Prince
A prince is member of the nobility. It is a title used to indicate varying levels of rank. Many presently take it to mean that a prince is a male member of the royal family. However, that was not always so. It was not originally exclusively used for males. Queen Elizabeth I was refered to as "a prince admirable above her sex" by William Camden, her historian.
Princes in the SCA
There are two types of princes in the SCA, Crown Princes and "Princes Regnant" (or "landed Princes" or "ruling Princes"). They are usually referred to as Your Highness or Your Royal Highness.
A Crown Prince is the heir of a kingdom. They achieve this position by victory in a Crown tournament, either by their own hand or that of their consort. The usual term of a Crown Prince is three months, after which they will step up to become the King or Monarch of their Kingdom. Crown Princes are permitted to use the heir's version of the Kingdom arms (often distinguished by a label of three points) and coronets until their coronation.
A Prince Regnant is one of the couple currently ruling a principality. They may have achieved this position through victory in a Coronet tournament by their own hand, or by being consort to the victor of a Coronet tournament. Princes are permitted to display the principality arms and coronet for the duration of their reign.
When a Prince Regnant steps down they become a Viscount, regardless of how many times they have ruled, unless they are already a Count or a Duke.
(SCA humor: Someone who has been Prince once is a Viscount, twice is a Biscuit and three times is a Triscuit)
The SCA recognises the following alternate titles in other languages as the equivalent to Prince:
| Language | Alternate Form |
|---|---|
| Albanian | Princ / Bir Mbreti |
| Arabic | Amir |
| Catalan | Princep |
| Czech | Knize / Princ |
| Danish | Prins |
| Dutch | Prins |
| Finnish | Ruhtinas / Prinssi |
| French | Prince |
| German | Prinz |
| Greek | Pringkepas |
| Hebrew | Nasi |
| Hungarian | Fejedelem |
| Icelandic | Prinz |
| Irish Gaelic | Prionsa / Flaith |
| Italian | Principe |
| Latin | Princeps |
| Middle Norwegian | Prinz |
| Old English | Ætheling |
| Polish | Ksiaze |
| Portuguese | Principe |
| Romanian | Principe |
| Russian | Tsarevich |
| Scots Gaelic | Prionnsa/Flath |
| Spanish | Principe |
| Swedish | Prins |
| Turkish | Prens / Emir |
| Welsh | Tywysog / Teyrn / Edling / Gwrthrychiad |
