Style (manner of address)

A style is a form of address which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a title or post, or to the office itself. A style can also be awarded to an individual in a personal capacity. 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 Parliament, judges and senior constitutional office holders. Leading religious figures also have styles.

Examples of styles

In Justice

• The Honorable (abbreviation Hon., verbal address Your Honor) — Judges and Justices in the United States
• Verbal address Your Worship - Justices of the Peace (Magistrates) in the United Kingdom

In diplomacy

• His Excellency (abbreviation HE, verbal address Your Excellency) — most Ambassadors
• The Honorable (verbal address Mr./Madam Ambassador) — U.S. Ambassadors

In religion

• His All Holiness (abbreviation HAH, verbal address Your All Holiness) — The Patriarch of Constantinople
• His Holiness (abbreviation HH, verbal address Your Holiness) — The Pope of Rome, The Dalai Lama, The Coptic Pope, The Patriarch of Moscow
• His Beatitude (verbal address Your Beatitude) — Eastern and Oriental Patriarchs
• His Eminence (verbal address Your Eminence) — Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Eastern Orthodox Metropolitans and Archbishops
• The Most Reverend (abbreviation The Most Rev., verbal address Your Excellency) — Roman Catholic Archbishops and Bishops in the United States.
• His Grace or The Most Reverend (abbreviation for latter The Most Rev., verbal address Your Grace) — Roman Catholic Archbishops in Commonwealth countries
• His Grace or The Right Reverend (abbreviation for latter The Rt. Rev., verbal address Your Grace) — Eastern Orthodox Bishops
• His Lordship or The Right Reverend (abbreviation for latter The Rt Rev., verbal address My Lord Bishop) — Roman Catholic Bishops in Commonwealth countries.
• The Most Reverend and Right Honourable (abbreviation The Most Rev. and Rt Hon., verbal address Your Grace) — Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York
• The Right Reverend and Right Honourable (abbreviation The Rt Rev. and Rt Hon., verbal address Bishop) — Anglican Bishop of London
• The Right Reverend (abbreviation The Rt Rev., verbal address Bishop) — other Anglican Bishops
• The Right Reverend (abbreviation The Rt Rev., verbal address Reverend) — Moderator of the United Church of Canada
• The Right Reverend Father (abbreviation The Rt. Rev. Fr., verbal address Father) — Eastern Orthodox archimandrites
• The Very Reverend Father (abbreviation The Very Rev. Fr., verbal address Father) — Eastern Orthodox archpriests

In monarchies

• His/Her Majesty (abbreviation HM, verbal address Your Majesty) — Kings and Queens and Sultans
• His/Her Royal Highness (abbreviation HRH, verbal address Your Royal Highness) — other members of a Royal House, reigning grand dukes, members of some grand ducal houses
• His/Her Imperial Majesty (abbreviation HIM, verbal address Your Imperial Majesty) — Emperors and Empresses
• His/Her Imperial Highness (abbreviation HIH, verbal address Your Imperial Highness) — other members of an Imperial House
• His/Her Imperial and Royal Highness (abbreviation HIRH, verbal address Your Imperial and Royal Highness) — Archdukes of the Habsburg family
• His/Her Grand Ducal Highness (abbrevation HGDH, verbal address Your Grand Ducal Highness) — junior members of some grand ducal houses
• His/Her Highness (abbreviation HH, verbal address, Your Highness) — reigning dukes and members of reigning ducal houses, members of some grand ducal houses, junior members of some royal houses, emirs and sheikhs
• His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation HSH, verbal address Your Serene Highness) — members of a Princely House
• His/Her Illustrious Highness (abbreviation HIllH, verbal address Your Illustrious Highness) — members of sovereign comital houses
• His/Her Excellency (abbreviation HE, verbal address Your Excellency) — Governors-General

In republics

• His Excellency (abbreviation HE, verbal address Your Excellency) — most Presidents
• The President or The President of the United States (verbal address Mr/Madam President) — US Presidents

Similar styles are used universally in republics worldwide.

