Royal family

A royal family is the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while the terms comital family, ducal family, grand ducal family, or princely family are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning count, duke, grand duke, or prince. However, in common parlance members of any family which reigns by hereditary right are often referred to as royalty or "royals." It is also customary in some circles to refer to the extended relations of a deposed monarch and his or her descendants as a royal family. A dynasty is sometimes referred to as "the House of ...". As of July 2013, there are 26 active sovereign monarchies in the world who rule or reign over 43 countries in all.

Members of a royal family
A royal family typically includes the spouse of the reigning monarch, surviving spouses of a deceased monarch, the children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and paternal cousins of the reigning monarch, as well as their spouses. In some cases, royal family membership may extend to great grandchildren and more distant descendants of a monarch. In certain monarchies where voluntary abdication is the norm, such as the Netherlands, a royal family may also include one or more former monarchs. There is often a distinction between persons of the blood royal and those that marry into the royal family. In certain instances, such as in Canada, the royal family is defined by who holds the styles Majesty and Royal Highness. Under most systems, only persons in the first category are dynasts, that is, potential successors to the throne (unless the member of the latter category is also in line to the throne in their own right, a frequent occurrence in royal families which frequently intermarry). This is not always observed; some monarchies have operated by the principle of jure uxoris.

In addition, certain relatives of the monarch (by blood or marriage) possess special privileges and are subject to certain statutes, conventions, or special common law. The precise functions of a royal family vary depending on whether the polity in question is an absolute monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, or somewhere in between. In certain monarchies, such as that found in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or in political systems where the monarch actually exercises executive power, such as in Jordan, it is not uncommon for the members of a royal family to hold important government posts or military commands. In most constitutional monarchies, however, members of a royal family perform certain public, social, or ceremonial functions, but refrain from any involvement in electoral politics or the actual governance of the country.

The specific composition of royal families varies from country to country, as do the titles and royal and noble styles held by members of the family. The composition of the royal family may be regulated by statute enacted by the legislature (e.g. Spain, the Netherlands, and Japan since 1947), the sovereign's prerogative and common law tradition (e.g. the United Kingdom), or a private house law (e.g., Liechtenstein, the former ruling houses of Bavaria, Prussia, Hanover, etc.). Public statutes, constitutional provisions, or conventions may also regulate the marriages, names, and personal titles of royal family members. The members of a royal family may or may not have a surname or dynastic name (see Royal House).

In a constitutional monarchy, when the monarch dies, there is always a law or tradition of succession to the throne that either specifies a formula for identifying the precise order of succession among family members in line to the throne or specifies a process by which a family member is chosen to inherit the crown. Usually in the former case the exact line of hereditary succession among royal individuals may be identified at any given moment during prior reigns (e.g. United Kingdom, Sark, Nizari Ismailis, Japan, Balobedus, Sweden, Kingdom of Benin) whereas in the latter case the next sovereign may be selected (or changed) only during the reign or shortly after the demise of the immediately preceding monarch (e.g. Cambodia, KwaZulu Natal, Buganda, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Yorubaland, The Kingitanga). Some monarchies employ a mix of these selection processes (Malaysia, Monaco, Tonga, Jordan, Morocco), providing for both an identifiable line of succession as well as authority for the monarch, dynasty or other institution to alter the line in specific instances without changing the general law of succession. Some countries have abolished royalty altogether, as in post-revolutionary France (finally in 1870) and Russia (1917).

Africa

 * Lesotho Royal Family
 * Moroccan Royal Family
 * Swazi Royal Family
 * Zulu Royal Family

Americas

 * Antiguan and Barbudan Royal Family
 * Bahamian Royal Family
 * Barbadian Royal Family
 * Belizean Royal Family
 * Canadian Royal Family
 * Grenadian Royal Family
 * Jamaican Royal Family
 * Kittitian and Nevisian Royal Family
 * Saint Lucian Royal Family
 * Vincentian Royal Family

Asia

 * Bruneian Royal Family
 * Bhutanese Royal Family
 * Cambodian Royal Family
 * Japanese Imperial Family
 * Javanese Royal Families
 * Yogyakarta Royal Families
 * Yogyakarta Royal Family
 * Pakualam Ducal Family
 * Surakarta Royal Families
 * Surakarta Royal Family
 * Mangkunegaran Ducal Family
 * Malaysian royal families
 * Johor Royal Family
 * Kedah Royal Family
 * Kelantan Royal Family
 * Negeri Sembilan Royal Family
 * Pahang Royal Family
 * Perak Royal Family
 * Perlis Royal Family
 * Selangor Royal Family
 * Terengganu Royal Family
 * Thai Royal Family

Europe

 * Belgian Royal Family
 * British Royal Family
 * Danish Royal Family
 * Dutch Royal Family
 * Liechtenstein Princely Family
 * Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family
 * Monegasque Princely Family
 * Norwegian Royal Family
 * Spanish Royal Family
 * Swedish Royal Family

Middle East

 * Bahraini Royal Family
 * Jordanian Royal Family
 * Kuwaiti Royal Family
 * Omani Royal Family
 * Qatari Royal Family
 * Saudi Royal Family
 * United Arab Emirates Royal Families

Oceania

 * Australian Royal Family
 * New Zealand Royal Family
 * Papua New Guinean Royal Family
 * Solomon Islands Royal Family
 * Tongan Royal Family
 * Tuvaluan Royal Family

Deposed royal families

 * Austro-Hungarian imperial family
 * Baroda royal family
 * Mysore Royal Family (Wadiyar Dynasty)
 * Bavarian royal family
 * Brazilian Imperial Family
 * Bulgarian royal family
 * Greek Royal Family
 * Ethiopian imperial family
 * Hessian Grand Ducal Family
 * Italian royal family


