Highness (in address Your Highness and in reference His/Her Highness and Their Highnesses, the latter two abbreviated respectively H.H. and T.H.) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjective: "His Highness", "Her Highness" (HH), "Their Highnesses" (TH), etc. Although often combined with other adjectives of honour indicating rank, such as "Imperial", "Royal" or "Serene", it may be used alone.
Highness is, both literally and figuratively, the quality of being lofty or above. It is used as a term to evoke dignity or honour, and to acknowledge the exalted rank of the person so described.
History in Europe Abstract styles arose in profusion in the Roman Empire, especially in the Byzantine. Styles were attached to various offices at court or in the state. In the early Middle Ages such styles, couched in the second or third person, were uncertain and much more arbitrary, and were more subject to the fancies of secretaries than in later times.Selden, Titles of Honor, part I, Ch. vii. p. 100
In English usage, the terms Highness, Grace and Majesty were all used as honorific styles of kings, queens and princes of the blood until the time of James VI and I. Thus in documents relating to the reign of Henry VIII of England, all three styles are used indiscriminately; an example is the king's judgment against Dr. Edward Crome (d. 1562), quoted, from the Lord Chamberlains' books, ser. I, p. 791, in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. N.S. lOX. 299, where article 15 begins with Also the Kinges Highness hath ordered, 16 with Kinges Majestie, and 17 with Kinges Grace. In the Dedication of the Authorized Version of the Bible of 1611, James I is still styled Majesty and Highness; thus, in the first paragraph: "the appearance of Your Majesty, as of the Sun in his strength, instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised mists ... especially when we beheld the government established in Your Highness and Your hopeful Seed, by an undoubted title". It was, however, in James I's reign that Majesty became the official style.
Continental Europe At the conclusion of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, His/Her Highness (abbreviated HH), became prevalent for reigning dukes and members of their dynasties in Germany (e.g., Anhalt, Brunswick, Nassau, the three Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, and Saxe-Altenburg, as well as Schleswig-Holstein); for cadets of some German grand ducal houses (e.g., Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach); and cadet members of some imperial or royal families (e.g., Bavaria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Yugoslavia). That custom remains official in the Dutch and Norwegian dynasties. The Almanach de Gotha and Burke's Peerage continued to ascribe Highness to members of deposed dynasties of ducal rank.
Among the nobility, the Almanach de Gotha notes that Highness was accorded to the heads of the families of Murat (a royal dynasty during the Napoleonic era), Hohenberg, Teck and all members of the House of Ligne.
The style was discontinued in the Danish royal family in 2023, having been applied to junior lines for many generations.
Example of official holders of the style Highness: His Highness Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven, son of HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, the maternal grandson of HM Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and nephew of HM Queen Beatrix. Upon his mother's marriage, it was decreed that her children would be known as HH Prince(ss) <name> of Orange-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven.
Modified forms Usually members of an imperial or royal dynasty are addressed as Imperial Highness or Royal Highness (French Altesse Impériale, Altesse Royale; German Kaiserliche Hoheit, Königliche Hoheit; Spanish Alteza Imperial, Alteza Real, etc.) respectively.
Grand Ducal Highness was the treatment accorded cadet princes of those families of ruling grand dukes who did not simply use "Highness", viz. Baden.
While "Highness" (Hoheit) was used for rulers of German duchies, the sovereign Dukes of Modena and of Parma were heads of cadet branches of ruling dynasties of higher rank. They and their cadets therefore used the imperial or royal styles borne by members of those houses, respectively the royal House of Bourbon and the imperial House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
In modern times, Serene Highness (Altesse Sérénissime) is used as the equivalent of the German Durchlaucht. In the 17th century, it became the general style borne by the heads of the reigning princely states of the Holy Roman Empire (reichsständische Fürsten), as "Illustrious Highness (Erlaucht) became customary for those of the comital houses (reichsständische Grafen, i.e. Counts of the Empire). In 1825, the Imperial German Diet agreed to grant the style Durchlaucht to the heads of all mediatized princely houses domiciled in Germany elevated to the rank of Fürst are also styled Durchlaucht. In 1829, the style of Erlaucht, which had formerly been borne by the reigning Counts of the empire, was similarly granted to the mediatized countly families (Almanach de Gotha, 1909, 107).
His Exalted Highness is a rare hybrid of the title style Highness. It is used as a salutation style only for the Nizams of Hyderabad and Berar conferred by the British Government.
