Royal family
Encyclopedia
A royal family is the extended family of a king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

 or queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

, grand duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...

, or prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

. However, in common parlance members of any family which reign
Reign
A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...

s 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
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 and his or her descendants as a royal family.

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 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
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...

 is the norm, such as the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, a royal family may also include one or more former monarchs. There is often a distinction between persons of the blood royal and those that marry into the royal family. In certain instances, such as in Canada, the royal family is defined by who holds the styles Majesty
Majesty
Majesty is an English word derived ultimately from the Latin maiestas, meaning "greatness".- Origin :Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else...

 and Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...

. 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
Jure uxoris
Jure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband....

.
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
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...

, a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

, or somewhere in between. In certain monarchies, such as that found in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 or Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, or in political systems where the monarch actually exercises executive power, such as in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, 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
Royal and noble styles
Styles represent the fashion by which monarchs and noblemen are properly addressed. Throughout history, many different styles were used, with little standardization...

 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
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, 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
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...

, the former ruling houses of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, 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
Royal House
A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...

).

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
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...

 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
Line of hereditary succession
Successor to hereditary title, office or like, in case of the heritage being indivisible, goes to one person at a time. There are also other sorts of order of succession than hereditary succession .The hereditary line of succession may be limited to heirs of the body, or may pass also to collateral...

 among royal individuals may be identified at any given moment during prior reign
Reign
A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...

s (e.g. United Kingdom
Line of succession to the British Throne
The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...

, Sark, Nizari Ismailis
Aga Khan
Aga Khan is the hereditary title of the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismā'īlī followers of the Shī‘a faith. They affirm the Imamat of the descendants of Ismail ibn Jafar, eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, while the larger Twelver branch of Shi`ism follows Ismail's younger brother Musa...

, Japan
Line of succession to the Japanese throne
The line of succession to the Japanese throne is the list of all people that may once become Emperor of Japan.The following is the current order of succession to the Japanese throne:...

, Balobedu
Rain Queen
The Modjadji or Rain Queen is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The succession to the position of Rain Queen is matrilineal, meaning that the Queen's eldest daughter is the heir, and that males are not entitled to inherit the throne at all...

s, Sweden
Line of succession to the Swedish Throne
The line of succession to the Swedish throne is determined by the Swedish Act of Succession. In 1980 Sweden adopted equal primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, regardless of gender, takes precedence in the line of succession...

, Benin Empire) 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
Line of succession to the Cambodian throne
Succession to the Cambodian throne is determined by the Royal Council of the Throne as the King does not have the power to appoint an heir to the throne. In order to succeed to the Cambodian throne persons must be a member of the Cambodian Royal Family, of thirty years of age and be a descendent of...

, KwaZulu Natal, Buganda, Saudi Arabia
Line of succession to the Saudi Arabian Throne
The order of succession to the throne of Saudi Arabia is determined by, and within, the House of Saud. It follows agnatic seniority, but a prince may be surpassed or another elevated. The Allegiance Council was created in 2006 to facilitate the royal transfer of power.King Abdullah is the current...

, Swaziland, Yorubaland
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...

, The Kingitanga
Maori King Movement
The Māori King Movement or Kīngitanga is a movement that arose among some of the Māori tribes of New Zealand in the central North Island ,in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the colonising people, the British, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land...

). Some monarchies employ a mix of these selection processes (Malaysia
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....

, Monaco
Line of succession to the Monegasque Throne
The line of succession to the Monegasque throne passes to the descendants of the reigning Prince of Monaco in accordance with male-preference primogeniture...

, Tonga
Line of succession to the Tongan Throne
The order of succession to the throne of Tonga is laid down in the 1875 constitution of the south Pacific island nation. This constitution specifies that the succession is confined to the descendants of King Siaosi Tāufaāhau Tupou I, through his son Crown Prince Tēvita Unga and his son Prince...

, Jordan
Line of succession to the Jordanian throne
Line of succession to the Jordanian throne is the line of people who are eligible to succeed to the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The succession is regulated by Article 28 of the Constitution of Jordan....

, Morocco
Line of succession to the Moroccan throne
The present King of Morocco is Mohammed VI. Article 20 of the Moroccan constitution of 1996 states that the Moroccan Crown and the constitutional rights thereof shall be hereditary and handed down, from father to son, to descendants in direct male line and by order of primogeniture among the...

