Crown prince
A [Trailokya, Crown Prince of Nepal|]crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
Crown prince as a descriptive term has been used throughout history for the prince who is first-in-line to a throne and is expected to succeed, barring any unforeseen future event preventing this. In certain monarchies, a more specific substantive title may be accorded and become associated with the position of heir apparent. In these monarchies, the term crown prince may be used less often than the substantive title.
Until the late twentieth century, no modern monarchy adopted a system whereby females would be guaranteed to succeed to the throne. A crown princess would therefore be more likely to refer to the spouse of a crown prince. She would be styled crown princess, not in her own right but by courtesy. Many European countries have now abolished male primogeniture; a notable exception is Spain.
Description
The term crown prince is not used in European monarchies if the hereditary sovereign holds a title below that of king/queen or emperor/empress, although it is sometimes used as a synonym for heir apparent.In Europe, where primogeniture governed succession to all monarchies except those of the papacy and Andorra, the eldest son or eldest child of the current monarch fills the role of crown prince or princess, depending upon whether females of the dynasty enjoy personal succession rights. Male precedence has been abolished in Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms pursuant to the Succession to the Crown Act 2013. The eldest living child of a monarch is sometimes not the heir apparent or crown prince, because that position can be held by a descendant of a deceased older child who, by "right of representation", inherits the same place in the line of succession that would be held by the ancestor if he or she were still living.
In some monarchies, those of the Middle East for example, in which primogeniture is not the decisive factor in dynastic succession, a person may not possess the title or status of crown prince by right of birth, but may obtain it as a result of an official designation made on some other legal or traditional basis, such as former crown prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan.
Compare heir apparent and heir presumptive. In Scandinavian kingdoms, the heir presumptive to the crown may hold a different title from an heir apparent: hereditary prince. It is also the title borne by the heir apparent of Liechtenstein, as well as the heir apparent or presumptive of Monaco. In Luxembourg, the heir apparent bears the title of hereditary grand duke ; along with hereditary prince, it was also the title borne by the heirs apparent to the thrones of the grand duchies, sovereign duchies and principalities, and of mediatized princely families in the German monarchies abolished in 1918.
Substantive traditional titles
Many monarchies use or did use substantive titles for their heirs apparent, often of historical origin:- Bey al-Mahalla
- Dauphin
- Duke of Brabant
- Duke of Braganza
- Duke of Cornwall, currently one of the titles of the Prince of Wales
- Duke of Rothesay, currently used by the Prince of Wales in place of his Welsh title when in Scotland
- Earl of Carrick, currently one of the titles of the Prince of Wales when in Scotland
- Grand Prince of Tuscany
- Lord of the Isles, currently one of the titles of the Prince of Wales when in Scotland
- Margrave of Moravia
- Prince of Asturias, also used by heirs presumptive
- Prince of Girona
- Prince Imperial or Prince Napoléon
- Prince Imperial
- Prince Imperial
- Prince of Orange, whether or not the equivalent title is held by the spouse of the titleholder is decided by the Dutch parliament
- Prince of Piedmont once conferred by King Joseph Bonaparte
- Prince Royal
- Prince of the Sa'id
- Prince of Tarnovo
- Prince of Viana
- Rex iunior, lit. junior king as he was crowned during the life of the incumbent king
- Tsesarevich
- Królewicz
- Veliahd
Current and past titles in this category include:
- Caesar or Kaisar in honor of Gaius Julius Caesar, distinguished from the senior Augustus
- Aetheling and edling, lit. of the royal family
- Duke of Estonia and Lolland
- Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester
- King of the Romans – an elective, rather than an inherited title, for the designated successor—usually the son, but sometimes the brother—of the Emperor
- King of Rome
- Duke of Sparta ; used briefly, within Greece, only by Prince Constantine, during the reign of his father, King George I
- Duke of Valentinois, used by several heirs to the Monégasque throne
- Marquess of Baux, used by several heirs to the Monégasque throne
- Prince of Brazil
- Tupoutoʻa
- Duke of Scania
- Prince of Ani
- Grand Voivode of Alba Iulia
- Grand Voivode of Grahovo
- Prince of Venice ; for the heir presumptive to Napoleon I in his kingdom of Italy
