Forms of address in the United Kingdom

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Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below.

Several terms have been abbreviated in the table below. The forms used in the table are given first, followed by alternative acceptable abbreviations in parentheses.

Contents 1 Abbreviations 2 Royalty 3 Nobility 3.1 Peers and peeresses 3.2 Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls 3.3 Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers 3.4 Sons of peers 3.5 Daughters of peers 4 Gentry 4.1 Baronets 4.2 Knights 4.3 Scottish chiefs, lairds and feudal barons 5 Clergy 5.1 Church of England 5.2 Church of Scotland 6 Notes

[edit] Abbreviations

• His/Her Majesty: HM
• His/Her Royal Highness: HRH
• His Grace: HG
• Most Honourable: Most Hon. (Most Honble)
• Right Honourable: Rt Hon. (Rt Honble)
• Honourable: Hon. (Honble)
• Much Honoured:Much Hon'd
• Most Reverend: Most Rev. (Most Revd or Most Rev'd)
• Right Reverend: Rt. Rev. (Rt Revd or Rt Rev'd)
• Very Reverend: Very Rev. (Very Revd or Very Rev'd)
• Reverend: Rev. (Revd or Rev'd)
• Venerable: Ven. (Venble)

[edit] Royalty

Position	On envelopes	Salutation in letter	Oral address
King	HM The King	Your Majesty	Your Majesty, and thenceforward as "Sir/Sire"
Queen	HM The Queen	Your Majesty	Your Majesty, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Prince of Wales	HRH The Prince of Wales	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Sir"
Wife of the Prince of Wales	HRH The Princess of Wales	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
	except for HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
Princess Royal	HRH The Princess Royal	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Royal Peer	HRH The Duke of London eg. HRH The Duke of Kent	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Sir"
Royal Peeress	HRH The Duchess of London eg. HRH The Duchess of Kent	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Sovereign's son (unless a peer)	HRH The Prince John, eg. HRH The Prince Edward	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Sir"
Sovereign's son's wife (unless a peeress)	HRH The Princess John	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Sovereign's daughter (unless a peeress)	HRH The Princess Mary,eg. HRH The Princess Anne	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Sovereign's son's son, Prince of Wales's eldest son's eldest son (unless a peer)	HRH Prince John of London, eg Prince Michael of Kent	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Sir"
Sovereign's son's son's wife (unless a peeress)	HRH Princess John of London, eg Princess Michael of Kent	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness, and thenceforward as "Ma'am"
Sovereign's son's daughter (unless a peeress)	HRH Princess Mary of London, eg Princess Beatrice of York	Your Royal Highness	Your Royal Highness
Sovereign's son's son's son (unless a peer)	Lord John Windsor, eg Lord Nicholas Windsor	Dear Lord John	Lord John
Sovereign's son's son's son's wife (unless a peeress)	Lady John Windsor,eg Lady Nicholas Windsor	Dear Lady John	Lady John
Sovereign's son's son's daughter (unless a peeress)	The Lady Mary Windsor, eg The Lady Helen Taylor	Dear Lady Mary	Lady Mary
[edit] Nobility
[edit] Peers and peeresses
Duke	His Grace The Duke of London	My Lord Duke or Dear Duke (of London)	Your Grace or Duke[citation needed]
Duchess	Her Grace The Duchess of London	Madam or Dear Duchess (of London)	Your Grace or Duchess[citation needed]
Marquess or Marquis	The Most Hon. The Marquess of London	My Lord Marquess or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Your Lordship or Lord London
Marchioness or Marquise	The Most Hon. The Marchioness of London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady[citation needed] or Your Ladyship or Lady London
Earl	The Rt Hon. The Earl of London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Your Lordship or Lord London
Countess	The Rt Hon. The Countess of London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady[citation needed]or Your Ladyship or Lady London
Viscount	The Rt Hon. The Viscount London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Your Lordship or Lord London
Viscountess	The Rt Hon. The Viscountess London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady[citation needed]or Your Ladyship or Lady London
Baron Lord of Parliament	The Rt Hon. The Lord London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Your Lordship or Lord London
Baroness (in her own right)	The Rt Hon. The Lady London or The Rt Hon. The Baroness London	Madam or Dear Lady London or Dear Baroness London	My Lady[citation needed]or Your Ladyship or Lady London or Baroness London
Baroness (in her husband's right) Lady of Parliament (in her or her husband's right)	The Rt Hon. The Lady London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady[citation needed]or Your Ladyship or Lady London
[edit] Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls
(Eldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls use their fathers' highest secondary titles as courtesy titles. Eldest daughters do not have courtesy titles; all courtesy peeresses are wives of courtesy peers.)
Courtesy Marquess	Marquess of London	My Lord Marquess or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Lord London
Courtesy Marchioness	Marchioness of London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady or Lady London
Courtesy Earl	Earl of London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Lord London
Courtesy Countess	Countess of London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady or Lady London
Courtesy Viscount	Viscount London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Lord London
Courtesy Viscountess	Viscountess London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady or Lady London