), 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
Abolished monarchy
Throughout history, monarchies have been abolished, either through revolutions, legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars. The twentieth century saw a major acceleration of this process, with many monarchies violently overthrown by revolution or war, or else abolished as part of the process of...

 royalty altogether, as in post-revolutionary France and Russia.

Royal houses and dynasties

  • House of Asturias-Cantabria
  • Aberffraw House of Gwynedd
    House of Aberffraw
    The House of Aberffraw is a historiographical and genealogical term historians use to illustrate the clear line of succession from Rhodri the Great of Wales through his eldest son Anarawd....

  • Al-Abbasi
  • Al Khalifa
    Al Khalifa
    The Al Khalifa family is the ruling family of Bahrain. The Al Khalifa profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe that migrated from Najd to Kuwait in the early 18th century. They are also from the Utub tribe...

  • Al-Sabah
    Al-Sabah
    The House of Al Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait. They are a clan from the Anizah tribe which migrated to Kuwait in the early 18th century from Najd . They are also from the Utub tribe. After reaching Kuwait, they entered in an alliance with the other families of the Utub such as Al-Khalifa...

  • Alaouite dynasty
    Alaouite Dynasty
    The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of its founder Moulay Ali Cherif who became Prince of Tafilalt in 1631. His son Mulay r-Rshid was able to unite and pacify the country...

  • Angevin dynasties
  • House of Árpád
  • House of Arslan
    Lakhmids
    The Lakhmids , Banu Lakhm , Muntherids , were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Southern Iraq, and made al-Hirah their capital in 266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of...

     (The Lakhmids)
  • House of Aviz
    House of Aviz
    The House of Aviz is a dynasty of kings of Portugal. In 1385, the Interregnum of the 1383-1385 crisis ended with the acclamation of the Master of the Order of Aviz, John, natural son of king Peter I and Dona Teresa Lourenço as king...

  • House of Bernadotte
  • Bagrationi Dynasty
    Bagrationi Dynasty
    The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...

  • Balti Dynasty
    Balti dynasty
    The Balti dynasty, Baltungs, Balthings, or Balths, existed among the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe who confronted the Western Roman Empire in its declining years. The Balti took their name from the Gothic word balþa...

  • Bonaparte
    Bonaparte
    The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...

  • Borjigid
  • House of Bourbon
    House of Bourbon
    The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

  • House of Bokassa
    House of Bokassa
    The House of Bokassa claims to be an African Noble and Imperial House. Its founder ruled as Emperor over the territories of the Central African Empire from 4 December 1976, until he was overthrown on 21 September 1979.- Establishment and ruling history :...

  • House of Orléans
    House of Orleans
    Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...

  • House of Bourbon-Parma
    House of Bourbon-Parma
    The House of Bourbon-Parma is an Italian cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the Capetian dynasty in male line. The name of Bourbon-Parma comes from the main name and the other from the title of Duke of Parma....

  • House of Braganza
    House of Braganza
    The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...

  • House of Capet
    House of Capet
    The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers of France, the dynasty...

  • Carolingian Dynasty
  • House of Coimbra
    County of Coimbra
    The County of Coimbra was a political entity instituted as a subsidiary county for the prince Ardavast or Sisebuto son of King Wittiza until the fall of Visigothic Hispania by Abderraman III ruler of Al-Andalus. The first counts established a long and great dynasty which were several families and...

  • Chakri Dynasty (House of Mahidol)
  • Dynasties of China
    • Xia Dynasty
      Xia Dynasty
      The Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...

    • Shang Dynasty
      Shang Dynasty
      The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...

    • Zhou Dynasty
      Zhou Dynasty
      The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

    • Qin Dynasty
      Qin Dynasty
      The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

    • Han Dynasty
      Han Dynasty
      The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

    • Sui Dynasty
      Sui Dynasty
      The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

    • Tang Dynasty
      Tang Dynasty
      The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

    • Song Dynasty
      Song Dynasty
      The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

    • Yuan Dynasty
      Yuan Dynasty
      The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

    • Ming Dynasty
      Ming Dynasty
      The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

    • Qing Dynasty
      Qing Dynasty
      The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

  • Comnenian dynasty
  • Cochin Royal Family
    Cochin Royal Family
    The Cochin royal family were rulers of Cochin, or Kochi, India. They were also known as Perumpadapu Swaroopam or Kuru Swaroopam.-Tradition of Perumpadapu Swaroopam:...