- Duke of Calabria ; prior to the accession of King Robert the title of the Neapolitan heir was Prince of Salerno
- Pangeran Adipati Anom
Monarchies that use the title of crown prince
| Polity | Title in native language | Current holder |
| Abu Dhabi | ولي العهد, | Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan |
| Afro-Bolivia | El Príncipe heredero | Rolando Pinedo Larrea |
| Ajman | ولي العهد, | Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi |
| Bahrain | ولي العهد, | Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa |
| Brunei | Pengiran Muda Mahkota | Al-Muhtadee Billah |
| Denmark | Kronprins | Christian |
| Dubai | ولي العهد, | Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum |
| Fujairah | ولي العهد, | Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi |
| Japan | Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino | |
| Johor | Tunku Mahkota | Tunku Ismail Idris |
| Jordan | ولي العهد, | Hussein bin Abdullah |
| Kedah | Raja Muda | Tengku Sarafudin Badlishah |
| Kelantan | Tengku Mahkota | Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra |
| Kuwait | ولي العهد, | Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah |
| Morocco | ولي العهد, | Moulay Hassan |
| Norway | Kronprins | Haakon |
| Oman | ولي العهد, | Theyazin bin Haitham |
| Pahang | Tengku Mahkota | Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah |
| Perak | Raja Muda | Raja Jaafar |
| Perlis | Raja Muda | Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail |
| Ras Al Khaimah | ولي العهد, | Mohammed bin Saud Al Qasimi |
| Saudi Arabia | ولي العهد, | Mohammed bin Salman |
| Selangor | Raja Muda | Tengku Amir Shah |
| Sharjah | ولي العهد, | Sultan bin Muhammad bin Sultan Al-Qasimi |
| Sweden | Kronprins or Kronprinsessa | Victoria |
| Terengganu | Yang di-Pertuan Muda | Tengku Muhammad Ismail |
| Thailand | Vacant | |
| Tonga | Pilinisi Kalauni | Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala |
| Umm Al Quwain | ولي العهد, | Rashid bin Saud Al Mualla |
| Yogyakarta | Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Mangkubumi | Princess Mangkubumi |
In addition, the following heirs apparent to deposed monarchies continue to use their former titles by international courtesy:
- Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
- Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran
- Paras Shah, Crown Prince of Nepal
- Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
Other specific traditions
- In Persia, during the Pahlavi dynasty and Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahd, Shahzada ;
- The title was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e.g. "Walet" as alternative title for the Nepali royal heir apparent; first used by Crown Prince
Hindu tradition :
- Yuvaraja was part of the full title in many princely states of India, e.g. in Jammu and Kashmir, the heir apparent was styled Maharaj Kumar Shri Yuvaraj ''Singhji Bahadur
- Nepal, where the King was styled Maharajadhiraja:
- *the heir apparent was styled: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Yuvarajadhiraj Bir Bikram Shah Deva;
- *the eldest son of the heir apparent was styled: Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Nava Yuvaraj Bir Bikram Shah Deva
- The cognates of Chinese Huang Taizi – if a son of the reigning emperor, and Huang Taisun – if a grandson of the emperor:
| if the heir apparent is a:'' | son | grandson |
| Chinese | Huang Taizi | Huang Taisun |
| Japanese | Kōtaishi | Kōtaison |
| Korean | Hwangtaeja | Hwangtaeson |
| Vietnamese | Hoàng Thái Tử | Hoàng Thái Tôn |
- The crown prince of an emperor was sometimes referred as Dong-gong due to the location of his residence from the main palace.
- If the crown prince is the son of a king, he was called 世子.
- The crown prince was not necessarily the first-born son.
- During the Joseon dynasty in Korea, the crown prince was often referred as Dong-gung or wangseja ; The first-born son was called wonja.
- In Japan, the Imperial Crown Prince is the son or grandson of the current emperor and is referred to as kōtaishi or kōtaison respectively. As of 2025, Japan has a crown prince, Prince Fumihito who holds the title of "kōshi" as he is not the imperial crown prince. In the past, this title was gender neutral and has been conferred upon one woman, Princess Abe.
- Siam Makutrajakuman in Thailand since 1886.
- Krom Phrarajawangboworn Sathanmongkol or Phra Maha Uparaja or commonly called Wang Na in Thailand prior to 1886.
- Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Anom in Surakarta sultanate, Indonesia.
- Raja Muda or Tengku Mahkota in the Malay sultanates of Malaysia.
- Pengiran Muda Mahkota in Brunei
- Jaguar Prince
- Ka Haku O Hawaii or "The Lord of Hawaii" in the Hawaiian language.
- Aremo, "First Son and Heir" in the Yoruba language of West Africa, used as a royal title in many of the kingdoms of the region.
- Lee Jae-yong, South Korean billionaire and Chairman of Samsung referred to as the "Crown Prince of Samsung"