 * Iranian Imperial family
 * Jodhpur royal family
 * Korean imperial family
 * Laotian royal family
 * Manchu imperial family
 * Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) grand ducal family
 * Mexican imperial family
 * Ming imperial family


 * Nepalese royal family
 * Ottoman imperial family
 * Portuguese royal family
 * Romanian royal family
 * Russian imperial family
 * Hawaiian Royal Family
 * Song imperial family
 * Yemeni royal family
 * Yugoslavian royal family

Mediatised princely families
Whilst mediatization occurred in other countries such as France, Italy and Russia, only the certain houses within the former Holy Roman Empire are collectively called the Mediatized Houses.
 * Arenberg ducal family (Belgium)
 * Fürstenberg princely family (Germany)
 * Ligne princely family (Belgium)
 * Merode princely family (Belgium)
 * Schwarzenberg princely family (Bohemia)
 * Thurn und Taxis princely family (Germany)

Royal houses and dynasties

 * House of Asturias-Cantabria
 * Aberffraw House of Gwynedd
 * Al-Abbasi
 * Al Khalifa
 * Al-Sabah
 * Uyunid dynasty
 * Alaouite dynasty
 * Angevin dynasties
 * House of Ingelger
 * Angevin kings of England
 * Capetian House of Anjou
 * House of Valois-Anjou
 * Artaxiad dynasty
 * Cadet branch in Georgia
 * Arsacid dynasty
 * Cadet branch in Armenia
 * Cadet branch in Caucasian Albania
 * Cadet branch in Georgia
 * Artsruni dynasty
 * Sassanid dynasty
 * House of Árpád
 * House of Arslan (The Lakhmids)
 * House of Aviz
 * House of Bernadotte
 * House of Bagrat
 * Bagratuni dynasty of Armenia
 * Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia
 * Balti dynasty
 * Bonaparte
 * Borjigid
 * House of Bourbon
 * House of Bokassa
 * House of Orléans
 * House of Bourbon-Parma
 * House of Braganza
 * House of Capet
 * Carolingian dynasty
 * House of Coimbra
 * Chakri Dynasty (House of Mahidol)
 * Dynasties of China
 * Xia dynasty
 * Shang dynasty
 * Zhou dynasty
 * Qin dynasty
 * Han dynasty
 * Sui dynasty
 * Tang dynasty
 * Song dynasty
 * Yuan dynasty
 * Ming dynasty
 * Qing dynasty
 * Comnenian dynasty
 * Cochin Royal Family
 * Davidic line
 * House of Dlamini
 * Flavian dynasty
 * Gediminids
 * Giray dynasty
 * House of Grimaldi
 * House of Glücksburg
 * House of Habsburg
 * House of Habsburg-Lorraine
 * Rubenid dynasty
 * Hethumid dynasty


 * House of Hamengkubuwono
 * House of Hanover
 * Hashemite
 * Hasmonean
 * House of Hesse
 * House of Hohenzollern
 * Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
 * Dynasties of India
 * Maurya Empire
 * Chalukya dynasty
 * Chola dynasty
 * Gupta dynasty
 * Kushan dynasty
 * Mughal dynasty
 * Peshwa dynasty
 * Rajput dynasties
 * Nizam dynasty (Hyderabad)
 * Wadiyar dynasty (Mysore) royal family.
 * Jagiellons
 * Julio-Claudian dynasty
 * House of Karađorđević
 * Keita Dynasty
 * Khun Lo Dynasty
 * Hawaiian houses
 * House of Kalākaua
 * House of Kamehameha
 * House of Kawānanakoa
 * House of Laanui-Kalokuokamaile
 * Irish houses
 * Ó Conchubhair Donn of Connacht
 * O'Neill dynasty of Ulster
 * O'Brien dynasty of Thomond
 * MacMurrough Kavanagh of Leinster
 * MacCarthy of Desmond
 * O'Rorke of Breifne
 * Eóganachta
 * Dynasties of Korea
 * Unified Silla
 * Joseon Dynasty (House of Yi)
 * House of Lancaster
 * House of Lusignan
 * Merovingian dynasty
 * Nayaks of Kandy
 * House of Nemanjić
 * Muhammad Ali dynasty
 * Nigerian houses
 * Ooduan Royal Family of Ife, Egba, Ketu, Sabe, Oyo, Ijero and the Ilas
 * Asodeboyede Royal Family of Akure
 * Eweka Royal Family of Benin
 * Ologun Kutere Royal Family of Lagos


 * House of Obrenović
 * House of Oldenburg
 * Omrides
 * House of Holstein-Gottorp
 * Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (elder line)
 * House of Orange-Nassau
 * House of Pakubuwono
 * Ottoman dynasty
 * Pahlavi dynasty
 * Piast dynasty
 * House of Plantagenet
 * Přemyslid dynasty
 * Qajar dynasty
 * Timurid dynasty
 * Romanov (Holstein-Gottorp-und-Romanov)
 * Rurik dynasty
 * Safavid dynasty
 * House of Saud (Saudis)
 * House of Savoy
 * House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
 * Solomonic dynasty
 * House of Stuart
 * House of Trastámara
 * Travancore royal family
 * Trần dynasty
 * House of Tudor
 * Uí Ímair
 * Uí Néill
 * House of Valois
 * House of Vasa
 * House of Windsor
 * Mountbatten-Windsor
 * House of Wittelsbach
 * House of York
 * Zand dynasty
 * House of Zogu
 * The Senegambia (Senegal and the Gambia)
 * The Joof family
 * The Royal House of Boureh Gnilane Joof
 * The Royal House of Jogo Siga Joof
 * The Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof
 * The Lamanic Class
 * The Guelowar Dynasty
 * Serer royalty