  • Davidic line
    Davidic line
    The Davidic line refers to the tracing of lineage to the King David referred to in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament...

  • House of Dlamini

  • Eóganachta
    Eóganachta
    The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...

  • Flavian Dynasty
    Flavian dynasty
    The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...

  • Gediminids
    Gediminids
    The Gediminids were a dynasty of monarchs of Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. One branch of this dynasty, known as the Jagiellons, reigned also in Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia...

  • Giray Dynasty
    Giray dynasty
    Giray , alternative spellings Guirey, Ghirai, Ghiray, Geray, is the Genghisid dynasty, which reigned in the Khanate of Crimea from its formation in 1427 until its downfall in 1783. The dynasty also supplied several khans of Kazan and Astrakhan between 1521 and 1550...

  • House of Grimaldi
    House of Grimaldi
    The House of Grimaldi is associated with the history of the Republic of Genoa and of the Principality of Monaco.-History:The Grimaldi family descends from Grimaldo, a Genoese statesman at the time of the early Crusades. He might have been a son of Otto Canella, a consul of the Republic of Genoa in...

  • House of Glücksburg
  • Habsburg
    Habsburg
    The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

    • Habsburg-Lorraine
  • Hanoverians
    House of Hanover
    The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

  • Hashemite
    Hashemite
    Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...

  • Hasmonean
    Hasmonean
    The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...

  • House of Hesse
    House of Hesse
    The House of Hesse is a European royal dynasty from the region of Hesse, originally and still formally the House of Brabant.-History:The origins of the House of Hesse begin with the marriage of Sophie of Thuringia, daughter of Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia and Elizabeth of Hungary with Henry...

  • House of Hohenzollern
    House of Hohenzollern
    The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...

  • Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov

Dynasties of India
    • Chalukya dynasty
      Chalukya dynasty
      The Chalukya dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the...

    • Chola Dynasty
      Chola Dynasty
      The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...

    • Gupta Dynasty
    • Kushan Dynasty
    • Mauryan dynasty
    • Mughal Dynasty
  • Jagiellons
  • Joseon Dynasty
    Joseon Dynasty
    Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

     (House of Yi)
  • House of Juaben
  • Julio-Claudian Dynasty
    Julio-Claudian Dynasty
    The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...

  • House of Karađorđević
  • Keita Dynasty
    Keita Dynasty
    The Keita Dynasty ruled pre-Imperial and Imperial Mali from the 12th century into the early 17th century. It was a Muslim Dynasty, and its rulers claimed descent from Bilal. Bilal was a freed slave who accepted Islam and became one of the Sahabas of the Prophet Muhammad. Bilal bears the...

  • Khun Lo Dynasty
    Laotian Royal Family
    The Lao Royal Family was the ruling family of the Kingdom of Laos from 1904 to 1975 and the group of close relatives of the monarch of the Kingdom of Laos...

  • Koch Rajbongshi Royal Family
    Koch Rajbongshi Royal Family
    Royal History of Cooch Behar:The ancient territory of Kamrup played a role in the development of the present region of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal. The Allahabad Pillar Inscription of the famous Gupta Emperor Samudragupta mentions the existence of the Kamrup territory in the 4th century AD...

  • Hawaiian houses
    • House of Kalakaua
      House of Kalakaua
      The House of Kalākaua, or the Kalākaua Dynasty, was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Hawaii between the assumption of King David Kalākaua to the throne in 1874 and the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893. Liliuokalani died in 1917, leaving only cousins as heirs...

    • House of Kamehameha
      House of Kamehameha
      The House of Kamehameha , or the Kamehameha Dynasty, was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Hawaii between the unification of the islands by Kamehameha I in 1810 and the death of Kamehameha V in 1872...

    • House of Kawānanakoa
      House of Kawananakoa
      The House of Kawānanakoa, or the Kawānanakoa Dynasty in Waiting, are presumptive heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Origins:...

    • House of Laanui-Kalokuokamaile
  • Dynasties of Korea
    • Dangun
      Gojoseon
      Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....

    • Buyeo
      Buyeo kingdom
      Buyeo or Puyŏ , Fuyu in Chinese, was an ancient Korean kingdom located from today's Manchuria to northern North Korea, from around the 2nd century BC to 494. Its remnants were absorbed by the neighboring and brotherhood kingdom of Goguryeo in 494...

