition for statehood (see Sealand for a fuller discussion of his claims).

See also

• List of monarchs by country
• List of living former sovereign monarchs
• Archontology

External links

• A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal and Imperial Titles
• Regnal Chronologies King lists worldwide
• Archontology
• African Kingdoms Imperial Throne Leadership and Enthronements
• Imperial House Foundation - Africa/USA/Europe - interview