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The custom in France is to call office-holders acting withing their official capacity as "Mr" (Monsieur) or "Mrs" (Madame) followed by the name of their offices. Thus, the President of the Republic is "Mr President" or "Mr President of the Republic" if a male, "Mrs..." if a female; this may occasionally lead to amusing situations when there are presidents of various bodies. Styles such as "excellency" or similar are not used, except for talking about foreign dignitaries.

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In the United Kingdom

• The Most Noble or His Grace (verbal address Your Grace) — Dukes. Occasionally the Archbishop of Canterbury is also styled His Grace.
• The Most Honourable (abbreviation The Most Hon.) — Marquesses
• The Right Honourable (abbreviation The Rt Hon.) — Earls, Viscounts, Barons and members of the Privy Council
• The Honourable (abbreviation The Hon.) — younger sons of Earls, all sons of Viscounts and Barons.

In legislative bodies

• The Right Honourable Member for... — British MPs who are Privy Counsellors, Commonwealth Realm prime ministers
• The Honourable Member for... — British MPs who are not Privy Councillors, Commonwealth realm MPs who are Members of the Queen's Privy Council.
• The Distinguished Gentleman/Gentlewoman, or, The Honorable — United States Congress

Local government

• The Right Honourable — Lord Mayors of London, Cardiff, Belfast, York and Bristol and Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow (United Kingdom), and Lord Mayor of Dublin (Republic of Ireland)
• The Right Worshipful — all other Lord Mayors and Mayors of cities and the original Cinque Ports (United Kingdom)
• The Worshipful — all other Mayors or other municipal governors (United Kingdom and generally Commonwealth)
• His/Her Worship (verbal address Your Worship) — municipal leaders in Commonwealth Realms.
• The Honorable — mayors and other elected local officials in the United States. Typically used only in formal circumstances in recent years, and not in direct address.

United States governors

• His/Her Excellency (verbal address Excellency, Your Excellency)— Governors of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and of the State of Connecticut
• The Honorable (verbal address Your Honor)— most other US Governors
• Mr/Madame Governor

Political titles used as styles

Commonwealth Realm Prime Ministers are usually addressed just as Prime Minister, but the tile Mr. Prime Minister is also often used in certain countries. "Mr. Prime Minister" remains a common form of address in international diplomacy, "Prime Minister" alone remains more common within domestic politics.

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Irish Taoisigh (prime ministers) are addressed singularly as Taoiseach. Other Irish and Commonwealth realm politicians tend to be addressed by their title alone, for example "Thank you, Minister" or "Good afternoon, Senator," though the use of "Mr." or "Madam" as a prefix is also sometimes used, as in the United States.

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In the United States and other countries politicians are formally addressed by their title preceded by Mister or Madam depending on the gender of the holder. For example Mr. Secretary, Madam Secretary, Mr. Mayor, etc. This is generally regarded as the most formal form of address, however, and the use of titles alone, such as "Senator," "Governor," etc remains more common for day-to-day address, as is the case in most Commonwealth Realms. The only exception is the President of the United States, who is almost never refered to as just "President" (although a fuller title, such as "President Bush" may be acceptable).

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In general, the manner of addressing titled officials with the style "Mr/Madam (title)" is frequently used by members of the international media who may not be familiar with a politician's more specific honorific title (excellency, your honor, etc), but still want to show respect.

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Styles existing through marriage

Whereas, in the United Kingdom, The Princess Royal is styled HRH, her husband, Timothy Laurence, has no style. In contrast, when Sophie Rhys-Jones married Prince Edward, as Princess Edward or The Countess of Wessex she has an HRH, by virtue of her marriage to a royal prince. Similarly, while the sons of The Prince of Wales and the daughters of The Duke of York have HRH styles, the children of The Princess Royal have no styles. (She requested that they be given no courtesy titles or peerages).

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - The Princess Royal - Timothy Laurence - Sophie Rhys-Jones - Prince Edward - The Prince of Wales - The Duke of York

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