Monarch facts for kids
A monarch is a person who rules because one of their relatives ruled. A male monarch can be a king or emperor. A female monarch can be called a queen or empress.
This is monarchy, a system of ruling in which ruling starts by a member of a family, and continues in that family as a dynasty. Monarchs were very common in history. Many countries used to have a monarch, but no longer have them. Some countries that still have monarchs have other leaders that actually have the power.
Monarchs tended to have monarchs of lower honour below them, e.g. a Empire could include several kingdoms, and a kingdom would have several duchies or principalities, nations would rarely include all titles, usually going from duchy to kingdom instead of duchy to principality to kingdom. Prince/Princess means 'Ruler of a Principality' and 'son of king/queen'. Some other languages have separate words for them.
| Title | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Empire | Emperor | Empress |
| Kingdom | King | Queen |
| Grand Principality | Grand Prince | Grand Princess |
| Principality | Prince | Princess |
| Archduchy | Arch Duke | Arch Duchess |
| Grand Duchy | Grand Duke | Grand Duchess |
| Duchy | Duke | Duchess |
| Marquisate | Marquess | Marchioness |
| County | Count | Countess |
| Viscounty | Viscount | Viscountess |
| Barony | Baron | Baroness |
Other pages
Images for kids
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The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII, photographed on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians, King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia, King George I of the Hellenes and King Albert I of the Belgians. Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.
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Postcard from 1908 showing nineteen of the world's reigning monarchs: (left to right) King Rama V/Chulalongkorn of Siam, King George I of Greece, King Peter I of Serbia, King Carol I of Romania, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Tzar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Emperor Nicholas II of the Russia, King Edward VII of Britain, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Gustav V of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, King Frederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Guangxu Emperor of China, Meiji Emperor of Japan, King Manuel II of Portugal and King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
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Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC), the third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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Mohamoud Ali Shire, the 26th Sultan of the Somali Warsangali Sultanate
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From left to right, Japanese Emperor Hirohito, Crown Prince Akihito, Crown Princess Michiko and Empress Nagako, 1959
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Sultan Mehmed III from Ottoman Dynasty
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King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia
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Sri Lankan King Devanampiya Tissa, Queen consort Anula, and Prince Uththiya, c. 307 BC
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Jacques I, Emperor of Haiti, 1804
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Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, by Delfim da Câmara
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Francisco Pizarro meets with the Inca emperor Atahualpa, 1532
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Kamehameha IV, King of Hawaii
See also
In Spanish: Monarca para niños