    • Goguryeo
      Goguryeo
      Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

    • Baekje
      Baekje
      Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

    • Silla
      Silla
      Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

    • Gaya
      Gaya confederacy
      Gaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42–532 CE...

    • Unified Silla
      Unified Silla
      Unified Silla or Later Silla is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, when it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula...

    • Balhae
      Balhae
      Balhae was a Manchurian kingdom established after the fall of Goguryeo. After Goguryeo's capital and southern territories fell to Unified Silla, Dae Jo-yeong, a Mohe general, whose father was Dae Jung-sang, established Jin , later called Balhae.Balhae occupied southern parts of Manchuria and...

    • Goryeo Dynasty
      Goryeo
      The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

    • Joseon Dynasty
      Joseon
      Joseon, Chosŏn, Choseon or Chosun are English spellings of the Korean *word for "Korea". It may refer to:*Korea*Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, from 2333 BC to 108 BC.*Joseon Dynasty of Korea, from AD 1392 to 1910....

    • Korean Empire
      Korean Empire
      The Greater Korean Empire was an empire of Korea that succeeded the Joseon Dynasty.In October 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, land system, education system, and various industries...

  • House of Lancaster
    House of Lancaster
    The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

  • Leovigilde Dynasty
  • Merovingian Dynasty
    Merovingian dynasty
    The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...


  • Nayaks of Kandy
    Nayaks of Kandy
    The Nayaks of Kandy were the rulers of Sri Lanka with Kandy as their capital from 1739 to 1815. They were also the last dynasty to rule Sri Lanka. They were related to the Madurai Nayak dynasty and to the Tanjore Nayak dynasty...

  • House of Nemanjić
    House of Nemanjic
    The Nemanjić was the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and one of the most important in Southeastern Europe. The royal house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371. It's progenitor was Stephen Nemanja, who descended from a cadet line of the Vukanović dynasty...

  • Nigerian houses
    • Ooduan Royal Family of Ife, Egba, Ketu, Sabe, Oyo, Ijero and the Ilas
      Oduduwa
      Oduduwa Omoluabi, Olofin Adimula, Emperor of the Yoruba, phonetically written by his people as Odùduwà and sometimes contracted as Odudua or Oòdua, is generally held among the Yoruba to be the reigning ancestor of the crowned Yoruba kings....

      • Asodeboyede Royal Family of Akure
        Akure Kingdom
        The Akure Kingdom is a traditional state with headquarters in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. It is the successor to an ancient Yoruba city state. The ruler bears the title "Deji of Akure"....

      • Eweka Royal Family of Benin
      • Ologun Kutere Royal Family of Lagos
        Erelu Kuti
        The Erelu Kuti of Lagos is the traditional noblewoman charged with the bearing of the ritual essence of Oloye Erelu Kuti I, a seventeenth century Yoruba royal who aided in the consolidation of her homeland, first as the daughter of its paramount king, then as the sister of two of his successors,...

  • House of Obrenović
    House of Obrenovic
    The House of Obrenović was a Serbian dynasty that ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1842, and again from 1858 to 1903. They came to power through the leadership of their progenitor Miloš Obrenović in the Second Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the formation of the Principality of...

  • House of Oldenburg
    House of Oldenburg
    The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...

  • Omrides
    Omrides
    The term Omrides or the House of Omri refers to Omri and his descendants , who were according to the Bible, as well as a number of other archaeological remains, kings of ancient Israel....

    • House of Holstein-Gottorp
      House of Holstein-Gottorp
      The House of Holstein-Gottorp, a cadet branch of the Oldenburg dynasty, ruled Sweden from 1751 until 1818, and Norway from 1814 to 1818.In 1743 Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp was elected crown prince of Sweden as a Swedish concession to Russia, a strategy for achieving an acceptable peace...

    • Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
      Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
      The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg , known as the House of Glücksburg for short, is a German ducal house, junior branches of which include the royal houses of Denmark and Norway, the deposed royal house of Greece, and the heir to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms The House...

  • House of Orange-Nassau
    House of Orange-Nassau
    The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...

  • O'Neill dynasty
    O'Neill dynasty
    The O'Neill dynasty is a group of families that have held prominent positions and titles throughout European history. The O'Neills take their name from Niall Glúndub, an early 10th century High King of Ireland from the Cenél nEógain...

  • Ottoman Dynasty
    Ottoman Dynasty
    The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...

