Why Addressing Queen Elizabeth II As ‘Your Royal Highness’ Is Wrong

Even royal family fans sometimes get Queen Elizabeth II’s title or address her in the wrong manner. But it’s not surprising since Her Majesty is the longest-reigning monarch, and her title has changed a lot over the years.

Most people are probably thinking that addressing her as “Your Royal Highness” is the proper way to do it. Apparently, it’s not. The reason for that is that it can be used to address any member of the royal family except the Queen herself.

There are some variations depending on sex when addressing royal family members. For instance, one can address any male member with “Your Royal Highness,” and the female members are “Your Highness.” But that’s only when addressing them for the first time. One can later refer to them as “Ma’am” or “Sir” during the rest of the conversation.

Queen Elizabeth II’s title has changed a lot of times over the years. When her late father was still the Duke of York, her title was Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. But after her father became the king in 1936, the “York” was dropped from her official title since her father was no longer the Duke of York.

But her title changed soon after she married Prince Phillip in 1947. Since her husband became the Duke of Edinburgh, her formal title likewise reflected the change and became Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh.

Of course, that too changed five years after. After her coronation in 1952, her official title had to be changed as well to reflect her now elevated status.

Thus, people can now address her by her formal title, which is quite a mouthful. The full title should be “Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”

But even the royal family seems to acknowledge that using the full title is a bit too lengthy. Thus, one can find that in their official site, she is referred to as Her Majesty the Queen.