Style (manner of address)

From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature

 This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications.
Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (June 2008)
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

A style of office, or honorific, is a term which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or title, or to the political office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal capacity. Such 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 legislative bodies, higher-ranking judges and senior constitutional office holders. Leading religious figures also have styles.

Contents

Examples of styles

Law courts

Diplomacy

Religion

See also: The Reverend

Monarchies

The English style Serene Highness and even more Illustrious Highness goes back to an incorrect translation. These styles originally did not exist in English-speaking countries.

His/Her Serene Highness = German: Seine/Ihre Durchlaucht; His/Her Illustrious Highness = German: Seine/Ihre Erlaucht; Italian: Sua Illustrissima; Spanish: Su Ilustrísima

Republics

Academic

Traditional forms of address at German-speaking universities:

Traditional forms of address at Dutch-speaking universities:

Medicine

Commonwealth countries

Commonwealth prime ministers are usually addressed just as Prime Minister, but the form of address 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.

Legislative bodies

Local government

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

United Kingdom

Styles existing through marriage

Styles can be acquired through marriage, though traditionally this applies more to wives of office-holders than to husbands. Thus, in the United Kingdom, Anne, Princess Royal is styled Her Royal Highness (HRH), her husband, Timothy Laurence, has no style and there would have to be a special arrangement to give him one. In contrast, when Sophie Rhys-Jones married Prince Edward, she became The Princess Edward, Countess of Wessex (&c.) and automatically acquired an HRH, by virtue of her marriage to a royal prince.

This gender differentiation continues into the next generation in traditional royal families. Thus, 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, like her husband, be given no courtesy titles or peerages, though they could have been: the key point is that they did not automatically receive any.)

Styles and titles can terminate when a marriage is dissolved. Diana, Princess of Wales held the style Her Royal Highness or HRH during her marriage to HRH The Prince of Wales and the title Princess of Wales. Her marital status was indicated by the title Princess of Wales. When the couple divorced, she lost her title and her style, which had existed only by virtue of her marriage to a royal prince: she became instead Diana, Princess of Wales, although she was still entitled to the style "Lady" as the daughter of an Earl.

The style Princess of Wales — not preceded by a definite article — indicated that she was a former Princess of Wales; when applied to the current Princess of Wales, the style includes a definite article (The Princess of Wales). If she had remarried the style Princess of Wales would also lapse.

While there was the option of awarding an HRH style to Diana, Princess of Wales in her personal capacity (which could be justified, given that she was the mother of a future king), it was decided not to award her the style. As a result, from the moment of her divorce until her death, she ceased to hold any royal style or title, though out of courtesy or ignorance many people still applied the style 'HRH' to her. Similarly, when Sarah, Duchess of York was divorced from her husband, HRH The Duke of York, she too lost her HRH style and title.

In 1936, Wallis Simpson was not given the HRH style by George VI when she married his brother, the former Edward VIII, by then known as HRH The Duke of Windsor. There was no precedent for a divorced woman marrying a member of the royal family and it was feared that, if the couple divorced (she had already divorced two husbands) she would lose the style but could conceivably still try to use it anyway, undermining its status.

Philippines

United States

In general, all government officials in the U.S., particularly elected officials and judges, are styled "The Honorable" in formal circumstances, i.e. ("The Honorable Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York"). They are generally addressed as "Mister" or "Madam" and their title ("Mr. President," "Madam Mayor") or simply by name and title along the lines of a British peer ("Councilman Jones", "Chairwoman Smith"). Like the titles of life peers, many of these titles are retained for life.

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, Holders of offices with Irish names are usually addressed in English by its nominative form (so, 'Taoiseach' and 'Tánaiste'), though the Irish vocative forms differ (a Thaoisigh and a Thánaiste). The President may be styled 'His/Her Excellency' (Irish: A Shoilse [ə hɘʎʃ̪ʲə] /A Soilse [ə sɘʎʃ̪ʲə]) and addressed 'Your Excellency' (Irish: A Shoilse), or simply 'President' (Irish: A Uachtaráin [ɘ uːəxt̪ˠɘɾaːn̥]). The titles 'Minister' and 'Senator' are used as forms of address; only the latter as a style. A TD (Teachta Dála) is formally addressed and styled as 'Deputy', though often simply Mr, Mrs, etc. Similarly, county and city councillors can be addressed as 'Councillor', abbreviated Cllr. which is used as a written style, but are just as frequently addressed as Mr, Mrs etc.