  • Pahlavi Dynasty
    Pahlavi dynasty
    The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...

  • Piast dynasty
    Piast dynasty
    The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...

  • Přemyslid dynasty
    Premyslid dynasty
    The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...

  • Qajar dynasty
    Qajar dynasty
    The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....

  • Romanov (Holstein-Gottorp-und-Romanov)
    Romanov
    The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...

  • Rurik Dynasty
    Rurik Dynasty
    The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...

  • Safavid Dynasty
    Safavid dynasty
    The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...

  • House of Saud
    House of Saud
    The House of Saud , also called the Al Saud, is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia and one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The family holds thousands of members...

     (Saudis)
  • House of Savoy
    House of Savoy
    The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

  • Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
    Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
    Saxe-Coburg and Gotha or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha served as the collective name of two duchies, Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, in Germany. They were located in what today are the states of Bavaria and Thuringia, respectively, and the two were in personal union between 1826 and 1918...

  • Solomonic Dynasty
    Solomonic dynasty
    The Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...

  • House of Stuart
    House of Stuart
    The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...

  • Trastámara
    Trastámara
    The House of Trastámara was a dynasty of kings in the Iberian Peninsula, which first governed in Castile beginning in 1369 before expanding its rule into Aragón, Navarre and Naples.They were a cadet illegitimate line of the House of Burgundy....

  • Travancore Royal Family
    Travancore Royal Family
    The Travancore Royal Family descended from the Venad line of the Cheras and ruled over the Indian state of Travancore until 1947.The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kupaka Royal Family, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam etc., has its seat today at Trivandrum in...

  • Trần Dynasty
  • Tudor dynasty
    Tudor dynasty
    The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...

  • Uí Ímair
    Uí Ímair
    The Uí Ímair , or Dynasty of Ivar, were an enormous royal and imperial Norse dynasty who ruled Northern England, the Irish Sea region and Kingdom of Dublin, and the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides, from the mid 9th century, losing control of the first in the mid 10th, but the rest...

  • Uí Néill
    Uí Néill
    The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....

  • Valois Dynasty
    Valois Dynasty
    The House of Valois was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, succeeding the House of Capet as kings of France from 1328 to 1589...

  • House of Vasa
    House of Vasa
    The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....

  • House of Windsor
    House of Windsor
    The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom...

    • Mountbatten-Windsor
      Mountbatten-Windsor
      Mountbatten-Windsor is the personal surname of some of the descendants of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh under an ambiguously-worded Order in Council issued in 1960, and as such a cadet branch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg , which in turn is a branch of...

  • House of Wittelsbach
  • House of Yi
  • House of York
    House of York
    The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...

  • Zand Dynasty
    Zand dynasty
    The Zand dynasty ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century.- Karim Khan Zand :The dynasty was founded by Karim Khan, chief of the Zand tribe which was Lur or Lak deportees. Modern scholarships such as Wadie Jwaideh suggested his Kurdishness. He became one of Nader Shah's generals...

  • House of Zogu
    House of Zogu
    The House of Zogu is a European dynasty founded by Zogu Pasha who migrated to Mati, Albania in the late 15th century and was then appointed Governor of Mati by the Ottoman Sultan, with the position of Governor then becoming hereditary among the Zogu clan...



Current Royal Families

  • Belgian Royal Family
  • Bruneian Royal Family
    Hassanal Bolkiah
    General Haji Sir Hassan al-Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah GCB GCMG is the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the 29th Sultan of Brunei and the first Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam...

  • Bhutanese Royal Family
    House of Wangchuck
    The House of Wangchuck has ruled Bhutan since it was reunified in 1907. Prior to reunification, the Wangchuck family had governed the district of Trongsa as descendants of Dungkar Choji. They eventually overpowered other regional lords and earned the favour of the British Empire...

  • British Royal Family
    British Royal Family
    The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

    • Australian Royal Family
    • Canadian Royal Family
  • Bahraini Royal Family
    Al Khalifa
    The Al Khalifa family is the ruling family of Bahrain. The Al Khalifa profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe that migrated from Najd to Kuwait in the early 18th century. They are also from the Utub tribe...

  • Cambodian Royal Family
    Norodom Sihanouk
    Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...

  • Danish Royal Family
    Danish Royal Family
    The Danish Royal Family includes the Queen of Denmark and her family. All members except the Queen hold the title of Prince/Princess of Denmark with the style of His/Her Royal Highness or His/Her Highness. The Queen is styled Her Majesty. The Queen and her siblings belong to the House of...

