A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration. A prince du sang or a princesse du sang had to be a legitimate member of the reigning dynasty (after 1589, the House of Bourbon). In some European monarchies, but especially in the kingdom of France, this appellation was a specific rank in its own right, of a more restricted use than other titles.
Read more about Prince Du Sang: French Usage, Styles, Monsieur Le Prince, Madame La Princesse, Monsieur Le Duc, Madame La Duchesse, Monsieur Le Comte, Madame La Comtesse, Madame La Princesse Douairière, Legitimised Royal Offspring, Orléans-Longueville, See Also, References
Famous quotes containing the words prince and/or sang:
“The prince in disguise makes the most charming beggar in the world, no doubt; but that is because—as all fairy-tales from the beginning of time have taught us—the prince wears his rags as if they were purple. And, to do that, he not only must once have worn purple, but must never forget the purple that he has worn. And to the argument that all cannot wear purple, I can ... only reply that that seems to me to be no reason why all should wear rags.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)
“They sang of love, and not of fame;
Forgot was Britain’s glory;
Each heart recalled a different name,
But all sang “Annie Laurie.””
—Bayard Taylor (1825–1878)