Crown Prince

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Crown Princess redirects here, for the ship, see Crown Princess (ship).

A Crown Prince or Crown Princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. (Crown Princess is also the title of the wife of the Crown Prince.)

In Europe, lineal succession conventions (see for example Salic Law) usually dictate that the eldest child (as in Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands) or the eldest son of the current monarch (United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark etc) fills this role, but in Arab monarchies, for example, succession rules may differ and a Crown Prince may gain the title on merit, or because someone is not seen as a threat to the reign of the current monarch; in such cases a person granted the title may also lose it, with it being granted to another member of the Royal Family.

Compare Heir Apparent and Heir Presumptive.

It should however be noted that, although it is often used as a generic term for heir apparent, it is often not an official title in the European monarchies. Currently, only the heirs apparent to the Scandinavian monarchies officially bear the title, while the heir presumptive normally would be titled Hereditary Prince.

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Christian/western traditional titles

Many monarchies use(d) special titles:

Many customarily (often not de iure) assign(ed) a primogeniture or award(ed) a hollow territorial title of princely rank; while often perceived as a crown princely title, these are not technically so, generally requiring a specific decision from the Sovereign, which may be withheld:

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Other Specific traditions

In Islamic cultures:

  • al-Amir as-Sa'id 'Blessed Prince' (Egypt annex the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
  • In Persia, under the Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahad, Shahzada (given name) Mirza, i.e His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince ...;
  • the above component vali ahad meaning 'successor by virtue of a covenant' (or various forms and etymological derivations) was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e.g. Walet as alternative title for the Nepali (Hindu!) royal Heir Apparent, first used Crown Prince Trailokya in the middle of the nineteenth century and taken from the Mughal title 'Vali Ahad'

In the Hindu tradition (Indian subcontinent):

  • Yuvaraja was part of the fullin many princely states of India, e.g.
    • in Kashmir, the Heir Apparent was styled Maharaj Kumar Shri Yuvaraj (personal name) Singhji Bahadur
  • Tika
  • in Nepal, where the King has the rank of Maharajadhiraja:
    • the Heir Apparent: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Yuvarajadhiraj ('Young King of Kings', i.e. Crown Prince) (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva;
    • the eldest son of The Heir Apparent: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Nava Yuvaraj ('Young Crown Prince') (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva

In Far Eastern traditions:

  • Siam makutrajakuman(สยามมกุฎราชกุมาร) Thailand
  • Huang Taizi (皇太子) (Imperial China) if a son; Huang Taisun (皇太孫) if a grandson of the reigning Emperor
  • Hwangtaeja (皇太子) (Imperial Korea)
  • Kōtaishi (皇太子) (Japan), if a son; kōtaison (皇太孫) if a grandson
  • Thái tử (太子) (Imperial Vietnam until 1945) was the term used by past dynasties for their Crown princes. Normally, a crown prince was also bestowed with other titles depending on the grace of the ruler.

Equivalents in other cultures:

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See also

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Sources and references

de:Kronprinz ja:皇太子 nl:Kroonprins no:Kronprins pl:Kronprinz ru:Кронпринц sv:Tronarvinge vi:Thái tử zh:皇太子

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