Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below.
Terminology Abbreviations Several terms have been abbreviated in the tables below. The forms used in the table are given first, followed by alternative acceptable abbreviations in parentheses. The punctuation of each abbreviation depends on the source. For example, the punctuation of "The Rt Hon" is not consistent throughout sources. The Gazette favours "The Rt. Hon.", while the government usually prefers "The Rt Hon" or "The Rt Hon."
His/Her Majesty: HM ( TM) His/Her Royal Highness: HRH ( TRH) His/Her Grace: HG ( TG) The Most Honourable: The Most Hon (The Most Honble) The Right Honourable: The Rt Hon (The Rt Honble) The Honourable: The Hon (The Honble) The Much Honoured: The Much Hon (The Much Hon'd) The Most Reverend: The Most Rev (The Most Revd or The Most Rev'd) The Right Reverend: The Rt Rev (The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev'd) The Very Reverend: The Very Rev (The Very Revd or The Very Rev'd) The Reverend: The Rev (The Revd or The Rev'd) The Venerable: The Ven (The Venble)
"The Most Noble", which is an abbreviation of "The Most High, Potent, and Noble", is rarely used by Dukes and Duchesses; when used, the forenames of the peer or peeress can be used after "His Grace" but before "The Duke of [...]". This style is also sometimes used without "His Grace".
Names and territorial designations "London" represents the territorial designation of any peerage. "Edinburgh" represents any territorial designation in Scotland. "Birmingham" represents any manor in England or Wales. "John" and "William" represent any male name "Jane" and "Mary" represent any female name. "Smith" and "Brown" represent any surname, regardless of gender.
In regards to the nobility, Mary Brown represents a woman who married John Brown, while Jane Smith represents an unmarried woman.
Royalty PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressKingHM The KingYour MajestyYour Majesty, and thereafter as "Sir"(or the archaic "Sire")QueenHM The QueenYour Majesty, and thereafter as "Ma'am"(to rhyme with "jam")Prince of WalesHRH The Prince of WalesHRH The Duke of Rothesay (in Scotland)Your Royal HighnessYour Royal Highness, and thereafter as"Sir" (for males) or "Ma'am" (for females)Princess of WalesHRH The Princess of WalesHRH The Duchess of Rothesay (in Scotland)Princess RoyalHRH The Princess RoyalRoyal peerHRH The Duke/etc. of London, e.g. HRH The Duke of EdinburghRoyal peeressHRH The Duchess/etc. of London, e.g. HRH The Duchess of EdinburghSovereign's son(unless a peer) Spouse to Queen suo jure(in the case of Prince Philip)HRH The Prince JohnSovereign's son's wife(unless a peeress)HRH The Princess JohnSovereign's daughter(unless a peeress)HRH The Princess MarySons of the Prince of Wales(unless a peer)HRH Prince John of Wales, e.g. HRH Prince George of WalesDaughters of the Prince of Wales(unless a peer)HRH Princess Mary of Wales, e.g. HRH Princess Charlotte of WalesSovereign's son's sonPrince of Wales's eldest son's sons(unless a peer)HRH Prince John of London, e.g. HRH Prince Michael of KentSovereign's son's son's wife(unless a peeress)HRH Princess John of London, e.g. HRH Princess Michael of KentSovereign's son's daughterPrince of Wales's eldest son's daughtersif unmarried (unless a peeress)HRH Princess Mary of London, e.g. HRH Princess Lilibet of SussexSovereign's son's daughterPrince of Wales's eldest son's daughtersif married (unless a peeress)HRH Princess Mary, Mrs John Brown, e.g. HRH Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli MozziSovereign's son's son's son(unless a peer)(except sons of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales)The Lord John Windsor, e.g. The Lord Nicholas WindsorDear Lord JohnLord JohnSovereign's son's son's son's wife(unless a peeress)The Lady John Windsor, e.g. The Lady Nicholas WindsorDear Lady JohnLady JohnSovereign's son's son's daughter(unless a peeress)(except daughters of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales)The Lady Mary Windsor, e.g. The Lady Helen TaylorDear Lady MaryLady Mary
Nobility The preposition of may be omitted in the form of Marquessates and Earldoms and included in the form of Scottish Viscountcies. It is not often present in peerage Baronies and Lordships of Parliament, though always present in Dukedoms and Scottish feudal Baronies.
