Definition of British royalty

Close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom are known by the appellation The Royal Family. Although there is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the Royal Family [1], and different lists will include different people, those carrying the style His or Her Majesty (HM), His or Her Royal Highness (HRH) or Their Royal Highnesses (TRH) are generally considered members, which usually results in the application of the term to these persons:

• the monarch (the King or Queen);
• the consort of the monarch (his or her spouse);
• the widowed consorts of previous monarchs (Dowagers);
• the children of the monarch;
• the grandchildren of the monarch;
• the spouses and the widowed spouses of a monarch's son and male-line grandsons; and
• before 1917, great-grandchildren in the male line.