A style of office, also called manner of reference, or form of address when someone is spoken to directly, is an official or legally recognized form of reference for a person or other entity (such as a government or company), and may often be used in conjunction with a personal title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal capacity. Such styles are particularly associated with monarchies, where they may be used by a wife of an office holder or of a prince of the blood, for the duration of their marriage. They are also almost universally used for presidents in republics and in many countries for members of legislative bodies, higher-ranking judges, and senior constitutional office holders. Religious leaders also have styles.
The second-person (singular and plural) possessive adjective your is used as a form of address (that is, when speaking directly to the person[s] entitled to the style[s]); the third-person possessive adjectives his/her (singular) and their (plural) are used as forms of reference (that is, when speaking about the person[s] entitled to the style[s]).
Examples Academia Traditional forms of address at German-speaking universities: His/Her Magnificence – rector (president) of a university His/Her Notability (; Professors have the privilege to use the Latin ) – dean of a faculty
Traditional forms of address at Dutch-speaking universities: His/Her Great Honour () – rector magnificus (president) of a university Highly Learned Sir/Madam () – professor or dean of a faculty Well (Noble) Very Learned Sir/Madam () – a doctor Well (Noble) Learned Sir/Madam () – a doctorandus Well (Noble) Strictly Sir/Madam () – a master in laws () or a university engineer ()
Traditional forms of address at Italian-speaking universities: Magnificent Rector () – rector (president, chancellor) of a university Amplified Headmaster () – dean of a faculty (now uncommon) Illustrious/Enlightened Professor () – a full professor
Government Diplomats His Most Reverend Excellency (abbreviation His Most Rev. Ex., oral address Your Excellency) – apostolic nuncios, because their rank is equal to that of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and they are simultaneously higher prelates. His/Her Excellency (abbreviation HE, oral address Your Excellency) – most ambassadors, high commissioners and permanent representatives to international organizations. Occasionally a different form of address is used domestically with the international equivalent of Excellency being used in all other cases.
Judiciaries His/Her Honour Judge X Abbreviation HHJ X, oral address Your Honour – Circuit judges in England and Wales. The Honourable Mr./Ms. Justice X (abbreviation X J, referential His Lordship/Her Ladyship; oral address My Lord/Lady or Your Lordship/Your Ladyship) – Judges of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. My Lord/Your Lordship is used to address judiciary representatives in India. The Honorable (abbreviation The Hon., oral address Your Honor) – Judges and justices in the United States. Oral address Your Honour – All courts in Australia. The Right Honourable Lord/Lady Justice X (abbreviation X LJ) – Judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Oral address Your Excellency – Judges of the International Court of Justice. Oral address Your Worship – All courts in Australia (obsolete). The Lord/Lady/BaronessSee Substantive title X (abbreviated to Lord/Lady/Baroness X, referred to as His Lordship/Her Ladyship, addressed orally as My Lord/My Lady) – Judges in the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session in Scotland, and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Oral address Your Worship – Justices of the peace (magistrates) in the United Kingdom, usually by solicitors.
Monarchies
Sire (oral address first Your Majesty and then Sire; for a queen first Your Majesty and then Ma'am) – Reigning kings in the United Kingdom and in Belgium. It has also been used in France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Spain. His/Her Imperial Majesty (abbreviation HIM, oral address Your Imperial Majesty) – Emperors and empresses. Formerly, for example, HIM the Shah of Iran. In modern times, the Emperor of Japan more often uses the simpler style of "Majesty". His/Her Imperial and Royal Majesty (abbreviation HI&RM, oral address Your Imperial and Royal Majesty) – until 1918, the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who were Emperors/Empresses of Austria while also Kings/Queens of Hungary and Bohemia, and the German emperors/empresses, who were simultaneously Kings/Queens of Prussia. His/Her Apostolic Majesty (abbreviation HAM, oral address Your Apostolic Majesty) – the King of Hungary, usually styled Imperial Majesty or Imperial and Royal Majesty as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, also sometimes Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty. His/Her Britannic Majesty – the British monarch (not usual); used as a formal and official term in diplomacy, international law, and international relations, e.g. in British passports. His/Her Most Gracious Majesty – an elaborate version of His/Her Majesty in the United Kingdom, only used in the most formal of occasions. His/Her Most Excellent Majesty – another elaborate version of His/Her Majesty in the United Kingdom, mainly used in Acts of Parliament. His/Her Catholic Majesty (abbreviation HCM, oral address Your Catholic Majesty) – the Spanish monarch (not usual). His Most Christian Majesty – the King of France until 1790 and from 1815 to 1830. His/Her Most Faithful Majesty (abbreviation HFM, oral address Your Faithful Majesty) – the King of Portugal until deposed in 1910. His/Her Majesty (abbreviation HM, oral address Your Majesty) – kings, queens and some sultans. For example, HM King Charles III, HM King Mohammed VI or HM King Willem-Alexander. His/Her Imperial Highness (abbreviation HIH, oral address Your Imperial Highness) – members of an imperial