A crown prince or hereditary prince is the
heir apparent to the
throne in a royal or imperial
monarchy. The female form of the title is crown
princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife of the person styled crown
prince.
Crown prince as a descriptive term has been used throughout history for the prince who is first-in-line to a throne and is expected to succeed (i.e. the heir apparent), barring any unforeseen future event preventing this. In certain monarchies, a more specific
substantive title may be accorded and become associated with the position of heir apparent (e.g.
Prince of Wales in the
United Kingdom,
Prince of Asturias in the
Kingdom of Spain and formerly the
Dauphin in
France). In these monarchies, the term crown prince may be used less often than the substantive title (or never).
Until the late twentieth century, no modern monarchy adopted a system whereby females would be guaranteed to succeed to the throne (i.e.
absolute primogeniture). A crown princess would therefore be more likely to refer to the
spouse of a crown prince. She would be styled crown princess, not in her
own right but by
courtesy.
Today, in monarchies lower than royal rank the term "crown prince" is used in English (e.g. Crown Prince of
Umm al-Quwain).
Description
The term crown prince is not used in European monarchies where the hereditary sovereign holds a title below that of king/queen or emperor/empress (such as
grand duke or
prince), although it is sometimes used as a synonym for heir apparent.
In Europe, where
primogeniture governed succession to all monarchies except those of the
Papacy and
Andorra, the eldest son or (more recently) eldest child of the current monarch fills the role of crown prince or princess, depending upon whether females of the
dynasty enjoy personal
succession rights. Male precedence has been abolished in
Belgium,
Denmark,
Luxembourg,
Norway,
Sweden, the
Netherlands and the
United Kingdom.[a][b] The eldest living child of a monarch is sometimes not the heir apparent or crown prince, because that position can be held by a descendant of a deceased older child who, by "right of representation", inherits the same place in the line of succession that would be held by the ancestor if he or she were still living (for example,
Carl Gustaf, Duke of Jämtland was the crown prince of Sweden from 1950 to 1973, as the senior grandson by male primogeniture of King
Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, although the former
Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland was Gustaf VI Adolf's eldest living son, and
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland his eldest living
dynastic son during those years).
In some monarchies, those of the
Middle East for example, in which primogeniture is not the decisive factor in dynastic succession, a person may not possess the title or status of crown prince by right of birth, but may obtain (and lose) it as a result of an official designation made on some other legal or traditional basis, such as former crown prince
Hassan bin Talal of
Jordan.
Compare
heir apparent and
heir presumptive. In Scandinavian kingdoms, the heir presumptive to the crown may hold a different title from an
heir apparent: hereditary prince (German: Erbprinz, French: prince héréditaire). It is also the title borne by the heir apparent of
Liechtenstein, as well as the heir apparent or presumptive of
Monaco. In
Luxembourg, the heir apparent bears the title of hereditary grand duke (
German: Erbgroßherzog,
Luxembourgish: ierfgroussherzog); along with hereditary prince, it was also the title borne by the heirs apparent to the thrones of the grand duchies, sovereign
duchies and
principalities, and of
mediatized princely families in the
Germanmonarchies abolished in 1918.
Substantive traditional titles
Many monarchies use or did use
substantive titles for their heirs apparent, often of historical origin:
Prince of Orange (Netherlands), whether or not the equivalent title is held by the spouse of the titleholder is decided by the Dutch parliament (e.g.,
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands was never titled Princess of Orange by marriage for this reason)
Some monarchies have used (although not always de jure) a territorial title for heirs apparent which, though often perceived as a crown princely title, is not automatically hereditary. It generally requires a specific conferral by the sovereign, which may be withheld.
King of the Romans (
Holy Roman Empire) – an elective, rather than an inherited title, for the designated successor—usually the son, but sometimes the brother—of the Emperor
In
Persia (Iran), during the
Pahlavi dynasty and
Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun
Vali Ahd,
Shahzada (given name), (in Persian: والاحضرت همایون ولایتعهد) i.e. His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince ...;
The title was adopted by many
oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e.g. Walet as alternative title for the
Nepali (Hindu) royal heir apparent; first used Crown Prince
Trailokya in the middle of the nineteenth century, taken from the Mughal title 'Vali Ahd'
the heir apparent was styled: Sri Sri Sri Sri SriYuvarajadhiraj ('Young King of Kings', i.e. Crown Prince) (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva;
the eldest son of the heir apparent was styled: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Nava Yuvaraj ('Young Crown Prince') (personal name) Bir Bikram Shah Deva
East Asian traditions:
The cognates of Chinese Huang
Taizi (皇太子, "Great Imperial Son") – if a son of the reigning emperor, and Huang Taisun (皇太孫, Great Imperial Grandson) – if a grandson of the emperor:
The crown prince of an emperor was sometimes referred as Dong-gong (東宮, 'East Palace') due to the location of his residence from the main palace.
If the crown prince is the son of a king, he was called 世子 (Shizi).
The crown prince was not necessarily the first-born son.
During the
Joseon Dynasty in
Korea, the crown prince was often referred as Dong-gung (동궁, 東宮, 'East Palace') or wangseja (王世子 왕세자); The first-born son was called wonja (元子 원자).