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Majesty (abbreviatedHM forHis Majesty orHer Majesty, oral addressYour Majesty; from theLatinmaiestas, meaning'greatness') is used as amanner of address by manymonarchs, usuallykings orqueens. Where used, the style outranks the style of(Imperial/Royal)Highness, but is inferior to the style ofImperial Majesty. It has cognates in many other languages, especially ofEurope.
Originally, during theRoman Republic, the wordmaiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else. This was crucially defined by the existence of a specific case, calledlaesa maiestas (in later French and English law,lèse-majesté), consisting of the violation of this supreme status. Various acts such as celebrating a party on a day of public mourning, contempt of the various rites of the state and disloyalty in word or act were punished as crimes against the majesty of the republic. However, later, under theEmpire, it came to mean an offence against the dignity of theEmperor.
The term was first assumed byCharles V, who believed that—following his election asHoly Roman Emperor in 1519—he deserved a style greater thanHighness, which preceding emperors and kings had used. Soon,Francis I of France andHenry VIII of England followed his example.[1]
After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Majesty was used to describe a monarch of the very highest rank— it was generally applied toGod. Variations, such asCatholic Majesty (Spain) orBritannic Majesty (United Kingdom) are often used in diplomatic settings where there otherwise may be ambiguity (seea list).
A person with the title is usuallyaddressed asYour Majesty, and referred to asHis/Her Majesty, abbreviatedHM; the pluralTheir Majesties isTM. Emperors (and empresses) use[His/Her/Their/Your] Imperial Majesty,HIM orTIM.
Princely and ducal heads usually useHisHighness or some variation thereof (e.g.,HisSerene Highness). In British practice, heads of princely states in theBritish Empire were referred to as Highness.
In monarchies that do not follow the European tradition, monarchs may be calledMajesty whether or not they formally bear the title ofKing orQueen, as is the case in certain countries and amongst certain peoples inAfrica andAsia.
In Europe, the monarchs of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium use the style. By contrast, the heads of state of Liechtenstein and Monaco, being principalities, use the inferior style ofSerene Highness. Luxembourg, a Grand Duchy, accords its monarch the style ofRoyal Highness, as accorded to all other members of the Grand-Ducal Family, due to being descendants ofPrince Félix of Bourbon-Parma. In theHoly See, the Pope – while ruling asSovereign of the Vatican City State – uses the spiritual style ofHoliness. Moreover, while Andorra is formally a monarchy, its Co-Princes – the bishop of Urgell (appointed by the Pope) andPresident of France – use the republican and non-royal style ofExcellency. Andorra is the only non-hereditary, elective and appointive monarchy in Europe.
In theUnited Kingdom, several derivatives of Majesty have been or are used, either to distinguish theBritish sovereign from continental kings and queens or as further exalted forms of address for the monarch in official documents or the most formal situations.Richard II, according toRobert Lacey in his bookGreat Tales from English History, was the first English king to demand the title ofHighness orMajesty. He also noted that, "previous English Kings had been content to be addressed asMy Lord ".[2]
Most Gracious Majesty is used only in the most formal of occasions. Around 1519, KingHenry VIII decided Majesty should become the style of the sovereign of England.Majesty, however, was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with bothHighness andGrace, even in official documents. For example, one legal judgement issued by Henry VIII uses all three indiscriminately; Article 15 begins with, "The Kinges Highness hath ordered," Article 16 with, "The Kinges Majestie" and Article 17 with, "The Kinges Grace."
Pre-Union Scotland sovereigns were only addressed asYour Grace. During the reign ofJames VI and I, Majesty became the official style, to the exclusion of others. In full, the Sovereign is still referred to asHis (Her) Most Gracious Majesty, actually a merger of both the Scottish Grace and the English Majesty.
Britannic Majesty is the style used for the monarch and the crown indiplomacy, thelaw of nations, andinternational relations. For example, in theMandate for Palestine of theLeague of Nations, it wasHis Britannic Majesty who was designated as theMandatory forPalestine. Britannic Majesty is famously used in allBritish passports, where the following sentence is used:
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.
Most Excellent Majesty is mainly used inActs of Parliament, where the phraseThe King's (or Queen's) Most Excellent Majesty is used in theenacting clause. The standard is as follows:
BE IT ENACTED by the King's [Queen's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of theLords Spiritual and Temporal, andCommons, in this presentParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Wives of kings are entitled to the style of Her Majesty (such asQueen Camilla). Husbands ofqueens regnant do not have the same right, as was the case withQueen Elizabeth II's consortPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who had the styleRoyal Highness. This is because a king outranks a queen; therefore, the consort would outrank the monarch. In addition, a woman holds the female equivalent of her husband's title but a man does not share his wife's title.
