Forms of address are a source of great confusion in our empire. Since most of us have had little experience dealing with Royalty in our mundane lives, our usual source of information comes from movies and television, which, more often than not, get it wrong. In this article, I hope to clear up some of that confusion.
Disclaimer: This article covers formal forms of address as used in the Adrian Empire. This is merely a guide, not Imperial Writ. The following guidelines are based on Period practice that has been adapted for use in our Game. For the politically correct in the audience, please do not be offended by my use of the male gender. I do this for brevity’s sake. Please contact me to register any comments or suggestions.
The previous article dealt with addressing Kings and Dukes, in formal, semiformal, and intimate contexts. This article will deal with forms of address for other ranks, and how to use all of the forms of address when writing a letter.
The first type of Royalty we will deal with is Heirs to the Throne. Generally speaking, Heirs to Kingdom and Imperial Thrones are addressed as "Your Highness." "Your Grace" would also be acceptable, but our ears are more accustomed to hearing "Highness" used for Princes. Heirs to Ducal Thrones are generally more short-lived (receiving their Coronets in less time than Kingdoms or the Imperium), hence no special form of address has evolved in our Game for them. Since, in Period, the firstborn son of a Duke was referred to by courtesy as a Marquis (usually by bearing one of his father’s lesser titles), one could presume that it would be acceptable for an Adrian Ducal Heir to be addressed as "Your Excellency."
Which leads us to lesser Nobility.
All of the following Adrian ranks (not including those discussed earlier) are entitled to be addressed as "Your Grace": Lord Protector, Earl, and Founding Viscount. All of the following Adrian ranks are entitled to be addressed as "Your Excellency": Marquis, Count, Viceroy, and Baron. Lords Baronet may be addressed as Your Lordship.
For all other ranks and job descriptions, use the following guide:
Everyone in the Empire, from the Imperial Crown down to the youngest child, are entitled to be addressed as "My Lord" (or "My Lady", depending on gender). We are all assumed to be of Noble birth, even if some of us choose non-Noble personae. If a person’s title is known, you may refer to them as "My Lord" with their title added on, thus: "My Lord Squire".
With persons holding Ministerial positions, this form is also correct: "My Lady Chancellor". This form is especially useful when you need to address someone whose name you do not know (or recall), but whose job is readily apparent: "My Lord Page" or "My Lady Lists Mistress".
One note: combining titles (such as "Earl Sir" or "Lady Dame") is non-Period and unnecessary. As most Noblemen in our Period had been Knighted as youths, the Knightly title was left off when they ascended their inherited title. Instead, when writing a formal letter, Nobles would sign their names and list their titles and Orders afterward.
This brings us to the art of letter-writing.
Writing letters is your chance to show off your Courtly graces to their fullest. Here, there are a wealth of choices for beginning and ending letters that lend a definite Medieval verisimilitude to your writing.
Here is a sample of a letter written in formal speech:
Unto His Royal Majesty, Henry of Twodoor, King of Erewhon, does Charles the New, Marquis of Acirema and Autocrat of the Tournament of Woses, send Greetings and Salutations.
Your Majesty:
If it please Your Majesty, the good Populace of Acirema wishes to invite Your Grace to the upcoming Tournament of Woses. The pleasure of Your Majesty’s response is eagerly anticipated.
Your servant,
Sir Charles the New
Marquis of Acirema
Lord of the Empire
Order of the Wose
Captain, HMS Sweathog
Autocrat of the Tournament of Woses
See how it starts? First the writer says who the letter is to, using the formal form of address ("His Royal Majesty"), followed by the name ("Henry of Twodoor"), then the title ("King of Erewhon"). Then he identifies himself using his name ("Charles the New") followed by his title ("Marquis and Autocrat"). Charles does not call himself "My Excellency, Charles the New", as that would be pretentious and in very poor taste. He then sends his Greetings and then opens the letter as if he is speaking directly to his audience: "Your Majesty".
Charles then begins the body of his letter, speaking in extreme formal mode. If he were writing a note as a mundane, he would probably say this:
Please come to our tournament. We’d like to know if you’re coming.
However, in formal mode, you never come right out and say what you want; circumlocution is the proper way to do it.
Charles then ends his letter with his name, job, title, and order (in that order). Note that if Charles were to use all three of his available titles, he’d sound awfully silly and pretentious: "Marquis Sir Lord Charles the New". Better to pick one title and stick with it, in this case, since Charles is a Knight, he uses "Sir". If he wasn’t, then he could use "Lord Charles" instead. However, using "Marquis Charles" is redundant, since he will list his job after his name: "Marquis of Acirema". If Charles was going to be really formal about it, he could do it this way:
Charles the New
Marquis of Acirema
Knight Bachelor
Lord of the Empire
Companion of the Order of the Wose
Captain of the HMS Sweathog
Autocrat of the Tournament of Woses
Always use your highest title first: in this case, since Charles is a Marquis (and therefore holds a seat on the Estates Major), that goes first, followed by the first-level Knighthood, the Lord title, and then his non-precedence-bearing award and his Corsair captaincy. Last, for impact, goes the position as Autocrat. It’s best in formal protocol to put your precedence-bearing titles first, unless you are writing specifically in your job description as one of your non-precedence-bearing titles:
Charles the New
Captain of the HMS Sweathog
If you have no precedence-bearing titles, that is, if you are a Chamberlain, Lady-in-Waiting, Page, Man-at-Arms, or Squire, or if you hold Corsair rank or a position in the Church, pick whichever title you feel warrants the most respect, and use it.
It’s also acceptable to just use Autocrat titles, in fact, for this letter, His Excellency could very well have gotten away with:
Charles the New
Autocrat of the Tournament of Woses
Generally speaking, when closing a letter, use one or two of your available titles as applicable, and only pull them all out when you are writing a severely formal letter, or are pulling rank. I’m sure that Charles could pull a few more titles out of his hat when he writes his letter of complaint to the Ministry of Weather for letting it rain on his tournament!