Royal family

Royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family.
The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while the terms baronial family, comital family, ducal family, archducal family, grand ducal family, or princely family are more appropriate to describe, respectively, the relatives of a reigning baron, count/earl, duke, archduke, 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 their descendants as a royal family. A dynasty is sometimes referred to as the "House of ...". In July 2013 there were 26 active sovereign dynasties in the world that ruled or reigned over 43 monarchies.
, while there are several European countries whose nominal head of state, by long tradition, is a king or queen, the associated royal families, with the notable exception of the British royal family, are non-notable ordinary citizens who may bear a title but are not involved in public affairs.
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 paternal 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. In certain instances, such as in Canada, the royal family is defined by who holds the styles Majesty and Royal Highness. There is often a distinction between persons of the blood royal and those that marry into the royal family. 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, Kingdom of Benin) 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 (1870), post-revolutionary Russia (1917), Portugal (1910), post-war Germany (1918), post-war Italy (1946) and many ex European colonies.
Current royal families
Africa
Lesotho royal family
Moroccan royal family
Swazi royal family
List of current constituent African monarchs
Middle East
Bahraini royal family
Emirati princely families
Jordanian royal family
Kuwaiti princely family
Omani sultanic family
Qatari princely family
Saudi royal family
Asia
Bruneian royal family
Bhutanese royal family
Cambodian royal family
Japanese imperial family
Malaysian royal families
Johor royal family
Kedah royal family
Kelantan royal family
Negeri Sembilan royal family
Pahang royal family
Perak royal family
Perlis royal family
Selangor royal family
Terengganu royal family
Thai royal family
List of current constituent Asian monarchs
Europe
Belgian royal family
British royal family
Danish royal family
Dutch royal family
Liechtenstein princely family
Luxembourg grand ducal family
Monegasque princely family
Norwegian royal family
Spanish royal family
Swedish royal family
Oceania
Australian royal family
New Zealand royal family
Papuan royal family
Solomon Islands royal family
Tongan royal family
Tuvaluan royal family
North America
Antiguan royal family
Bahamian royal family
Belizean royal family
Canadian royal family
Grenadian royal family
Jamaican royal family
Miskito royal family
Saint Kitts and Nevis royal family
Saint Lucian royal family
Vincentian royal family
Deposed royal families
Africa
Central African imperial family
Egyptian royal family
Ethiopian imperial family
Gambian royal family
Ghanaian royal family
Kenyan royal family
Lybian royal family
Malawian royal family
Mauritian royal family
Nigerian royal family
Rwandan royal family
Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) royal family
Sierra Leonean royal family
South African royal family
Tanganykan (Tanzanian) royal family
Tunisian royal family
Ugandan royal family
Umurundi royal family
Middle East
Ottoman (Turkish) imperial family
Iranian imperial family
Iraqi royal family
Yemeni royal family
Asia
Afghan royal family
Bengali royal family
Burmese royal family
Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) royal family
Chinese imperial family
Indian imperial family
Baroda royal family
Royal family of Dhaka
Jodhpur royal family
Mysore roya Family (Wadiyar dynasty)
Korean imperial family
Laotian royal family
Maldivian sultanic family
Nepalese royal family
Pakistani royal family
Singaporean sultanic family
Uzbek royal families
Khiva royal family
Bhukaran royal family
Vietnamese imperial family
Europe
Albanian royal family
Austrian imperial family
Bohemian (Czech) royal family
Bulgarian royal family
Croatian royal family
Finnish royal family
French imperial family
Georgian royal family
German imperial family
Bavarian royal family
Saxon royal family
Württemberg royal family
Baden grand ducal family
Hessian grand ducal family
Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) grand ducal family
Oldenburg grand ducal family
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach grand ducal family
Anhalt ducal family
Brunswick ducal family
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ducal family
Saxe-Meiningen ducal family
Lippe-Detmold princely family
Greek royal family
Irish royal family
Italian royal family
Hungarian royal family
Lithuanian royal family
Maltese royal family
Montenegrin royal family
Polish royal family (Congress Poland)
Portuguese royal family
Romanian royal family
Russian imperial family
Serbian royal family
Oceania
Fijian royal family
Hawaiian royal family
North America
Barbadian royal family
Haitian imperial family
Mexican imperial family
Miskito royal family
Trinidad and Tobago royal family
South America
Brazilian imperial family
Mask of Ferdinand VII context
Argentine royal family (United Provinces of the Río de la Plata)
Chilean royal family (Kingdom of Chile)
Colombian royal family (Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca)
Venezuelan royal family (Supreme Junta)
Guyanese royal family
Mediatised princely families
Whilst mediatization occurred in other countries such as France, Italy and Russia, only the certain houses within the former Holy Roman Empire are collectively called the Mediatized Houses.
Arenberg ducal family (Belgium)
Fürstenberg princely family (Germany)
Ligne princely family (Belgium)
Merode princely family (Belgium)
Schwarzenberg princely family (Bohemia)
Thurn und Taxis princely family (Germany)
Dynasties
See also
Abolished monarchy
Babu (title)
Born in the purple
Chief of the Name
Crown prince
Divine right of kings
Dynasty
First Family (in some republican states)
Family trees of royal families
Nobility
Palace
Prince
Prince consort
Princeps
Princess
Rai (title)
Raja
Rana (title)
Rani (disambiguation)
Princess Royal
Queen consort
Regicide
Royal and noble styles
Royal descent
Rao (Indian surname)
Royal prerogative
References
External links