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This article is about the dynastic use. For the song by Envy & Other Sins, see Highness (song). For the song by Simon Townshend, see Animal Soup.
For other uses, see High (disambiguation).


Highness is, both literally and historically, the quality of being lofty or above, used as a term to evoke dignity or honour, and to acknowledge the exalted or official high rank of the person so described.

History in Europe[edit]



Continental Europe[edit]



Example of official holders of the style Highness:

Modified forms[edit]


Grand Ducal Highness was the treatment accorded cadet princes of those families of ruling grand dukes who did not simply use "Highness", viz. Baden, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse and by Rhine and Luxembourg.



Commonwealth realms[edit]



African usage[edit]

In most of Africa, many styles are used by traditional royalty. Generally the vast majority of the members of these royal families use the titles Prince and Princess, while the higher ranked amongst them also use either Highness or Royal Highness to describe secondary appellations in their native languages that they hold in their realms, appellations that are intended to highlight their relative proximity to their thrones, either literally in the sense of the extant kingships of the continent or symbolically in the sense of its varied chieftaincies of the names, and which therefore serve a function similar to the said styles of Highness and Royal Highness. For example, the Yoruba people of West Africa usually make use of the word Kabiyesi when speaking either to or about their sovereigns and other royals. As such, it is variously translated as Majesty, Royal Highness or Highness depending on the actual rank of the person in question, though a literal translation of the word would read more like this: He (or She) whose words are beyond questioning, Great Lawgiver of the Nation. While within the Zulu Kingdom, the monarch and other senior royals are often addressed as uNdabezitha meaning He (or She) Who Concerns the Enemy, but rendered in English as Majesty in address or reference to the King and his Consorts, or Royal Highness in the case of other senior members of the Royal Family.

Colonial use[edit]

Republican and non-royal usage[edit]

Very rarely, the style of Highness or variations thereof have been used by non-monarchical heads of state, particularly before the 20th century, and often in cases where the distinction between monarchy and republic was blurred. For example, Oliver Cromwell and his wife were styled "Highness" upon his elevation to Lord Protector of the Commonwealth; he also enjoyed the style of by the Grace of God, was succeeded by his son, and had even been offered the throne.[1]

Spanish-speaking world[edit]

In the Spanish-speaking world, a handful of leaders historically enjoyed the official, if often ephemeral, style of Highness (Alteza) or variations thereof.

In Spain, Manuel Godoy, who twice served as Prime Minister from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808, was granted the style of Most Serene Highness (Su Alteza Serenísima) in 1807 by King Charles IV. He had been created Principe de la Paz ("Prince of the Peace") in 1795, but the princely title did not carry the style of Highness on its own. The former style was possibly derived from the traditional Spanish honorific of Excelentísimo Señor (The Most Excellent).

Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, who was regent for Queen Isabella II from 1840 to 1843, and three times served as Prime Minister: in 1837, from 1840 to 1841, and from 1854 to 1856, was created Prince of Vergara with the exceptional (and not strictly non-royal) style of Royal Highness (Alteza Real) in 1872. It should be noted that Espartero had previously declined an offer to the throne following the Spanish Revolution of 1868, which instead went to the Italian Amadeo of Savoy, who in turn bestowed the royal princedom on him.

Furthermore, according to the provisions of Royal Decree 1368/1987 promulgated by King Juan Carlos I in 1987, a Regent of Spain is to enjoy the style of Highness (as well as protocolary honours equal to those of the Prince of Asturias), unless they were to possess rank conferring a higher style.[7]

During the short-lived Luz de America uprising of 1809 in modern-day Ecuador, the Junta de Gobierno Autónoma de Quito ("Autonomous Government Junta of [the Royal Audiencia of] Quito"), granted its President, Juan Pío de Montúfar, 2nd Marquis of Selva Alegre, the style of Most Serene Highness, while claiming for itself the collective dignity of "Majesty" (as it purported to be acting in the name of King Ferdinand VII). Selva Alegre's pseudo-monarchical government, which was formed following Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 and lasted for a mere seventy-five days, was considered by both contemporaries and later historians to be a thinly-disguised effort to establish a "Kingdom of Quito"; Selva dressed himself in regal vestments, bestowed honours on citizens, and instituted the National Order of San Lorenzo (which was much later revived by Ecuadorian President Camilo Ponce Enríquez in 1959).[8]

Antonio López de Santa Anna, enjoyed the official style of Most Serene Highness during his eleventh and final tenure as President of Mexico for life from 1853 until his deposal in 1855.[9]


Shortly before the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States, then-Vice President John Adams organised of a Congressional committee on the matter of the title and style of the President. There Adams agitated for the adoption of the style of Highness (as well as the title of Protector of Their [the United States'] Liberties) for the President.[10] Others favored the variant of Electoral Highness or the lesser Excellency, the latter of which was vociferously opposed by Adams, who contended that it was far beneath the presidential dignity, as the executives of the states, some of which were also titled "President" (e.g. the President of Pennsylvania), at that time often enjoyed the style of Excellency; Adams said that the President "would be levelled with colonial governors or with functionaries from German princedoms" if he were to us the style of Excellency. On further consideration, Adams deemed even Highness insufficient and instead proposed that the Executive, both the President and the Vice President (i.e., himself), be styled Majesty, with only which the "great danger" of insufficient dignity being attached to the executive could be solved.[10] Adams' efforts were met with widespread derision and perplexion; Thomas Jefferson called them "the most superlatively ridiculous thing I ever heard of", while Benjamin Franklin considered it "absolutely mad".[10] The proposal came to naught, and American Presidents, from Washington onwards, have eschewed honorific titles and styles altogether and are simply referred to as Mr. President.

In modern-day Samoa, the O le Ao o le Malo, the Samoan head of state, has since the country's independence enjoyed the title of Highness, as do the heads of the four paramount chiefly dynasties. However, as all of the heads of state, elected by the Fono, the country's parliament (which is itself almost entirely composed of customary chiefs), since independence have been one of the four chiefs, it is ambiguous as to whether the country constitutes a parliamentary republic or a democratic elective monarchy.

Other uses[edit]

Regardless of the official traditions in the various colonial empires, the style is evidently used to render, often merely informally, various somewhat analogous titles in non-western cultures, regardless whether there is an actual linguistic and/or historical link. Furthermore, in North America, some chiefs of certain indigenous tribes or nations use the style of Highness, which may or may not be recognised by their governments.


Variations and precedence[edit]


See also[edit]



  6. ^ William's children to be HRH
  7. ^ "Real Decreto 1368/1987, de 6 de noviembre, sobre régimen de títulos, tratamientos y honores de la Familia Real y de los Regentes.". Boletín Oficial del Estado. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Retrieved 22 November 2014. 
  8. ^ Pimentel, Rodolfo Perez. "Juan Pío Montúfar y Larrea". http://www.diccionariobiograficoecuador.com/tomos/tomo4/m11.htm. Diccionario Biográfico del Ecuador. Retrieved 22 November 2014. 
  9. ^ Sible, Randy. "The Life of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna: Savior, Emperor, President, and Dictator". Latin American Studies. Retrieved 22 November 2014. 
  10. ^ a b c Hutson, James H. (March 1968). "John Adams' Title Campaign". The New England Quarterly, 41 (1): 30–39.