house. Currently used by the Imperial House of Japan. His/Her Imperial and Royal Highness (abbreviation HI&RH, oral address Your Imperial and Royal Highness) – formerly, archdukes of the House of Habsburg, the German crown prince/princess and (post-monarchy) members of the deposed Brazilian Imperial Family; also some women entitled to imperial style by birth and to royal style by marriage (e.g., Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh). His/Her Royal Highness (abbreviation HRH, oral address Your Royal Highness) – some monarchs, members of a royal family (other than monarchs, queens consort and queens dowager); grand dukes/duchesses who have reigned (but not those grand dukes who were cadets of the former Russian Imperial Family), consorts of grand dukes, grand ducal heirs apparent and, in Luxembourg, all dynastic male-line cadets; British princes, their dynastic wives (including the prince consort of queens Victoria and Elizabeth II), sons, daughters, patrilineal grandsons and granddaughters of Ibn Saud of the House of Saud. His/Her Grace (oral address Your Grace) is a style used for various high-ranking personages. It was the style used to address Kings of England until King Henry VIII and the King or Queen of Scots up to the Act of Union of 1707, which united the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. Today, the style is used when referring to non-royal dukes and duchesses, and archbishops, in the United Kingdom. For example, His Grace The Duke of Devonshire in the United Kingdom, or His Grace The Archbishop of Canterbury; or Your Grace in spoken or written address. Royal dukes, for example the Duke of Edinburgh, are addressed with their higher royal style, Royal Highness. His/Her Grand Ducal Highness (abbreviation HGDH, oral address Your Grand Ducal Highness) – cadets of some former ruling grand ducal dynasties (Hesse and by Rhine and Baden). His/Her Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address, Your Highness) – some monarchs, i.e., emirs, some sultans, the Aga Khan; formerly reigning dukes, some maharajas and rajas and the members of their dynasties; cadets of most former grand ducal houses; male-line grandchildren and remoter male-line descendants of some kingly dynasties (i.e., Denmark and formerly Brazil, Italy, Japan, UK, Yugoslavia); Belgium's House of Ligne; members of France's former Foreign Princely class, members of cadet branches of the House of Saud. His/Her Ducal Serene Highness (abbreviation HDSH, oral address, Your Ducal Serene Highness) – members of the formerly reigning ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation HSH, oral address Your Serene Highness) – German: ; Italian: ; Russian: . Sovereigns of a principality (i.e., Liechtenstein, Monaco); members of formerly reigning princely families (Lippe, Schaumburg-Lippe, Waldeck and Pyrmont and Schwarzburg); members of mediatized families headed by a ("prince"); members of several formerly noble, princely families of Austria, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary and Poland; morganatic princes, descended from reigning dynasties; and a few formerly noble families granted the princely title in Imperial Russia (the style is more literally translated "His/Her Serenity"). Her/His Most Serene Highness (abbreviation HMSH, oral address, Your Most Serene Highness) – Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. His/Her Illustrious Highness (abbreviation HIllH, oral address Your Illustrious Highness, German: ); Italian: ; Spanish: ; Russian: . Mediatized counts and, sometimes, members of their families. His/Her Princely Grace () – former style for members of a few noble families of monarchical Germany. The High-born () – counts in some Scandinavian and Benelux monarchies and, formerly, Germany and Austria. The High Well-born () – Dutch barons; knights and untitled members of the lower nobility in German-speaking monarchies. His/Her Excellency (abbreviation HE, oral address Your Excellency) – governors-general, British colonial governors, state officials, and generals of Imperial Russia. Occasionally, prime ministers and cabinet ministers. For example, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands; in Denmark, a few high-ranked nobles (e.g., Counts af Danneskiold-Samsø, Counts of Rosenborg, Lensgrever, knights of the Order of the Elephant). Don (, , ) from , is an honorific title used in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Iberoamerica and the Philippines. The female equivalent is doña (), donna (), and dona (), abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D." In formal settings, it is a title reserved for royalty, select nobles, knights, dames, and church hierarchs. Informally, it is sometimes used as a mark of esteem for a person of personal, social or official distinction, such as a community leader of long standing, or a person of significant wealth. Like the British Sir, it is used with, and not instead of, a person's name. In Portugal and Brazil, () is used for certain hierarchs of the Catholic Church and for laymen who belong to the royal and imperial families (for example, the House of Aviz in Portugal and the House of Braganza in Portugal and Brazil). It was also accorded to members of families of the titled Portuguese nobility. Unless ennobling letters patent specifically authorised its use, was not attributed to members of Portugal's untitled nobility. Since hereditary titles in Portugal descended according to primogeniture, the right to the style of was the only apparent distinction between cadets of titled families and members of untitled noble families. Most High, Mighty, and Illustrious Prince – for royal dukes, oral address Your Royal Highness. Son of Heaven – used by Chinese and some Japanese emperors. High King Great King King of Kings – used by especially Semitic, Persian and some Indian rulers. "Taewang" "Greatest of Kings" – used by the later rulers of the Korean kingdom of Koguryo.