Ridiculous Royal Titles

Kings and queens of history sometimes had the weirdest titles and honors.

Thanks to Dan Arrows for reading all of that German for me!

[EmperorTigerstar]

I'm sure there were dozens of unique titles I missed. Which one is your favorite?

[cornhuskerkenny]

As a Nebraskan, I can tell you that the Admirals play a very important role in our state. It is well known that whaling is illegal in the state of Nebraska, and it the responsibility of the appointed Admirals to lead the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska in its efforts to stop illegal whaling in our waters.

[MayorMcC]

The "africa in general, uganda in particular" is such a flex

[nizam]

Hey don't forget the first Incan Emperor Pachakuti, "he who overturns space and time"

[merrittanimation]

Sargon of Akkad: conquers roughly Mesopotamia I'm king of everything
Bystander: There's clearly stuff beyond it-
Sargon of Akkad: I'm king of everything that matters

[andrejparunovic]

I like the idea of including the word "unironically" in a royal title

[CollinBuckman]

When it comes to ancient titles, one of my favorite facts is that the Sumerian term we translate as "king", Lugal, literally means "big man"

[marcello]

"My mom said I could be anyone in this world so I became lord of all the beasts of the earth and fishes of the sea".

[Fummy]

The Spanish title of Philip II is also very long, check it out on wikipedia.
Philip, by the grace of God second of his name, king of Castille, Leon, Aragon, Portugal, Navarre, Naples, Sicily, Jerusalem, Majorca, Sardinia, and the islands, Indies, and terra firma of the Ocean Sea; archduke of Austria; duke of Burgundy, Lothier, Brabant, Limbourg, Luxembourg, Guelders, and Milan; Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Artois, and Burgundy; Count Palatine of Hainault, Holland and Zeeland, Namur, Drenthe, Zutphen; prince of "Zvuanem"; marquis of the Holy Roman Empire; lord of Frisia, Salland, Mechelen, and of the cities, towns, and lands of Utrecht, Overissel, and Groningen; master of Asia and Africa.

I like how he claims all the islands of the Ocean Sea

[alexandruianu]

Kim Il Sung is still technically the Eternal President of the DPRK, even if he's been dead since 1994, so that's pretty out there.

[gwest]

Technically the King of Spain still claims the title of King of Jerusalem. The old list of royal titles is rarely used in modern Spain (including the grandiose “Most Catholic Majesty”), but the current king hasn’t technically relinquished those titles either.

[karnman]

I like the title they give to Wallis Simpson in Hearts of Iron 4 when the UK goes monarchist with Edward VIII, and they conquer the US and make it a monarchy under "Wallis I":

"Queen Wallis I, First of Her Name, by the Grace of God Queen of the Americas, Grand Admiral of the Royal American Navy, Duchess of Wallington, Duchess of Manhattan, Duchess of Long Island, Countess of Orange, Countess of O'ahu, Marquis of New Orleans, Baroness of Springfield, Baroness of Hollywood, Baroness of Central Park, Grand Socialite, Protector of Liberty, Northwest Vanguard of Alaska, Avenger of the Boston Tea Party, Terror of Washington D.C."

[javierm]

If Asurbanipal II is "the Great Flood which none can oppose", can I be "the Great Storm that is approaching"?

[Arkticus]

The "King of Jerusalem. etc." had me in stitches. Not so much because they claim the tiel, but the fact that they couldn't bother with rest of the title and just abrivated it with "etc" of all things. I mean the other times they did it was also funny (FFS, they ended the list with "etc etc"), but this one just got me.

[ojima]

A thing to note about 2:34 and the "subjugation of all mountains": the Sumerian word "kar" meant both "mountain" and "enemy land", in the context that the Sumerians lived in the flatlands of the Euphrates while hostile tribes (think for example of the Gutians who toppled the Akkadian empire) lived in the Zagros mountains.
In that sense Ashurnasipal's title likely refers to his subjugation of enemy tribes/kingdoms.

Also, at 3:04 the word "xshayathiya" means simply "king", for example "xshayathiya vazraka" means "great king". It's the title "xshayathiya xshayathiyanam" that translates to "king of kings".

[rohansensei]

Should’ve mentioned Suleiman’s letter to Francis which he uses several long titles for himself then look down on him by calling him “and you uhh… yeah king of the province of France”

It’s also ironic how Empire Total War France is just one province lol

[drgabe]

Miklos Horthy 🤝 Queen Elizabeth


Being admirals in landlocked states

[erraticonteuse]

7:49 Stephen Fry is also a Kentucky Colonel. When he did a 50-state travel show, he knew people would ask him which place he visited was his favorite. He didn't have a particular favorite, so just decided he would say Kentucky (IIRC, it wasn’t a totally flippant choice, he did enjoy whatever he did in Kentucky, but it wasn't particularly special either). The Governor got wind of his answer, and so made him a Kentucky Colonel.

[whyareyoureadingmynickname]

I love the fact that Franz Joseph kept Serbian title of Grand Voivode in his full title, instead of translating it into Grand Duke (even though it would be 100% correct translation). That's a good way to remind your subjects of who's in charge.

[cassianoneto]

Gotta comment on the fancy full title of Brazilian Emperors:

“By the Grace of God and Unanimous Acclamation of the Peoples, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil.”

And the second in line for the throne had the special title “Prince of Grão-Pará”, similar to the “Prince of Wales” title in Britain. Grão-Pará in this case refers to the largest Brazilian province at the time that contained most of the Amazon territory and was administrated separately from the rest of Brazil in colonial times, so having an important member of the imperial family have this title was a way of promoting integration.