Signatures of Royals


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Christmas Cards of the princerly family of Liechtenstein

This christmas cards have I received last year.

They are from Prince Hans-Adam and Princess Marie, and from Heriditary Prince Alois and Heridtary Princess Sophie.
 

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Signatures of Queen Consorts

This question has been prompted by the discussion of royal Christmas cards. I noticed that Queen Sofia of Spain signs her card with an R after her name, Sofia R. This is similar to the United Kingdom where Queens Mary and Elizabeth also signed their names with an R. But, I have noticed that Queen Silvia of Sweden does not use an R and neither did Queen Maud of Norway. Does anyone know why some Queens use the R and others do not? And what is the practice in other countries? Did Queen Ingrid sign her name, Indrid R?

I would interested to know how Queens Anne Marie of Greece and Fabiola and Paola of Belgium sign their names.

Thank-you
 
Am I mistaken in thinking the "R" stands for Regina? Maybe it's a Latin thing and the royal ladies who do not sign R come from households where Latin isn't used very often.
 
No Queen Consort would ever have signed by putting the word 'Queen' in front of their name...
But the fact that some include the R for Regina (Sofia) in their signature and some do not (Silvia, Paola) is intriguing indeed.
It can't have anything to do with being born Royal - Sofia of course was, but Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was not. The historic tradition of using the Latin 'R' is universal, and not connected to languages closer to Latin than others.
So it's really an interesting question why some Queen Consorts use it while others don't.
 
How did Queen Noor sign her name when she was Queen Consort of Jordan? I was thinking maybe in some countries only Queens Regnant sign with the R.
 
For the consorts that don't sign "R," do the monarchs of those countries use it?
 
wbenson said:
For the consorts that don't sign "R," do the monarchs of those countries use it?
Click to expand...

I don't think King Albert II of Belgium does. And also Queen Beatrix does not. (Just see the links at my previous post at this thread).
So I don't think there is a rule about it. To me it seems just a personal habit.
 
I kind of think the R should be reserved for the actual monarch not the consort to differentiate between the two. Yes, I realize that it would be obvious looking at the name who is who, but there is a difference between the two roles and I just thought the signature should reflect that.
 
The use of the 'R' is/was not reserved for the reigning monarch - see Queen Consort Elizabeth's signature 'Elizabeth R'. So this can't be the reason here.
Maybe in certain monarchies, with the reigning monarch not adding the 'R' either, it just was never a custom to use it at all?
 
I don't know why its so hard to find signatures of historical monarchs but I found two from previous Swedish kings during the rule of absolutism; one of them signed his name 'Sigismundus Rex' and the other signed his name simply 'Carolus' You would expect at least the absolute monarchs to sign with an R or a Rex but it looks like it was even back then a personal preference in Sweden.
 
Does anyone have a picture of the signatures of Hereditary GD Guillaume and Prince Felix?
 
wbenson said:
For the consorts that don't sign "R," do the monarchs of those countries use it?
Click to expand...

I've just discovered this thread! I'm not sure whether signing with or without an R is related to custom, personal preference or a constitutional requirement. But the way monarchs and their consorts sign is as follows:

Elizabeth R (Philip)
Margrethe R (Henrik)
Harald R (Sonja)
Carl Gustav (Silvia)
Juan Carlos R (Sofia R)
Constantine R (Anne Marie R)
Henri (Marie Therese)

Lichtenstein - Hans Adam of Lichtenstein (his wife does the same)
Monaco - Albert Prince of Monaco

When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer he signed the register "Charles P" - the P stands for Princepts - prince.
 
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I have a card from King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie and I am sure it is a B (for the Greek work King) after their names and not the Latin R (rex/regina), but I'll have to check when I get home, by the way there is a very similar thread to this somewhere else on TRF, I'll find it and post a link
 
RoyalProtocol said:
I have a card from King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie and I am sure it is a B (for the Greek work King) after their names and not the Latin R (rex/regina), but I'll have to check when I get home, by the way there is a very similar thread to this somewhere else on TRF, I'll find it and post a link
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right, RoyalProtocol - when signing in Greek, it's Konstantinos B and when signing in English the R is used! I've seen a card somewhere in the depth of RF and have seen a photo of the nglish versions of their signatures. :)
 
Anyone here collecting autographs from Royals?

I am thinking of starting collecting autographs of some Royals. I already have obtained a few some time ago, but now I am thinking of going deeper into it. Does anybody on here collect those things as well, and wants to share their successes with me? So far I have gotten successes from

- Michael and Anne of Romania
- Otto of Habsburg
- Haya of Jordan
- Carl Duke of Croy
- Monika Princess of Hannover
- Alois Heredity Prince of Liechtenstein

And you? Do you have any autographs of Royal and noble people?
 
I have an autograph of Princess Michael of Kent. :D I got it from ebay, but I only bid for it because it was such a rare and beautiful picture.

My mother owns a handsigned book by the late Duke of Windsor.
 
I have often wondered if they sign autographs ... but apparantly they do :)
And no, I don't have any autographs ... although I would like to have (;
 
I wrote a few letters this week and will send some off to people all over the world. Would be nice to obtain some signatures, although many royal families are notorious for not doing autographs, like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
 
Wow they sign autographs....it is interesting... Unfortunatelly I donť own any, maybe someday:)
 
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