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Legacy eraPost-Legacy era
Royal Family Standard

The standard of a Royal Family member

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 Old Tionese 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 absent a request otherwise. 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 wore perfectly circular ones.

Tariun and his wife Breek Zagrev decided that their three children, Delliak, Nike, and Amina, should not be given royal titles until they reached maturity and were commissioned as Centurions, to prevent them developing an arrogant outlook. Rin accepted that logic, and followed the same course when Katie Turgachia requested her daughters Sovi and Taia not be crowned either.

Marriage[]

The issue of married royalty did not arise until 145 ABY, when Tariun Sakaros married Breek. 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:

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.

Status in the Empire[]

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. By custom, the royal assaulted could pardon his or her attacker (or at least commute the sentence to something less than instant death). 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.

Members of the Royal Family were allowed to use a version of the Royal Standard of the Golden Empire as a personal symbol, with the gold phoenix and circle on red. Rin and Tariun Sakaros, the only royals when the standard was created, opted for red to reflect their half-Sith heritage.

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 Persian title. The feminine form, "Mirzaya", is invented.

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