- Crown Princess redirects here, for the ship, see Crown Princess (ship).
A Crown Prince or Crown Princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a Crown Prince is also titled Crown Princess.
In Europe, lineal succession conventions (see primogeniture) usually dictate that the eldest child (as in Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands) or the eldest son of the current monarch (Spain, United Kingdom, etc) fills this role, but in Arab monarchies, for example, succession rules may differ and a Crown Prince may gain the title on perceived merit, or because someone is not seen as a threat to the reign of the current monarch; in such cases a person granted the title may also lose it, with it being granted to another member of the Royal Family.
Compare heir apparent and heir presumptive.
It should however be noted that, although it is often used as a generic term for heir apparent, it is often not an official title in the European monarchies. Currently, only the heirs apparent to the Scandinavian monarchies officially bear the title, while the heir presumptive normally would be titled Hereditary Prince.
Christian/western traditional titles
Many monarchies use or have used special titles:
- Dauphin (the Kingdom of France), originally not unique but an alternative comital title in chief of the Dauphiné region;
- Diadochos (Kingdom of the Hellenes/post-Ottoman Greece), translated as Crown Prince but literally successor (see also below);
- Prince Imperial (Second French Empire, Empire of Brazil and Empire of Mexico);
- Prince Royal of Portugal (Príncipe Real de Portugal e dos Algarves) (Kingdom of Portugal), for the heir presumptive since 1815);
- Prince Royal (Kingdom of France), monarchy of 1789-91 and July Monarchy;
- Rex iunior, Latin for junior king (Kingdom of Hungary), heir to the Apostolic Majesty, so called because he was crowned during the incumbent (often his father)'s life;
- Tsesarevich (Imperial Russia);
- Duke of Braganza (Kingdom of Portugal) - when the Braganzas inherited the throne (1640), this title passed to the royal heir, which was used together with Prince of Brazil (until 1815), and Prince Royal of Portugal (Príncipe Real de Portugal e dos Algarves) (after 1815);
- Duke of Barcelos (Kingdom of Portugal) - this title was subsidiary to the title of Duke of Braganza, and was used by the House of Braganza heir during his father's life. When the Braganzas ascended to the Portuguese throne, the title of Duke of Barcelos was among those used by the Portuguese crown prince.
- Duke of Cornwall (England, Great Britain, United Kingdom)
- Duke of Rothesay (Scotland, Great Britain, United Kingdom)
- Prince of Asturias (used in the former kingdom of Castile, also maintained after the unification under one dynasty in the present kingdom Spain)
Many customarily (often not de jure) assign a primogeniture or award a hollow territorial title of princely rank; while often perceived as a crown princely title, these are not technically so, generally requiring a specific decision from the Sovereign, which may be withheld.
Current and past titles in this category include:
- King of the Romans (Holy Roman Empire) – an elective, rather than an inherited title, for the designated successor – usually the son, but sometimes the brother – of the Emperor.
- Prince of Piedmont (title of the eldest son of the King of Sardinia and then of the King of Italy);
- Prince of Brazil (title of the Portuguese heir from 1645 to 1815);
- Prince of Beira (title of the eldest son of the Portuguese heir);
- Prince of Grão-Para (title of the eldest son of the Brazilian heir);
- Duke of Scania (House of Bjelbo) (Sweden during the time when Magnus IV of Sweden also was King of Terra Scania);
- Duke of Estonia and Laland (Denmark during at least Christopher II and Valdemar IV);
- Prince of Ani (Kingdom of West Armenia);
- Prince of Turnovo (Kingdom of Bulgaria);
- Prince of Alba Julia (Kingdom of Romania);
- Grand Duke of Grahavo (Kingdom of Montenegro)
- King of Rome (First French Empire);
- Prince of Norway and Duke of Schleswig (House of Oldenburg) (Denmark-Norway in 15th-19th centuries);
- Prince of Orange (The Netherlands);
- Prince of Venice, see Prince Eugène de Beauharnais —for the heir presumptive to Napoleon I in his kingdom of Italy;
- Duke of Brabant (kingdom of Belgium) is not a true primogeniture: the title is not reserved, so it may still be occupied causing the Heir to be given another title, as present king Albert II remained Prince of Liège after his childless brother ascended the throne;
- Duke of Calabria (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies);
- Duke of Sparta (Kingdom of the Hellenes), the aforementioned Diadochos;
- Prince of Wales (England, Great Britain, United Kingdom);
- HH the Crown Prince (Kuwait). Currently, HH Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is the Crown Prince of Kuwait. Up until 2003, the title used to be HH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, that is until the late Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (d. 2006) separated the two titles, and made his brother (Now Emir), HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prime Minister due to health problems (Alzheimers) HH Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah suffered from. Sheikh Saad then became Emir after Sheikh Jaber died for a mere 10 days, that caused the famous Dynastic crisis of January 2006.
Other specific traditions
In Islamic cultures:
- al-Amir as-Sa'id 'Blessed Prince' (Egypt annex the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
- In Persia, under the Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahad, Shahzada (given name) Mirza, i.e His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince ...;
- the above component vali ahad meaning 'successor by virtue of a covenant' (or various forms and etymological derivations) was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e.g. Walet as alternative title for the Nepali (Hindu!) royal Heir Apparent, first used Crown Prince Trailokya in the middle of the nineteenth century and taken from the Mughal title 'Vali Ahad'
In the Hindu tradition (Indian subcontinent):
- Yuvaraja was part of the fullin many princely states of India, e.g.
- in Kashmir, the Heir Apparent was styled Maharaj Kumar Shri Yuvaraj (personal name) Singhji Bahadur
- Tika
- in Nepal, where the King has the rank of Maharajadhiraja:
- the Heir Apparent: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Yuvarajadhiraj ('Young King of Kings', i.e. Crown Prince) (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva;
- the eldest son of The Heir Apparent: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Nava Yuvaraj ('Young Crown Prince') (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva
In Far Eastern traditions:
Equivalents in other cultures:
See also
Sources and references
