Royal Family of the Golden Empire

The Royal Family of the Golden Empire referred to those citizens of the Empire related to the Sovereign by blood, marriage, or "adoption".

Titles
The Sovereign of the Golden Empire was entitled "King" or "Queen". Because elevation to the monarchy was by the Sovereign's appointment and the confirmation of the Consular Assembly, not primogeniture, the spouse of the Sovereign was "Prince Consort" or "Princess Consort", respectively; both "King" and "Queen" were restricted to reigning monarchs.

All other members of the Royal Household were entitled "Prince" or "Princess". Those born into royalty were given the style "Royal Highness", while those married or adopted in were styled simply "Highness". More distant members of the Royal Family were entitled "Mirza" or "Mirzaya", for which Rin borrowed an word meaning "descendant". Blood royal mirzas and mirzayas were styled "Your Royal Grace", while others were "Your Grace".

Membership
All Royal titles were granted solely at the discretion of the Sovereign, and thus none were gained automatically by birth or marriage. In practice, however, there were three methods by which citizens could become royalty.

Blood
While no one could technically be "born into" the Royal Family, in practice, Rin Sakaros extended royal status to her blood relatives and their descendants. By 146 ABY, there were four accepted lines of royal descent. To be considered "blood royalty", a being had to be a descendant of Rin herself, Tariun or Nagarian Sakaros (Rin's paternal half-brothers), or Jasmine Auroras (Rin's maternal half-sister).

Blood royals had the right to wear circlets which were silver and gold, as opposed to all other royals, who wore all silver (or the Sovereign, who wore all gold). Mirzas and mirzayas wore circlets which dipped to a slight point above their noses (like widows' peaks), while princes and princesses work perfectly circular ones.

Marriage
The issue of married royalty did not arise until 145 ABY, when Tariun Sakaros married Breek Zagrev. Rin created her a Princess of the Golden Empire, and in doing so set the precedent for the spouses of royalty to become royalty themselves.

Adoption and special appointment
Though usually restricted only to blood and marriage, the Sovereign had the right to extend royal status to any citizen of the Empire for any reason. The first use of this power was in 140 ABY, when Rin Sakaros made her first cousin, once removed Andromeda Keane the first Princess of the Empire (being a distant relation, Andromeda was not considered a blood royal).

Though Tariun Sakaros was the first Phoenix Prince, by law the Phoenix Prince had to also be a Prince of the Empire if he wasn't one before his appointment, thus leading to the possibility of a future heir being an "adopted" royal.

The Royal Household
The Royal Household was a subset of the Royal Family. Its membership was restricted by law to a more select group of Royal Family members, all of whom (other than the Sovereign and Phoenix Prince) were entitled to bear the style "Highness" or "Royal Highness" and the title "Prince" or "Princess". Members of the Royal Household aside from the Sovereign and Phoenix Prince were protected by the Household Guard.

Composition
By law, the following beings were members of the Royal Household:
 * The Sovereign
 * The Phoenix Prince(ss)
 * Any former Sovereign
 * All children and grandchildren of the Sovereign
 * The current head of each royal line of descent (i.e., Rin Sakaros, Tariun Sakaros, Nagarian Sakaros, and Jasmine Auroras, or their eldest living descendants)
 * The spouses of the above

Minor children of any member of the Royal Household were protected by the Household Guard until reaching the age of majority. However, they were given the titles Mirza and Mirzaya, rather than Prince and Princess.

Rights and privileges
Membership in the Royal Family brought some special rights in the Empire. Foremost, assaulting a member of the Royal Family was grounds for an automatic death sentence, to be executed immediately. Until 151 ABY, most close members of the Royal Family were protected by Royal Guards, and all had at least a contingent of bodyguards provided by the Empire.

The Sovereign carried several styles, but the most formal was "His/Her Glorious Imperial Majesty". Blood royals could use the style "His/Her Royal Highness", while all other members of the royal family used "His/Her Highness".

While not exempt from the law, members of the Royal Family were normally immune from prosecution in normal courts and could be tried only by the Sovereign. However, the Sovereign herself could lift this privilege to allow Royal Family members to face normal trials.

Duties and restrictions
Rin Sakaros expected royalty to be model citizens, and thus required her family to work for the Empire's interests in some way. Tariun Sakaros served as his sister's foremost agent and her first Royal Executor. Andromeda Keane, though advanced in age when she became a princess, served as a sort of goodwill ambassador for the monarchy, attending artistic events, school openings, and other public relations functions on behalf of Rin, especially when the Empire became embroiled in The Tribulation. Rin expected her brother Nagarian and all of Tariun's children to serve the Empire as Centurions.

Members of the Royal Family were ineligible to receive any other Royal honors, on the principle that the Empire bestowed no higher honor than membership in the Royal Family. However, royals could still serve in the military or the Order of Keltrayu and receive military titles or the rank of Centurion.

Behind the scenes
The title "Mirza" for some royals in the Empire was derived from. The feminine form, "Mirzaya", is invented.