The Right Honourable

The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt. Hon.", "The Rt Hon", or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which, in local contexts, is traditionally applied to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms.

Use of the honorific

The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: e.g., The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr. Blair".

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In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending upon whether or not they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a parliamentary term and is not used outside the House.

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When a married woman holds this style, she uses her own given name in her style. So, when Mrs. Denis Thatcher was made a Privy Counsellor, she didn't become The Right Honourable Mrs. Denis Thatcher or The Right Honourable Mrs. Thatcher, but became The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher.

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