Style (manner of Address) - Examples of Styles - Government - Monarchies

Monarchies

• His/Her Imperial Majesty, (abbreviation HIM, oral address Your Imperial Majesty) — Emperors and Empresses. For example, HIM The Emperor of Japan.
• His/Her Imperial and Royal Majesty (abbreviation HI&RM, oral address Your Imperial and Royal Majesty) — Emperors and Empresses who were simultaneously Kings and Queens, such as the German Emperor and Emperor of Austria.
• His/Her Apostolic Majesty (abbreviation HAM, oral address Your Apostolic Majesty) — the King of Hungary, usually styled Imperial Majesty or Imperial and Royal Majesty as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, also sometimes Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty.
• His/Her Catholic Majesty (abbreviation HCM, oral address Your Catholic Majesty) — the King of Spain (not usual).
• His/Her Most Faithful Majesty (abbreviation HFM, oral address Your Most Faithful Majesty) — the King of Portugal.
• His/Her Majesty (abbreviation HM, oral address Your Majesty) — Kings, Queens and Sultans. For example, the British and Commonwealth realms' Head of State, HM Queen Elizabeth II or HM Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.
• His/Her Imperial Highness (abbreviation HIH, oral address Your Imperial Highness) — other members of an Imperial House.
• His/Her Imperial and Royal Highness (abbreviation HI&RH, oral address Your Imperial and Royal Highness) — Archdukes of the House of Habsburg, the German Crown Prince, German Crown Princess and members of the Brazilian Imperial Family; also women with one style by birth and the other by marriage.
• His/Her Royal Highness (abbreviation HRH, oral address Your Royal Highness) — other members of a Royal House not including the Head of the House normally the Monarch themselves, reigning Grand Duke, members of some grand Ducal Houses, some Princes consort. For example, sons and daughters of a British Sovereign e.g. HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Princess Royal, HRH The Duke of York and HRH The Earl of Wessex. And the current Prince Consort in all but name, HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh; consort to HM The Queen.
• His/Her Grand Ducal Highness (abbreviation HGDH, oral address Your Grand Ducal Highness) — junior members of some grand Ducal Houses.
• His/Her Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address, Your Highness) — reigning Dukes and members of reigning Ducal Houses, members of some grand Ducal Houses, junior members of some Royal Houses, Emirs and Sheikhs, also Princes/Princesses of nobility in several European countries, not belonging to a Royal House. For example, HH The Emir of Kuwait.
• His/Her Ducal Serene Highness (abbreviation HDSH, oral address, Your Ducal Serene Highness — members of some Ducal houses. For example, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
• His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation HSH, oral address Your Serene Highness) — sovereign or mediatized Fürst ("Prince") and his family - this is a mistranslation from German Durchlaucht, the correct form should be His/Her Serenity. For example, Grace Kelly on her marriage to the Sovereign Prince of Monaco became HSH The Princess Grace of Monaco or The Princess of Monaco. Some princely families in Imperial Russia also enjoyed this style.
• His/Her Illustrious Highness (abbreviation HIllH, oral address Your Illustrious Highness) — sovereign or mediatized Count and his family, also a Count of Imperial Russia - this is a mistranslation too, from German Erlaucht; it should be correctly His/Her Illustriousness.
• His/Her Highborn - counts, barons in several European countries, and also marquesses and viscounts in the Netherlands
• His/Her Grace - peers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. And Dukes/Duchesses of the United Kingdom.
• His/Her High Well-born - knights and untitled noble persons in several European countries, and also barons in the Netherlands
• His/Her Excellency (abbreviation HE, oral address Your Excellency) — Governors-General and British Colonial Governors, state officials and generals of Imperial Russia.
• His/Her High Excellency - top state officials and generals in Imperial Russia.

The English style Serene Highness and even more Illustrious Highness goes back to an incorrect translation. These styles originally did not exist in English-speaking countries.

His/Her Serene Highness = German: Seine/Ihre Durchlaucht; Italian: Sua Altezza Serenissima; Russian Ваша светлость His/Her Illustrious Highness = German: Seine/Ihre Erlaucht; Italian: Sua Altezza Illustrissima; Spanish: Su Ilustrísima; Russian Ваше сиятельство