Courtesy Baron Courtesy Lord of Parliament	Lord London	My Lord or Dear Lord London	My Lord or Lord London
Courtesy Baroness Courtesy Lady of Parliament	Lady London	Madam or Dear Lady London	My Lady or Lady London
[edit] Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers
(Heirs-apparent and heirs-presumptive of Scottish peers use the titles "Master" and "Mistress"; these are substantive, not courtesy titles. If, however, the individual is the eldest son of a Duke, Marquess or Earl, then he uses the appropriate courtesy title, as noted above.)
Scottish peer's heir-apparent or heir-presumptive	The Master of Edinburgh	Sir or Dear Master of Edinburgh	Sir or Master
Scottish peer's heiress-apparent or heiress-presumptive	The Mistress of Edinburgh	Madam or Dear Mistress of Edinburgh	Madam or Mistress
[edit] Sons of peers
Duke's younger son Marquess's younger son	Lord John Smith	My Lord or Dear Lord John (Smith)	My Lord or Lord John
Duke's younger son's wife Marquess's younger son's wife	Lady John Smith	Madam or Dear Lady John	My Lady or Lady John
Earl's younger son Viscount's son Baron's son Lord of Parliament's son	The Hon. John Smith	Sir or Dear Mr Smith	Sir or Mr Smith
Earl's younger son's wife Viscount's son's wife Baron's son's wife Lord of Parliament's son's wife	The Hon. Mrs John Smith	Madam or Dear Mrs Smith	Madam or Mrs Smith
[edit] Daughters of peers
(If a peer's daughter marries another peer or courtesy peer, she takes her husband's rank. If she marries anyone else, she keeps her rank and title, using her husband's surname instead of her maiden name.)
Duke's daughter Marquess's daughter Earl's daughter (unmarried or married to a commoner)	The Lady Mary Smith (if unmarried) Lady Mary Brown (Husband Surname, if Married)	Madam or Dear Lady Mary	My Lady or Lady Mary
Viscount's daughter Baron's daughter Lord of parliament's daughter (unmarried)	The Hon. Mary Smith	Madam or Dear Miss Smith	Madam or Miss Smith
Viscount's daughter Baron's daughter Lord of parliament's daughter (married to a commoner)	The Hon. Mrs Brown (Husband Surname)	Madam or Dear Mrs Brown	Madam or Mrs Brown
[edit] Gentry
[edit] Baronets
Baronet	(The Hon)Sir John Smith, Bt (or Bart.)	Sir or Dear Sir John (Smith)	Sir or Sir John
Baronetess in her own right	Dame Mary Smith, Btss	Madam or Dear Dame Mary (Smith)	Madam or Dame Mary
Baronet's wife	Lady Smith	Madam or Dear Lady Smith	My Lady or Lady Smith
[edit] Knights
Knight (of any order)	Sir John Smith	Sir or Dear Sir John (Smith)	Sir or Sir John
Lady (of the Order of the Garter or the Thistle)	Lady Mary Smith	Madam or Dear Lady Mary (Smith)	My Lady or Lady Mary
Dame (of an order other than the Garter or the Thistle)	Dame Mary Smith	Madam or Dear Dame Mary (Smith)	Madam or Dame Mary
Knight's wife	Lady Smith	Madam or Dear Lady Smith	My Lady or Lady Smith
[edit] Scottish chiefs, lairds and feudal barons
Chief	John Smith of Smith or John Smith of Edinburgh or John Smith of that Ilk or The Smith of Smith or The Smith of Edinburgh or The Smith (varies according to family)	Sir or Dear Smith (if placename in title) or Dear Smith (otherwise)	Edinburgh (if placename in title) or Smith (otherwise)
Feudal Baron	The Much Honoured John Smith of Edinburgh	Sir or Dear Edinburgh	Edinburgh or Baron
Female Chief, laird or feudal baron Chief, Laird or Feudal Baron's wife	As Chief/Laird/feudal Baron, substituting "Mrs" or "Madam" for first name or "The"	Madam or as on envelope	Madam or as on envelope
Chief (etc.)'s heir-apparent	John Smith of Edinburgh, yr or John Smith, yr of Edinburgh or John Smith of Edinburgh or (last only if different first name to father)	Sir or Dear Mr Smith of Edinburgh	Sir or Mr Smith of Edinburgh
Chief (etc.)'s heir-apparent's wife	Mrs Smith of Edinburgh, yr or Mrs Smith, yr of Edinburgh	Madam or Dear Mrs Smith of Edinburgh	Madam or Mrs Smith of Edinburgh
Chief (etc.)'s eldest daughter (if none senior)	Miss Smith of Edinburgh	Madam or Dear Miss Smith of Edinburgh	Madam or Miss Smith of Edinburgh
Chief (etc.)'s younger daughter	Miss Mary Smith of Edinburgh	Madam or Dear Miss Smith of Edinburgh	Madam or Miss Smith of Edinburgh
[edit] Clergy
[edit] Church of England Similar styles are also applied to clergy of equivalent status in other religious organisations.
Archbishop	The Most Rev. and Rt Hon. The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury	Dear Archbishop	Your Grace or Archbishop
Archbishop that is not in Privy Council	The Most Rev. John Smith	Dear Archbishop	Your Grace or Archbishop
Diocesan bishop in Privy Council	The Rt Rev. and Rt Hon. The Lord Bishop of London	Dear Bishop	My Lord or Bishop
Diocesan bishop	The Rt Rev. The Lord Bishop of London	Dear Bishop	My Lord or Bishop
Bishop	The Rt Rev. The Bishop of London or The Rt Rev. The Lord Bishop of London	Dear Bishop	My Lord or Bishop
Dean	The Very Rev. The Dean of London	Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Dean	Dean
Provost	The Very Rev. The Provost of London	Dear Provost	Provost
Archdeacon	The Ven. The Archdeacon of London	Dear Archdeacon	Archdeacon
Prebendary	The Rev. Prebendary Smith	Dear Prebendary Smith	Prebend
Canon	The Rev. Canon John Smith	Dear Canon	Canon
Priest	The Rev. John Smith or Father John Smith	Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith or Dear Father Smith	Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith or Father John Smith/John/Smith or Vicar/Rector/Curate/Chaplain &c. as applicable
Deacon	The Rev. Deacon John Smith or The Rev. John Smith	Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith or Dear Deacon Smith	Deacon Smith or Mr/Mrs/Ms Smith
The usage 'Lord' as applied to a bishop pre-dates the United Kingdom, and is a well-established convention. [edit] Church of Scotland
Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly	His Grace The Lord High Commissioner	Your Grace	Your Grace
Clergy	The Rev. John Smith	Dear Mr Smith	Mr Smith

