# How Do I Get a Royal Title? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451 "2011-05-10T23:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gus\_Handsome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@Gus\_Handsome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Handsome)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/1 "2011-05-10T23:58:05Z")
I recently saw this ad and was wondering if it’s legit. I wouldn’t mind getting a Lord title, might be kind of fun, but is it real or is it just some guy sending me a certificate he made in his basement? Thanks Gus > **[HABANERO: Agen Situs Slot Online Resmi di Indonesia](https://trinityhotelcafe.com/)** > > HABANERO merupakan agen situs slot online resmi terpopuler di Indonesia yang menyediakan slot mudah menang jackpot terbesar juga login demo nya. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/2 "2011-05-11T00:26:15Z")
If you’re a woman marry some guy with a title. If your a man you have to find some woman who’s actually the heiress to a royal throne and rely on the current monarch to grant you a title. Those are your only options. I don’t even need to click on that link to tell that website is a scam. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/3 "2011-05-11T01:49:04Z")
I hear you can get a star named after yourself as well! :rolleyes: Seriously though, it’s some guy sending you a certificate he made in his basement. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/4 "2011-05-11T03:02:57Z")
There’s also an adoption loophole, I believe… But yea, that guy is selling you some certificate he made in his basement, I’m thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Hambil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hambil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hambil)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/5 "2011-05-11T03:03:38Z")
I know that in England it is illegal to use the title Sir if you are not a Sir. It’s taken just as seriously as if you used the title Dr. here, but were not a doctor. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that being the case. So, you can call yourself whatever you want, and sell titles online I assume, but just be careful where and how you use them. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/6 "2011-05-11T03:08:12Z")
So would happen if Queen Latifah married Larry King and went to England? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/7 "2011-05-11T03:22:43Z")
Ask [His Lordship the Viscount St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonker_Harris). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/8 "2011-05-11T03:27:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ask [His Lordship the Viscount St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonker_Harris). Didn’t get him into the recent royal wedding, though… ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/9 "2011-05-11T05:02:09Z")
> [@Hambil](#): > > I know that in England it is illegal to use the title Sir if you are not a Sir. It’s taken just as seriously as if you used the title Dr. here, but were not a doctor. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that being the case. I don’t think that’s true. It’s illegal to practice medicine without a license, but you can call yourself doctor all you want. Optometrists and chiropractors are “doctors” but don’t have MDs or PhDs. ---
**Author:** ![BarryB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BarryB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarryB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/10 "2011-05-11T05:22:35Z")
The term “royal title” means a title given only to a member of the royal family. The idea you could purchase one is absurd. Also in the British context it is illegal to sell peerages, though the recent Labour government was accused of doing it. If you want to put Lord X on your credit cards, well frankly that’s up to you. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/11 "2011-05-11T05:43:57Z")
> [@kenetic](#): > > I don’t think that’s true. It’s illegal to practice medicine without a license, but you can call yourself doctor all you want. Optometrists and chiropractors are “doctors” but don’t have MDs or PhDs. By which I’m referring to the doctor thing. I have no knowledge whatsoever about British peerage. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/12 "2011-05-11T06:36:54Z")
You could change your name to Prince. I’ve heard people call dogs Prince, so I assume it’s legal. Also, you can buy a lordship, not a peerage or anything, but the lordship of a manor. There was one mentioned in the local paper recently, the lordship of the manor of a local village was for sale. Wouldn’t entitle you to call yourself Lord Handsome, but would entitle you to call yourself Gus\_Handsome, Lord of Cromwell. [http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/news/view.asp?id=70e5d589-66b2-102d-b48c-9afc21b01142](http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/news/view.asp?id=70e5d589-66b2-102d-b48c-9afc21b01142) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/13 "2011-05-11T06:43:50Z")
> [@kenetic](#): > > I don’t think that’s true. It’s illegal to practice medicine without a license, but you can call yourself doctor all you want. Optometrists and chiropractors are “doctors” but don’t have MDs or PhDs. Optometrists hold postgraduate Doctor of Optometry degrees. This is a non-MD professional medical doctorate (like a DDS) and they are quite entitled to be called Doctor. Chiropractors are quite entitled to be called idiots. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/14 "2011-05-11T06:45:29Z")
go to your nearest newspaper publisher and hand over to the editor-in-chief your written claim to the title “emperor of the united states of america.” without so much as a word, insist that he publish it the next day. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/15 "2011-05-11T09:10:57Z")
> [@Hambil](#): > > I know that in England it is illegal to use the title Sir if you are not a Sir. It’s taken just as seriously as if you used the title Dr. here, but were not a doctor. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that being the case. > > So, you can call yourself whatever you want, and sell titles online I assume, but just be careful where and how you use them. It’s not illegal. It just makes you look like a cock. To the OP, a Lordship is a title, but not a \*royal \*title. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/16 "2011-05-11T09:44:14Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > You could change your name to Prince. I’ve heard people call dogs Prince, so I assume it’s legal. Or your parents could actually, legally give you a first name of Prince, and put it on your birth certificate. (Of course, then when you grow up, you might decide to change that to an unpronounceable symbol for a name.) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/17 "2011-05-11T11:15:03Z")
Quite a few spelling mistakes - I really wouldn’t buy a “Duke of Luxemberg” title from somebody who doesn’t know how to spell the name of the country correctly. And just to clarify something - a knighthood or damehood, i.e. the honour that people such as Sir Paul McCartney or Dame Judi Dench have, is not a peerage. It’s more like getting a congressional medal or something. And I too would like to see a cite that it’s illegal to pass yourself off as a “Sir”. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/18 "2011-05-11T11:35:42Z")
Something legally dissimilar but related in effect is actually possible in Germany: With the abolition of the nobility as a legal estate with the 1919 constitution, what used to be titles of nobility have become the respective peoples’ surnames (with the concession that there are male/female forms of the surname, as was formerly the case with titles, i.e. the surname of the daughter of Count X is not Count X but Countess X). You can get someone’s surname by marrying him/her, or, less onerously, by having him/her adopt you. An example of this is [Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Prinz_von_Anhalt). The nobility (which today in Germany is not a legal estate but a self-policing subculture) won’t accept you as one of them but the new surname seems to work well in impressing the gullible. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/19 "2011-05-11T11:58:16Z")
I might be dubious about sending money to someone who can’t tell the difference between regal and noble titles. As he says in the FAQs > [@](#): > > We currently offer the following titles: Lord, Lady, Baron, Baroness, Count, Countess, Duke, Duchess, Marquis, Marchioness, Viscount, Viscountess, Earl, Sir and Dame. None of which are royal or regal titles. I like the description of the legal process: > [@](#): > > We check your title request for errors and copyright violation, and then send it, along with a fee to the British Title Registrars who also conduct relevant checks and make out the certificates and documents. They record your new name in their register and send your presentation documents and copies of the official documentation back to us and then we make up the title package Needless to say the “British Title Registrars” only to exist in this guy’s universe. To be fair to this guy I can’t see it as a major scam. Surely nobody thinks they are buying a real title for $197? Most people must do it as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451/20 "2011-05-11T12:08:57Z")
In England, the reigning Monarch grants you the title. They don’t do it often as new titles outside the royal family (although knights and dames are made all the time). i.e. commoners don’t get raised to the peerage often. In England, adoption will not currently grant you title. The system works similarly in other places. No one grants new titles where there is no longer a royal house (i.e. Russia - there are Russian Dukes and Duchesses, but at this point you have to inherit or marry in). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-royal-title/581451.md?page=2)