Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning duke, grand duke, or prince. However, in common parlance members of any family which reigns by hereditary right are often referred to as royalty or "royals". It is also customary in some circles to refer to the extended relations of a deposed monarch and his or her descendants as a royal family.
Members of a royal family
A royal family typically includes the spouse of the reigning monarch, surviving spouses of a deceased monarch, the children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and cousins of the reigning monarch, as well as their spouses. In some cases, royal family membership may extend to great grandchildren and more distant descendants of a monarch. In certain monarchies where voluntary abdication is the norm, such as the Netherlands, a royal family may also include one or more former monarchs. There is often a distinction between persons of the blood royal and those that marry into the royal family. In certain instances, such as in Canada, the royal family is defined by who holds the styles Majesty and Royal Highness.[1] Under most systems, only persons in the first category are dynasts, that is, potential successors to the throne (unless the member of the latter category is also in line to the throne in their own right, a frequent occurrence in royal families which frequently intermarry). This is not always observed; some monarchies have operated by the principle of jure uxoris.
In addition certain relatives of the monarch (by blood or marriage) possess special privileges and are subject to certain statutes, conventions, or special common law. The precise functions of a royal family vary depending on whether the polity in question is an absolute monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, or somewhere in between. In certain monarchies, such as that found in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or in political systems where the monarch actually exercises executive power, such as in Jordan, it is not uncommon for the members of a royal family to hold important government posts or military commands. In most constitutional monarchies, however, members of a royal family perform certain public, social, or ceremonial functions, but refrain from any involvement in electoral politics or the actual governance of the country.
The specific composition of royal families varies from country to country, as do the titles and royal and noble styles held by members of the family. The composition of the royal family may be regulated by statute enacted by the legislature (e.g. Spain, the Netherlands, and Japan since 1947), the Sovereign's prerogative and common law tradition (e.g. the United Kingdom), or a private house law (e.g., Liechtenstein, the former ruling houses of Bavaria, Prussia, Hanover, etc.). Public statutes, constitutional provisions, or conventions may also regulate the marriages, names, and personal titles of royal family members. The members of a royal family may or may not have a surname or dynastic name (see Royal House).
In a constitutional monarchy, when the monarch dies, there is always a law or tradition of succession to the throne that either specifies a formula for identifying the precise order of succession among family members in line to the throne or specifies a process by which a family member is chosen to inherit the crown. Usually in the former case the exact line of hereditary succession among royal individuals may be identified at any given moment during prior reigns (e.g. United Kingdom, Sark, Nizari Ismailis, Japan, Balobedus, Sweden, Benin Empire) whereas in the latter case the next sovereign may be selected (or changed) only during the reign or shortly after the demise of the immediately preceding monarch (e.g. Cambodia, KwaZulu Natal, Buganda, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Yorubaland, The Kingitanga). Some monarchies employ a mix of these selection processes (Malaysia, Monaco, Tonga, Jordan, Morocco), providing for both an identifiable line of succession as well as authority for the monarch, dynasty or other institution to alter the line in specific instances without changing the general law of succession.
Some countries have abolished royalty altogether, as in post-revolutionary France and Russia.