  • Dutch Royal Family
  • Japanese Imperial Family
  • Jordanian Royal Family
    Hashemite
    Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...

  • Kuwaiti Royal Family
    Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
    Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is the Emir of Kuwait. Sheikh Sabah was sworn in on January 29, 2006 after confirmation by the National Assembly of Kuwait. He is the fourth son of Emir Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah is the head of the ruling Al-Sabah family...

  • Lesotho Royal Family
    Letsie III of Lesotho
    Letsie III is the reigning king of Lesotho. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II, when the latter was forced into exile in 1990. His father was briefly restored in 1995 but soon died in a car crash in early 1996, and Letsie became king again...

  • Liechtenstein Princely Family
    Princely Family of Liechtenstein
    The Liechtenstein dynasty, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by constitutional, hereditary right over the nation of Liechtenstein...


  • Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family
    Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg
    The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg consists of the extended family of the sovereign Grand Duke....

  • Malaysian Royal Families
    • Johor Royal Family
    • Kedah Royal Family
    • Kelantan Royal Family
    • Negeri Sembilan Royal Family
    • Pahang Royal Family
    • Perak Royal Family
      Azlan Shah of Perak
      Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullah, GCB, KStJ is the current Sultan of Perak. He was the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 26 April 1989 to 25 April 1994...

    • Perlis Royal Family
      House of Jamalullail (Perlis)
      The House of Jamalullail is the current ruling house of the state of Perlis in Malaysia. It was founded in 1843 together with the formation of the state of Perlis, after the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II gave his endorsement to the Jamalullail family for the secession of Perlis from...

    • Selangor Royal Family
      Sharafuddin of Selangor
      Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah is the ninth and current Sultan of the Malaysian state of Selangor. He ascended the throne in 2001, succeeding his father, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.-Early life and education:...

    • Terengganu Royal Family
  • Monegasque Princely Family
    Monegasque Princely Family
    The Monegasque Princely Family consists of the extended family of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, currently all the family descend from Louis II of Monaco...

  • Royal Family of Morocco
    Royal Family of Morocco
    The royal family of Morocco is from the Alaouite dynasty. They have been ruling the kingdom of Morocco since the 17th century. Family members include:*HM King Muhammad VI*HRH Princess Lalla Salma*HRH Crown Prince Moulay Hassan*HRH Princess Lalla Khadija...


  • Norwegian Royal Family
    Norwegian Royal Family
    The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...

  • Omani Royal Family
  • Qatari Royal Family
  • Saudi Royal Family
  • Spanish Royal Family
    Spanish Royal Family
    The Royal Family of the Kingdom of Spain consists of the current king, Juan Carlos, his spouse, Queen Sofia of Spain and their direct descendants. The Spanish royal family belongs to the House of Borbón...

  • Swazi Royal Family
    Swazi Royal Family
    The Dlaminis are an indigenous African royal house of Swaziland, a southern African nation of which Mswati III is king...

  • Swedish Royal Family
    Swedish Royal Family
    The Swedish Royal Family since 1818 consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style , and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state...

  • Thai Royal Family
  • Tongan Royal Family
  • United Arab Emirates Royal Families
  • Zulu Royal Family
    Zulu Royal Family
    The Zulu Royal family is the current ruling indigenous royal family of the Southern African Zulu peoples. The dynasty arguably began with Shaka kaSenzangakhona, who turned a small clan into a large and well-known nation...



Deposed royal families

  • Bavarian royal family
  • Brazilian imperial family
  • Bulgarian royal family
  • Greek royal family
    Greek Royal Family
    The Greek Royal Family was a branch of the House of Glücksburg that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. Its first monarch was George I. He and his successors styled themselves "Kings of the Hellenes"...

  • Hessian Grand Ducal Family
  • Italian royal family
    House of Savoy
    The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

  • Song imperial family
    House of Zhao
    House of Zhao, also known as House of Chao , was the imperial family of Song Empire.-The Origin:...



  • Ming imperial family
    House of Zhu
    Zhu was the family name of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The House of Zhu ruled China from 1368 until the Manchu Conquest of 1644....

  • Korean imperial family
  • Manchu imperial family
    Aisin Gioro
    Aisin Gioro was the family name of the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The House of Aisin Gioro ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a republican government in its place. The word aisin means gold in the Manchu language, and "gioro" is the name of the place in...

