Forms of address in the United Kingdom

Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below.

Several terms have been abbreviated in the table below. The forms used in the table are given first, followed by alternative acceptable abbreviations in parentheses.

Abbreviations

*His/Her Majesty: HM
*His/Her Royal Highness: HRH
*His Grace: HG
*The Most Honourable: The Most Hon. (The Most Honble)
*The Right Honourable: The Rt Hon. (The Rt Honble)
*The Honourable: The Hon. (The Honble)
*The Much Honoured: The Much Hon (The Much Hon'd)
*Most Reverend: Most Rev. (Most Revd or Most Rev'd)
*Right Reverend: Rt. Rev. (Rt Revd or Rt Rev'd)
*Very Reverend: Very Rev. (Very Revd or Very Rev'd)
*Reverend: Rev. (Revd or Rev'd)
*Venerable: Ven. (Venble)

Royalty

ee also

* United Kingdom order of precedence

Notes

#The forms given under "Salutation in Letter" is for use in social correspondence only. In formal letters, "Sir" or "Madam" would be used instead.
#"London" represents any peerage title.
#"Smith" represents any surname.
#"Edinburgh" represents any Scottish place name.
#"of" may be omitted in the form of Marquessates and Earldoms and included in the form of Scottish Viscountcies. It is never present in peerage Baronies and Lordships of Parliament and always present in Dukedoms and Scottish feudal Baronies.
#Some sources do not recommend the use of the definite article before certain courtesy titles (particularly those who have prospects of promotion within the family's titles), but it is used by official Court publications such as the Court Circular (see below).
#The exact form of a Scottish chief's style varies from family to family, and is generally based on tradition rather than formal rules.
#Some styles that could represent more than one class of person are clarified by the use of post-nominal letters. For instance:
##Knights and Baronets are distinguished by the use of "Bt" (or, archaically, "Bart") after the latter's names (and by the use of the appropriate post-nominal letters if the former are members of an Order of Chivalry). Knights bachelor have no post-nominal letters.
##Substantive peers below the rank of Marquess and courtesy peers who are Privy Counsellors (both of whose titles are preceded by "The Rt Hon.") are distinguished by the use of "PC" after the former's names.
# If the definite article is not used before courtesy peerages (see above) and The Hon. Elizabeth Smith marries Sir William Brown, she becomes The Hon. Lady Brown, but if she marries the higher-ranked Lord Brown, a courtesy Baron, she becomes only Lady Brown. If this Sir William Brown's father is created Earl of London and Baron Brown, as a result of this ennoblement his wife's style will actually decrease, from "The Hon. Lady Brown" to "Lady Brown".