The definite article the in the middle of two or more titles is sometimes capitalized, as in these tables. However this is controversial: traditional British guides use the lower-case the. As a single example, Debrett's gives "Major-General the Lord ...", and Pears' Cyclopaedia in the section on Modes of Address gives several examples where the definite article interior to a list of honours is lowercase.
Peers and peeresses PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressDuke(The Most Noble) (His Grace) The Duke of London My Lord Duke orDear Duke (of London)Your Grace orDukeDuchess(The Most Noble) (Her Grace) The Duchess of LondonMadam orDear Duchess (of London)Your Grace orDuchessMarquess(The Most Hon) The Marquess (of) LondonMy Lord Marquess orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orYour Lordship orLord LondonMarchioness(The Most Hon) The Marchioness (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orYour Ladyship orLady LondonEarl(The Rt Hon) The Earl (of) LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orYour Lordship orLord LondonCountess(The Rt Hon) The Countess (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orYour Ladyship orLady LondonViscount(The Rt Hon) The Viscount (of) LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orYour Lordship orLord LondonViscountess(The Rt Hon) The Viscountess (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orYour Ladyship orLady LondonBaronLord of Parliament(The Rt Hon) The Lord LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orYour Lordship orLord LondonBaroness (in her own right)(The Rt Hon) The Baroness London or(The Rt Hon) The Lady LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orYour Ladyship orLady LondonBaroness (in her husband's right)Lady of Parliament (in her or her husband's right)(The Rt Hon) The Lady LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orYour Ladyship orLady London
Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls
Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls use their father's most senior subsidiary title as courtesy titles, without "The" before the title. If applicable, eldest sons of courtesy marquesses or courtesy earls also use a subsidiary title from their (great) grandfather, which is lower ranking than the one used by their father. Eldest daughters do not have courtesy titles; all courtesy peeresses are wives of courtesy peers. PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressCourtesy marquessMarquess (of) LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orLord LondonCourtesy marquess's wifeMarchioness (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orLady LondonCourtesy earlEarl (of) LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orLord LondonCourtesy earl's wifeCountess (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orLady LondonCourtesy viscountViscount (of) LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orLord LondonCourtesy viscount's wifeViscountess (of) LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orLady LondonCourtesy baronCourtesy Lord of ParliamentLord LondonMy Lord orDear Lord LondonMy Lord orLord LondonCourtesy baron's wifeWife of courtesy Lord of ParliamentLady LondonMadam orDear Lady LondonMy Lady orLady London
Heirs of Scottish peers Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers use the titles "Master" and "Mistress"; these are substantive, not courtesy titles. If, however, the individual is the eldest son of a Duke, Marquess or Earl, then he uses the appropriate courtesy title, as noted above.
PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressScottish peer's heir-apparentor heir-presumptiveThe Master of EdinburghSir orDear Master of EdinburghSir orMasterScottish peer's heiress-apparentor heiress-presumptiveThe Mistress of EdinburghMadam orDear Mistress of EdinburghMadam orMistress
Male descendants of peers PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressDuke's younger son(Courtesy) Marquess's younger sonThe Lord John SmithMy Lord orDear Lord John (Smith)My Lord orLord JohnDuke's younger son's wife(Courtesy) Marquess's younger son's wifeThe Lady John SmithMadam orDear Lady JohnMy Lady orLady John(Courtesy) Earl's younger son(Courtesy) Viscount's son(Courtesy) Baron's son(Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's sonThe Hon John SmithSir orDear Mr SmithSir orMr Smith(Courtesy) Earl's younger son's wife(Courtesy) Viscount's son's wife(Courtesy) Baron's son's wife(Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's son's wifeThe Hon Mrs John SmithMadam orDear Mrs SmithMadam orMrs Smith
Female descendants of peers If a daughter of a peer or courtesy peer marries another peer or courtesy peer, she takes her husband's rank. If she marries anyone else, she keeps her rank and title, using her husband's surname instead of her maiden name.
PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressDuke's daughter(Courtesy) Marquess's daughter(Courtesy) Earl's daughter(unmarried or married to a commoner)The Lady Mary Smith (if unmarried),The Lady Mary Brown (husband's surname, if married)Madam orDear Lady MaryMy Lady orLady Mary(Courtesy) Viscount's daughter(Courtesy) Baron's daughter(Courtesy) Lord of parliament's daughter(unmarried)The Hon Mary SmithMadam orDear Miss SmithMadam orMiss Smith(Courtesy) Viscount's daughter(Courtesy) Baron's daughter(Courtesy) Lord of Parliament's daughter(married to a commoner)The Hon Mrs Brown (husband's surname)Madam orDear Mrs BrownMadam orMrs Brown
Gentry and minor nobility
Knights and Baronets are distinguished by the use of "Bt" (or, archaically, "Bart") after the latter's names (and by the use of the appropriate post-nominal letters if the former are members of an Order of Chivalry). Esquires are distinguished by the use of "Esq" except in the case of a Scottish laird, whose territorial designation implies the rank of esquire.
Baronets PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressBaronetSir John Smith, Bt (or Bart)Sir orDear Sir John (Smith)Sir orSir JohnBaronetess in her own rightDame Mary Smith, BtssMadam orDear Dame Mary (Smith)Madam orDame MaryBaronet's wifeLady BrownMadam orDear Lady BrownMy Lady orLady BrownBaronet's divorced wifeMary, Lady BrownBaronet's widowMary, Lady BrownDowager Lady Brown, orLady Brown (if the heir incumbent is unmarried)
Scottish barons Barons in Scotland are non-peerage nobles in the Baronage of Scotland. The Scottish equivalent to an English baron is Lord of Parliament.
BaronBaroness or Baron's wifeEnvelope (The Much Hon) John Smith [of Edinburgh], Baron of Edinburgh or (The Much Hon) (The) Baron of Edinburgh
(Incorrect: Baron Edinburgh)
[of Edinburgh] if baron has territorial designation(The Much Hon) Jane Smith, Baroness of Edinburgh or (The Much Hon) (The) Baroness of Edinburgh or
(The) Lady EdinburghSalutation in a letterDear Baron (of Edinburgh) orDear EdinburghDear Baroness (of Edinburgh) or Dear Lady Edinburgh
("Dear Baroness Edinburgh" is incorrect)Invitation / Place Card / IntroductionThe Baron of Edinburgh Together: The Baron of Edinburgh and Lady EdinburghThe Baroness of Edinburgh or Lady EdinburghOral addressBaron or EdinburghBaroness or Lady Edinburgh PositionOn envelopesSalutation in letterOral addressScottish baron's heir-apparentor heir-presumptiveThe Younger of EdinburghSir orDear Younger of EdinburghSir orMasterScottish baron's heiress-apparentor heiress-presumptiveThe Maid of EdinburghMadam orDear Maid of EdinburghMadam orMistressScottish baron's's heir-apparent's wifeMrs Smith, yr of EdinburghMadam orDear Mrs Smith, Younger of EdinburghMadam orMrs SmithScottish baron's's heir-apparent's wife (if baron has territorial designation)Mrs Smith of Edinburgh, yrMadam orDear Mrs Smith of Edinburgh the YoungerMadam orMrs Smith of EdinburghScottish baron's younger daughters (if baron has territorial designation)Miss Mary Smith of EdinburghMadam orDear Miss Smith of EdinburghMadam orMiss Smith of Edinburgh
Knights and dames