  • Laotian royal family
    Laotian Royal Family
    The Lao Royal Family was the ruling family of the Kingdom of Laos from 1904 to 1975 and the group of close relatives of the monarch of the Kingdom of Laos...

  • Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) grand ducal family
  • Mexican imperial family

  • Portuguese royal family
    House of Braganza
    The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...

  • Romanian royal family
    Romanian Royal Family
    The current Romanian royal family , an integral part of the larger royal house of Romania, consists of the family of King Michael I of Romania who bear a royal title...

  • Russian imperial family
  • Yugoslavian royal family
  • Yemeni royal family
    Imams of Yemen
    The Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution...

  • Ottoman royal family
    Ottoman Dynasty
    The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...



Mediatised royal families

  • House of Arenberg
    House of Arenberg
    The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy...

     (Belgium
    Belgian nobility
    In the Kingdom of Belgium there are at the moment approximately 1,300 noble families. Some 20,000 individuals are titled. The noble lineage of only ca. 400 families dates back to the 17th century. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a...

    )
  • Fürstenberg princely family
    Fürstenberg (princely family)
    Fürstenberg is the name of a noble house in Germany, based primarily in southern Baden-Württemberg. The family derives its name from the fortified town of the line's founder, Count Heinrich von Fürstenberg, today part of Hüfingen...

     (Germany
    German nobility
    The German nobility was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.-Principles of German nobility:...

    )
  • House of Ligne
    House of Ligne
    The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century. It s name comes from the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belonged to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the Crusades...

     (Belgium
    Belgian nobility
    In the Kingdom of Belgium there are at the moment approximately 1,300 noble families. Some 20,000 individuals are titled. The noble lineage of only ca. 400 families dates back to the 17th century. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a...

    )
  • Princely family of Merode
    House of Merode
    The princely house of Merode is one of the most important houses of the Belgian nobility.The surname of the family and the name of the House is mostly written de Mérode in but was originally von Merode due to the German descent of the House...

     (Belgium
    Belgian nobility
    In the Kingdom of Belgium there are at the moment approximately 1,300 noble families. Some 20,000 individuals are titled. The noble lineage of only ca. 400 families dates back to the 17th century. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a...

    )
  • Schwarzenberg princely family
    House of Schwarzenberg
    -History:The family was first mentioned in 1172. A branch of the Seinsheim family was created when Erkinger I of Seinsheim acquired the Franconian barony of Schwarzenberg, the castle Schwarzenberg and the title Baron of Schwarzenberg, in 1405–21. At this time, they also possessed some fiefdoms in...

     (Bohemia
    Bohemian nobility
    Bohemian or Czech nobility refers to the noble families of the Czech state , also known as "Bohemian Crown", "The Lands of the Bohemian Crown" or "The Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslaus".Aristocracy was abolished by law in December 1918 at the occasion of birth of the independent...

    )

See also

  • Abbasid
    Abbasid
    The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....

  • Abolished monarchy
    Abolished monarchy
    Throughout history, monarchies have been abolished, either through revolutions, legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars. The twentieth century saw a major acceleration of this process, with many monarchies violently overthrown by revolution or war, or else abolished as part of the process of...

  • Chief of the Name
  • Crown prince
    Crown Prince
    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....

  • Family trees of royal families
  • Palaces
  • Prince
    Prince
    Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

  • Prince consort
    Prince consort
    A prince consort is the husband of a queen regnant who is not himself a king in his own right.Current examples include the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , and Prince Henrik of Denmark .In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal...

  • Princeps
    Princeps
    Princeps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...

  • Princess
    Princess
    Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....

  • Princess Royal
    Princess Royal
    Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...

  • Queen consort
    Queen consort
    A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

  • Regicide
    Regicide
    The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

  • Royal and noble styles
    Royal and noble styles
    Styles represent the fashion by which monarchs and noblemen are properly addressed. Throughout history, many different styles were used, with little standardization...

  • Royal descent
    Royal Descent
    A royal descent is a lineal descent from a monarch. Royal descent is sometimes claimed as a mark of distinction and is seen as a desirable goal of genealogy research. Pretenders and those hoping to improve their social status have often claimed royal descent and, as a result, fabricated lineages...

  • Royal house
    Royal House
    A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...

  • Royal prerogative
    Royal Prerogative
    The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...

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