Royal houses and dynasties
- House of Asturias-Cantabria
- Aberffraw House of Gwynedd
- Al-Abbasi
- Al Khalifa
- Al-Sabah
- Alaouite dynasty
- Angevin dynasties
- House of Árpád
- House of Arslan (The Lakhmids)
- House of Aviz
- House of Bernadotte
- Bagrationi Dynasty
- Balti Dynasty
- Bonaparte
- Borjigid
- House of Bourbon
- House of Bokassa
- House of Orléans
- House of Bourbon-Parma
- House of Braganza
- House of Capet
- Carolingian Dynasty
- House of Coimbra
- Chakri Dynasty (House of Mahidol)
- Dynasties of China
- Comnenian dynasty
- Cochin Royal Family
- Davidic line
- House of Dlamini
- Flavian Dynasty
- Gediminids
- Giray Dynasty
- House of Grimaldi
- House of Glücksburg
- Habsburg
- Hanoverians
- Hashemite
- Hasmonean
- House of Hesse
- House of Hohenzollern
- Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
- Dynasties of India
- Jagiellons
- Joseon Dynasty (House of Yi)
- House of Juaben
- Julio-Claudian Dynasty
- House of Karađorđević
- Keita Dynasty
- Khun Lo Dynasty
- Koch Rajbongshi Royal Family
- Hawaiian Houses
- Irish Houses
- Ó Conchubhair Donn of Connacht
- O'Neill dynasty of Ulster
- O'Brien of Thomand
- MacMurrough Kavanagh of Leinster
- MacCarthy of Desmond
- Eóganachta
- Dynasties of Korea
- House of Lancaster
- Leovigilde Dynasty
- Merovingian Dynasty
- Nayaks of Kandy
- Rajamanthri Walauwa of Kandy
- House of Nemanjić
- Nigerian houses
- House of Obrenović
- House of Oldenburg
- Omrides
- House of Orange-Nassau
- Ottoman Dynasty
- Pahlavi Dynasty
- Piast dynasty
- Přemyslid dynasty
- Qajar dynasty
- Romanov (Holstein-Gottorp-und-Romanov)
- Rurik Dynasty
- Safavid Dynasty
- House of Saud (Saudis)
- House of Savoy
- Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Solomonic Dynasty
- House of Stuart
- Trastámara
- Travancore Royal Family
- Trần Dynasty
- Tudor dynasty
- Uí Ímair
- Uí Néill
- Valois Dynasty
- House of Vasa
- House of Windsor
- House of Wittelsbach
- House of Yi
- House of York
- Zand Dynasty
- House of Zogu
- The Senegambia (Senegal and the Gambia)
Current Royal Families
- Belgian Royal Family
- Bruneian Royal Family
- Bhutanese Royal Family
- British Royal Family
- Bahraini Royal Family
- Cambodian Royal Family
- Danish Royal Family
- Dutch Royal Family
- Japanese Imperial Family
- Javanese Royal Families
- Jordanian Royal Family
- Kuwaiti Royal Family
- Lesotho Royal Family
- Liechtenstein Princely Family
- Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family
- Malaysian Royal Families
- Monegasque Princely Family
- Royal Family of Morocco
- Norwegian Royal Family
- Omani Royal Family
- Qatari Royal Family
- Saudi Royal Family
- Spanish Royal Family
- Sri Lankan Royal Family
- Swazi Royal Family
- Swedish Royal Family
- Thai Royal Family
- Tongan Royal Family
- United Arab Emirates Royal Families
- Zulu Royal Family
- Shah Dynasty
Deposed royal families
- Bavarian royal family
- Brazilian imperial family
- Bulgarian royal family
- Greek royal family
- Hessian Grand Ducal Family
- Italian royal family
- Iranian Imperial family
- Irish Royal Family
- Song imperial family
- Ming imperial family
- Korean imperial family
- Manchu imperial family
- Laotian royal family
- Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) grand ducal family
- Mexican imperial family
- Portuguese royal family
- Romanian royal family
- Russian imperial family
- Yugoslavian royal family
- Yemeni royal family
- Ottoman royal family
Mediatised royal families
- House of Arenberg (Belgium)
- Fürstenberg princely family (Germany)
- House of Ligne (Belgium)
- Princely family of Merode (Belgium)
- Schwarzenberg princely family (Bohemia)
See also
- Abbasid
- Abolished monarchy
- Chief of the Name
- Crown prince
- Family trees of royal families
- Palaces
- Prince
- Prince consort
- Princeps
- Princess
- Princess Royal
- Queen consort
- Regicide
- Royal and noble styles
- Royal descent
- Royal house
- Royal prerogative
References
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