Royal and noble ranks of the Galactic Empire

The upper strata of the used a system of royal and noble ranks to serve as a hierarchy in the nobility. Although the Emperor recognized the many regional and planetary nobility throughout his vast realm, he created an official system of titles and ranks to be used in the on. These titles were awarded by His Imperial Majesty and, being official titles of the Empire, took precedence over regional royal and noble titles. Most were awarded to high ranking government and military officials for distinguished service and loyalty or to members of regional nobility who served the Empire. Throughout the reign of Emperor Palpatine the nobility held many important positions within the bureaucracy and the military.

Rules of inheritance and hierarchy
Most titles were kept at the same level after being passed down to the next generation upon the death of the first holder. The only exception were the imperial princely titles awarded by the Emperor, which were downgraded by one rank every time they were passed down, until they reached prince of the fourth rank, at which point they were left the same. The lowest noble title, Imperial Knight, was non-hereditary.

The order of precedence for noble titles in the Empire was as follows: imperial titles (members of the Imperial Family), non-imperial nobility (noble titles of the Empire), and regional nobility (holders of titles not awarded by the Empire). In the case of titles "imperial" referred to the fact that they were held by members of Emperor Palpatine's family, although since his real family remained obscure they were only granted to non-relatives on special occasions, which then became cadet lines of the Imperial Family. Non-imperial refers to normal noble titles of the Empire that were not part of the Imperial Family.

Some titles were awarded with a fief name attached to them, although most of the time this was done nominally and symbolically. For example, a Moff who ruled a certain sector or a general who pacified an uprising on a certain planet would have that place's name in their title (i.e. "The Duke of ... ").

Imperial Family
The top level of titles in the nobility were those held by members of the of Emperor. As he possessed few living relatives and his family was relatively obscure, most of these were only held by him or by no one, only existing on paper. On some rare special occasions members of royal families of different s were also awarded these titles, making them honorary members of the Imperial family but strictly not designating them as the heir-apparent. Imperial titles immediately took precedence over non-imperial noble titles.


 * Prince of the First Rank (also sometimes called Prince of the Blood or Prince of the Empire) – The highest ranking title, was never rewarded to anyone during the Empire's existence. It signified the heir-apparent of the Emperor, but no one was ever designated to that position.
 * Prince of the Second Rank (also called Prince of the Sector) – The second-highest rank, awarded on several occasions to important nobility from areas such as the and the  sectors. It essentially implied that the holder of the title was a ruler of a sector or similarly-sized territory, but this was mostly nominal.
 * Prince of the Third Rank (also called Prince of the System) – The third-highest rank, awarded on some occasions to other regional nobility and royalty from throughout the Empire that ruled one or a few systems.
 * Prince of the Fourth Rank (also called Prince of the Banner) – The lowest princely peerage, awarded to planetary leaders and military officers for extreme bravery and leadership.

The four ranks above were nominally to be given to the male descendants of the Emperor, but there were none, and they were instead awarded to either distinguished servants of the Empire or regional leaders and nobility. Female holders used "Princess" in the place of Prince. The families of the title holders were thus considered to be official cadet lines of the Imperial Family, and after the several Princes had what were considered to be legitimate claims to the throne.

Official consorts of the title holders were automatically granted the title of "Prince/Princess Consort" of whichever rank their spouse held. They were considered to be on the bottom of the hierarchy within the Imperial Family, just above dukes of the non-imperial nobility.

High nobility
The following were noble titles that were considered to be part of the high nobility, or the uppermost strata of the ruling class. Holders of these titles were often the most influential and prestigious officials in the Empire, awarded by the Emperor for distinguished service and other achievements. Although only the Galactic Emperor and the, as the holder of the , could officially grant a title, high ranking officials and officers could recommend individuals for a title if they carried out an act of distinguished service. In practice, the majority of the high nobles were important bureaucrats, generals and admirals, regional leaders, and Moffs. Each of the above ranks came in two classes, First Class and Second Class. Thus a holder's full title would be "Marquis First Class" or "Marquis of the First Class".
 * Duke
 * Marquis
 * Count

Lower nobility
Titles of lower nobility were seen to be not as prestigious as the high nobility but were still part of the Empire's elite. The lesser nobles were usually junior and senior ranking military officers and bureaucrats. The first two titles also came in two classes. The title of Knight was often awarded to lower-ranking military personnel who performed a feat of valor or bravery in the name of the Empire in battle. Sometimes the Imperial government also sold the title of Knight to raise funds for different projects.
 * Viscount
 * Baron
 * Imperial Knight

Behind the scenes
This article was the result of the lack of official noble titles in the Galactic Empire that the author saw. Besides a few in canon and Legends, there seemed to be no official Imperial noble titles. So the author decided to create this article to establish his own version of what the official imperial noble titles would be like and to use as a reference for future fanon works. The inspirations for the titles and the system include the real noble ranks of the Qing dynasty in China, as well as the fictional nobility from the Galactic Empire in Legend of the Galactic Heroes and the Holy Britannian Empire in Code Geass.