Commonwealth realms Highness was the style accorded to princes of the British royal family who were the male-line great-grandchildren of a British sovereign (and the wives/widows of great-grandsons), except the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. In 1917, George V revoked authorization for use of that style.
The children and grandchildren in the male-line of a British sovereign were and are addressed as Royal Highness (His or Her Royal Highness, abbreviated HRH), as are the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (decree of 31 May 1898). The sovereign has the right as a legal fons honorum to grant or revoke use of the style of Highness, as with other styles, titles and honours.British Royal Family Website. The Queen and Honours. The Royal Household. Buckingham Palace. accessed 5 February 2019.
Colonial use In the British Empire, the style (His) Highness became reserved for the elite of the feudatory dynastic heads of the major princely states (mainly in India and other territories—as on the Persian Gulf coast—once under the East India Company). In various other empires, such as the Dutch East Indies (see List of regencies and cities of Indonesia), a similar system was introduced.
Modern Islamic World Royal Afghanistan In Afghanistan the title Jalalat Mahab is used for Sardars, or Princes of the former Muhammadzai dynasty, who are descendants of the Afghan Emir Payindah Muhammad Khan Barakzai. Although Jalalat Mahab is derived from the Arabic term Jalalat literally meaning His Majesty, it is regarded as equal to His Highness internationally. A legal ground for it is a strengthened ius cogens within the Afghan royal family with gateways in the first written constitution of Afghanistan issued by Abdur Rahman Khan in year 1890 and amended by Amanullah Khan in year 1923.Encyclopedia Iranica in Constitutional History of AfghanistanAdamek in Who is Who in Afghanistan
Prince Daoud Khan, a member of the Telai cadet branch and Cousin of the last Afghan King Zahir Shah, acting as prime minister under his cousin held the address Jalalat Mahab Aali Qadr Sardari Alaa (English His Honorable Highness the sublime Prince) during his term as Prime Minister.Mir Assadullah Sadat in Alqab Dowalti
After the constitution of 1964 that changed Afghanistan's state system from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, the descendants of King Nadir Shah held the exclusive address as Alaa Hazrat in which context Hazrat is Turkish and means Majesty or Highness and thus literally translated means Higher Majesty or Higher Highness and is internationally also equal to His Royal Highness. Jalalat Mahab was still used for other cadet branches by customary law and in light of the law of royal expenses, based on Article 13 and 24 of the Royal Constitution of 1964. Cadet branches include:Christopher Buyers in Royal Ark, Afghanistan
Telai, descendants of Sultan Mohammed Khan, including Prince Daoud Khan Seraj, descendants of Dost Mohammed Khan and Shaghasi, descendants of other children of Payindah Muhammad Khan
The King himself held the title Alaa Hazrat Humayoon which literally translated means His Most Noble Majesty, and can be equalized with His Majesty internationally.
Despite the de facto fall of Barakzai leadership through the Soviet Invasion in year 1978, the address is until today still used out of courtesy.
Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, all members of the royal family have the title of Emir (Prince) but sons, daughters, patrilineal granddaughters and grandsons of Ibn Saud are referred to by the style "His Royal Highness" (HRH), differing from those belonging to the cadet branches who are styled as "His/Her Highness" (HH), and in addition to that a reigning king has the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
The definition of the cadet branches has been legally defined in year 2000 by King Abdullah and includes the following:Washington institute in "After King Abdullah" Al Jiluwi, descendants of Prince Jiluwi bin Turki al Saud acting as closest allies to King Abdul Aziz Al Kabeer, descendants of Saud Al Kabeer, who allied with King Abdul Aziz against the Rashidi State Al Thunayan Al Mishari and Al Farhan, who descend from brothers of the dynastic founder Muhammad bin Saud al Muqrin
Gulf States The Emirs of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also use the style of "Highness".
Iraq Patrilineal descendants of former ruling Emirs of Iraq use His Highness for the head of the house
Aga Khan The Aga Khan was granted the style of His Highness by Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom in 1957 upon the death of his grandfather Aga Khan III. This has been a traditional gesture by British sovereigns since the Aga Khan III allied himself with Britain against Afghanistan.
The style of His Highness was formally granted to the Aga Khan IV's successor and eldest son, Aga Khan V, by King Charles III on 10 February 2025.
Republican and non-royal usage 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.
Spanish-speaking world 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 in 1872. 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.