[edit] Notes

1. The forms given under "Salutation in Letter" is for use in social correspondence only. In formal letters, "Sir" or "Madam" would be used instead.
2. "London" represents any peerage title.
3. "Smith" represents any surname.
4. "Edinburgh" represents any Scottish place name.
5. "of" may be omitted in the form of Marquessates and Earldoms and included in the form of Scottish Viscountcies. It is never present in peerage Baronies and Lordships of Parliament and always present in Dukedoms and Scottish feudal Baronies.
6. Some sources do not recommend the use of the definite article before certain courtesy titles (particularly those who have prospects of promotion within the family's titles), but it is used by official Court publications such as the Court Circular (see below).
7. The exact form of a Scottish chief's style varies from family to family, and is generally based on tradition rather than formal rules.
8. Some styles that could represent more than one class of person are clarified by the use of post-nominal letters. For instance:
   1. Knights and Baronets are distinguished by the use of "Bt" (or, archaically, "Bart") after the latter's names (and by the use of the appropriate post-nominal letters if the former are members of an Order of Chivalry). Knights bachelor have no post-nominal letters.
   2. Substantive peers below the rank of Marquess and courtesy peers who are Privy Counsellors (both of whose titles are preceded by "The Rt Hon.") are distinguished by the use of "PC" after the former's names.
9. If the definite article is not used before courtesy peerages (see above) and The Hon. Elizabeth Smith marries Sir William Brown, she becomes The Hon. Lady Brown, but if she marries the higher-ranked Lord Brown, a courtesy Baron, she becomes only Lady Brown. If this Sir William Brown's father is created Earl of London and Baron Brown, as a result of this ennoblement his wife's style will actually decrease, from "The Hon. Lady Brown" to "Lady Brown".