British title of the Aga Khan

[p***@gmail.com]

Is the Aga Khan's UK princehood hereditary, or is it conferred for life on
each Aga Khan, as I believe is the case with regard to his style of 'His
Highness'?
I may be getting confused here, since perhaps if you are a British prince
who is not a British royal then you are 'automatically' 'His Highness'.
Which leads me to the next question...
Have there ever been any British princes who have not also been British
royals, apart from the Aga Khans? (It is the case *now* that the only such
prince is the Aga Khan - I am wondering whether it has always been the
case).
What is the background to what appears to be this extraordinary position?
Oh - and two more questions...
- Does the Aga Khan play a role at the coronation of the British monarch? ;-)
- What is HH Prince the Aga Khan's position in the English and Scottish
orders of precedence? I'm looking at an English list from the 1960s - it
omits mention of the Aga Khan, but surely as a British Prince he's higher
up than for example non-princely Dukes. Surely he's somewhere between
royal princes and non-royal dukes. But where exactly? (BTW the Scottish
list doesn't mention him either).
Regards,
--
b.anana

I thought the current Aga Khan was styled HH in the Gazette which lists what is going on at court. It's a way of recognizing peoples titles which they claim....not that the queen has given them the title. It was a recognition of a style he already claimed. There was an issue when the Kennedy's where visiting in London when Jackie wanted to host a dinner with her sister and Brother in-law. The only problem was that Prince Radziwill had not petitioned the queen for such recognition. I can't quite remember but it was allowed that "Prince and Princess Radziwill" was allowed to be engraved on the invitations. The Aga Khans Princely status I thought, yes was from the Qajar dynasty but also from descendants from the Fatimid dynasty. One of the Aga's asked for land from the British in India but was declined. He was allowed a 9 gun personal salute at the Durbar which would also be a tacit recognition of a princely title. Also I believe Highness is considered a higher level than Serene Highness. The Shaw did allow the style Royal Highness but I don't think he ever used it.

[p***@gmail.com]

The recognition of the title of Prince for the Aga Khan does not
make it a British title which it emphatically is not. Indeed, the
decision to recognize this title initially was made on exactly the
same basis as the titles of the Indian Princes (rulers and their
families). These titles were accorded, along with different levels of
salutes (7,9,11 etc guns) according to the perceived status of the
Prince. Needless to say, these titles, and the qualifications of
Highness etc, had no historic basis in India but were a European
concept grafted onto the Indian system. They were, however, hereditary
in that as rulers (or in the case of the Aga Khan, as an hereditary
spiritual leader) the concession of these titles and honors was
effetcively attached to the status and did not therefore need
confirmation, even though such confirmation may have been forthcoming.
The status the Indian Princes enjoyed in England was that of lesser
foreign rulers, and was therefore not part of the British table of
precedence - more likely equivalent, say, to that accorded to the
Prince of Lippe before 1918.
Once the Indian rulers ceased to rule, and they became subjects of the
Indian Republic, these British titles may be considered to have lapsed.
In the case of the Aga Khan, however, he was not a British subject even
though conceded a British passport; his titles were not British and
of themselves confer no precedence in the United Kingdom. The precedence
he would be accorded at official occasions would therefore be at the
discretion of the officials concerned, probably acting on the advice of
Buckingham Palace; this would not be that of a head of State, but
the equivalent of that of a member of a foreign royal family, and indeed
this is the status he has been accorded at royal occasions.
Guy Stair Sainty

Best answer I have seen. Has no one heard of being Gazetted?

[The Chief]

Post by p***@gmail.com

Is the Aga Khan's UK princehood hereditary, or is it conferred for life on
each Aga Khan, as I believe is the case with regard to his style of 'His
Highness'?
I may be getting confused here, since perhaps if you are a British prince
who is not a British royal then you are 'automatically' 'His Highness'.
Which leads me to the next question...
Have there ever been any British princes who have not also been British
royals, apart from the Aga Khans? (It is the case *now* that the only such
prince is the Aga Khan - I am wondering whether it has always been the
case).
What is the background to what appears to be this extraordinary position?
Oh - and two more questions...
- Does the Aga Khan play a role at the coronation of the British monarch? ;-)
- What is HH Prince the Aga Khan's position in the English and Scottish
orders of precedence? I'm looking at an English list from the 1960s - it
omits mention of the Aga Khan, but surely as a British Prince he's higher
up than for example non-princely Dukes. Surely he's somewhere between
royal princes and non-royal dukes. But where exactly? (BTW the Scottish
list doesn't mention him either).
Regards,
--
b.anana

I thought the current Aga Khan was styled HH in the Gazette which lists what is going on at court. It's a way of recognizing peoples titles which they claim....not that the queen has given them the title. It was a recognition of a style he already claimed. There was an issue when the Kennedy's where visiting in London when Jackie wanted to host a dinner with her sister and Brother in-law. The only problem was that Prince Radziwill had not petitioned the queen for such recognition. I can't quite remember but it was allowed that "Prince and Princess Radziwill" was allowed to be engraved on the invitations. The Aga Khans Princely status I thought, yes was from the Qajar dynasty but also from descendants from the Fatimid dynasty. One of the Aga's asked for land from the British in India but was declined. He was allowed a 9 gun personal salute at the Durbar which would also be a tacit recognition of a princely title. Also I believe Highness is considered a higher level than Serene Highness. The Shaw did allow the style Royal Highness but I don't think he ever used it.

Did you look in the advertisement section in the Gazette? Sure to find an Aga there...

Regards,
The Chief