InThailand, the title for the King isพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว (RTGS: Phra Bat Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua), or informallyGod Above Us (Thai:พระเจ้าอยู่หัว,RTGS: Phra Chao Yu Hua). This designation stems from the concept ofDevaraja orGod-King (เทวราชา), where the Thai King is considered a part ofVishnu, one of the highest gods inHinduism.
Traditionally, many Thai people referred to their kings asPho Khun (พ่อขุน), a term connected to the wordfather as seen in theSukhothai Kingdom or thePhayao Kingdom, where the king is addressed asPho Yuhua (พ่ออยู่หัว) orPho Yuhua Chao (พ่ออยู่หัวเจ้า). This reflects the concept ofpatriarchy, considering the king as the father and the people as the sons.[3]
During the reign ofKing Ramathibodi I of theAyutthaya Kingdom, society expanded, and the king's status evolved from father to god.[4] King Ramathibodi I adopted the concept of Devaraja from theKhmer Empire, incorporating the wordPhra Bat (พระบาท) from the Khmer king's title, along withSomdet (สมเด็จ) rooted in theKhmer language. The names ofThai kings also signify divinity, such asRamathibodi meaningRama the sovereign,Naresuan signifying God inhuman form, andRamesuan a combination ofRama andIshvara[5]
There is further evidence of similar uses, such asSomdet Phra Puttha Chao Yu Hua (สมเด็จพระพุทธเจ้าอยู่หัว), implying that the king holds the status of aBodhisattva destined to attainenlightenment and become aBuddha in the future.Somdet Borombophit (สมเด็จบรมบพิตร), meaning'Your Majesty' is the honorific titlemonks use to address the king.
InJapan, the uses ofhonorific titleHeika (Japanese:陛下) for theEmperor of Japan, the Empress, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager are defined in The Imperial House Law since 1947.[6]
In757, this term was first defined in theYōrō Code (Japanese:養老律令) to use only when addressing theReigning Emperor (Japanese:今上天皇).
In Former Imperial House Law (1889), the use case of this term was expanded to include the Empress, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.[7]
In Brunei, a Malay title for theSultan of Brunei is officiallyKebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda (KDYMMPSB) or unofficially simplyKebawah Duli. It literally means "Under the dust ofthe Most Exalted [God], The Victorious Sovereign".
It reflects the title ofZilullah-fil-Alam ("Shadow of God on Earth"), referring to the Sultan as having a small bit of God's immense power. The titlepaduka means "victorious" fromOld Malay whileseri is an honorific fromSanskrit. The titlebaginda is a third-person noun for royals and prophets.
InHistory of China afterHan dynasty, thehonorific (陛下;bìxià), referring to theEmperor of China (皇帝), was used.
In 1986,King Fahd abolished the use of Majesty (Arabic:صَاحِب الْجَلَالَة,romanized: Ṣāḥib al-Jalāla,lit. 'Master of the Sublimeness') in reference style in favour ofCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques, a style adopted by historical Islamic rulers.[8] However, theKing of Saudi Arabia by custom continues to be referred to asYour Majesty in conversation.
In Malaysia, the Malay style for theYang di-Pertuan Agong and theRaja Permaisuri Agong isKebawah Duli Yang Maha MuliaSeri Paduka Baginda or simplySeri Paduka Baginda. TheSultan of Johor and the Permaisuri of Johor use the Malay styleDuli Yang Maha Mulia (DYMM) which is equivalent to His/Her Majesty since 2017. Prior to that, they were addressed asHis/Her Royal Highness in English, similar with the othereight royal state Malay rulers in Malaysia.[9]
In Burma, the full Burmese title for the King of Burma Proper was officiallyBhone Taw Kyi Hla Thaw Myanmar Min Myat Phya (Burmese:ဘုန်းတော်ကြီးလှသောမြန်မာမင်းမြတ်ဘုရား), shortened toBhone Taw Kyi Phaya (Burmese:ဘုန်းတော်ကြီးဘုရား) orAshin Paya (Burmese:အရှင်ဘုရား).[10]
The dictionary definition ofmajesty at Wiktionary