Former styles

All former monarchies had styles, some, as in the Bourbon monarchy of France, extremely complicated depending on the status of the office or office-holder. Otto von Habsburg, who was Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary (1916-1918), had the style 'His Imperial and Royal Highness'. He was last addressed as such by church figures during the funeral of his late mother, Empress-Queen Zita of Austria-Hungary in 1989, although the use of these styles has been prohibited in Austria since 1920. [5]

For the styles of address to government officials in Imperial Russia, see Table of Ranks.

The names of some offices are also titles, which are retained by the office holder for life. For example, in Finland, the President of the Republic from 1994 to 2000, Martti Ahtisaari, retains the title "President", and is called "President Ahtisaari", in contrast to the current President of the Republic Tarja Halonen.

Styles and titles of deposed monarchs

General tradition indicates that where a monarch has been deposed but has not abdicated, they retain the use of their style and title for the duration of their lifetime, but both die with them. Hence Greece's deposed king is still technically His Majesty King Constantine II of the Hellenes, as a personal title, not a constitutional office, since the abolition of the monarchy by the Hellenic Republic in 1974. Similarly, until his death the last King of Italy, King Umberto II, was technically entitled to be called His Majesty the King of Italy or Your Majesty. In contrast, the ex-King Michael I of Romania, who abdicated his throne in 1947, technically lost the use of his title, though out of politeness, he may still be called His Majesty King Michael or Your Majesty.

While this rule is generally observed, and indeed some exiled monarchs are allowed diplomatic passports by their former state, other states take offence at the use of such titles. The current Hellenic Republic has long challenged King Constantine's right to use his title; in 1981, the then Greek President Constantine Karamanlis declined to attend the wedding of the Prince of Wales when it was revealed that Greece's deposed monarch, a friend of the Prince, had been referred to as 'King' in his invitation. However, King Constantine now travels in and out of Greece without any problems, on a Danish royal passport (as "King Constantine of Greece"), and has done so several times in the past few years. Because of the Schengen agreements the Greek government cannot refuse him entry.

Other parallel symbols

Styles were often among the range of symbols that surrounded figures of high office. Everything from the manner of address to the behaviour of a person on meeting that personage was surrounded by traditional symbols. Monarchs were to be bowed to by men and curtsied to by women. Senior clergy, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church, were to have their rings (the symbol of their authority) kissed by lay persons while they were on bended knee, while cardinals in an act of homage at the papal coronation were meant to kiss the feet of the Supreme Pontiff, the Pope.

Many of these traditions have lapsed or been partially abandoned. At his inauguration as pope in 1978 (itself the abandonment of the traditional millennium-old papal coronation), Pope John Paul II himself kissed cardinals on the cheeks, rather than follow the traditional method of homage of having his feet kissed. Curtsies have for many years been no longer obligatory when meeting members of the British Royal Family; indeed some royal highnesses positively hate being curtsied to.[citation needed] One described the experience of a row of curtsying women, bobbing up and down, as leaving them 'sea-sick'.

Similarly, styles, though still used, are used less often. The current President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, is usually referred to as President Mary McAleese, not President McAleese, as had been the form used for the first six presidents, from President Hyde to President Hillery. Tony Blair asked initially to be called Tony. In a break with tradition, though as the second in line to the throne and a son of a royal prince, Prince William of Wales formally has a HRH style, he chose while at university not to use it. The United States has become one of the most informal countries in the world[citation needed], with styles such as Excellency now largely abandoned or ignored, even by those who legally have them. First names, or even nicknames, are often widely used among politicians in the US, even in formal situations (as an extreme example, President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter chose to take the Oath of Office using his nickname). One notable exception involves judges: a judge of any court is almost invariably addressed as "Your Honor" while presiding over his or her court, and often at other times as well. This style has been removed in the Republic of Ireland, where judges are addressed only as "Judge".

However, styles are still widely used in formal documents and correspondence between heads of state, such as in a Letter of Credence accrediting an ambassador from one head of state to another.

Self-styled

The term self-styled roughly means awarding a style to yourself, often without adequate justification or authority. However, often people style themselves with titles, rather than true styles.

Notes

1 Though the Republic of Ireland does not possess a Privy Council, the style is still used. The Lord Mayor of Dublin is still styled the Right Honourable, as previous lord mayors of Dublin were ex-officio members of the former Irish Privy Council until its abolition in 1922.

See also

References

  1. Austrian law on noble titles

External links