Editing Prince regent

{{Short description|Prince who rules in place of a monarch due to incapacity or absence}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2023}}
{{Royal and noble ranks}}
[[File:King George IV when Prince Regent (1762-1830), by Henry Bone.jpg|thumb|right|[[George IV of the United Kingdom]], as prince regent, while his father was mentally incapable between 1811 and 1820.  By [[Henry Bone]].]]

A '''prince regent''' or '''princess regent''' is a [[prince]] or [[princess]] who, due to their position in the [[Order of succession|line of succession]], rules a monarchy as [[regent]] in the stead of a [[monarch]], e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or absence (e.g., by remoteness, such as [[exile]] or long voyage, or the absence of an incumbent).

While the term itself can have the generic meaning and refer to any prince or princess who fills the role of regent, historically it has mainly been used to describe a small number of individual princes and princesses who were regents of non-[[principalities]].

==Prince Regent of the United Kingdom==
{{Further|Regency Acts}}
In the English language the title ''Prince Regent'' is most commonly associated with [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]], who held the style '''[[Royal Highness|His Royal Highness]] The Prince Regent''' during the [[Regency era]] due to the incapacity (by dint of mental illness) of his father, [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] (see [[Regent]] for other regents). [[Regent's Park]], [[Regent Street]] and [[Regent's Canal]] (which he commissioned) in [[London]], were all named in honour of him. The architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]], under the patronage of HRH The Prince Regent, planned a palatial summer residence for the prince, 50 detached villas in a parkland setting and elegant terraces around the exterior of the park. This was all part of an ambitious plan, to develop The Regent's Park and lay out an elegant new street, Regent's Street, to link it to [[St James's Park]] and the prince's London residence, [[Carlton House]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park/about-regents-park/landscape-history| title=Landscape History |publisher=RoyalParks.org.uk |access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref> [[Regent Terrace]] in [[Edinburgh]] is also named after the Prince Regent, who visited the area in 1822.

This period is known as the [[British Regency]], or just the Regency.

The title was conferred by the [[Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act 1811|Regency Act]] on 5 February 1811. Subject to certain limitations for a period, the prince regent was able to exercise the full powers of the King. The precedent of the Regency Crisis of 1788 (from which George III recovered before it was necessary to appoint a regent) was followed. The Prince of Wales continued as regent until his father's death in 1820, when he became George IV.

==Prince regent in Germany==
In Germany, the title ''Prinzregent'' (literally prince regent) is most commonly associated with [[Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria|Prince Luitpold of Bavaria]], who served as regent for two of his nephews, King [[Ludwig II of Bavaria]], who was declared mentally incompetent in 1886, and King [[Otto, King of Bavaria|Otto of Bavaria]] (who had been declared insane in 1875) from 1886 until 1912.

The years of Luitpold's regency were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Bavaria, where they are known after the regencies as the ''Prinzregentenjahre'' or the ''Prinzregentenzeit''. Numerous streets in Bavarian cities and towns are called ''Prinzregentenstraße''. Many institutions are named in Luitpold's honour, ''e.g.'', the ''[[Prinzregententheater]]'' in Munich. ''[[Prinzregententorte]]'' is a multi-layered cake with chocolate butter cream named in Luitpold's honour.

At Luitpold's death in 1912, his son [[Ludwig III of Bavaria|Prince Ludwig]] succeeded as prince regent. Ludwig held the title for less than a year, since the Bavarian Legislature decided to set aside his cousin [[Otto, King of Bavaria|King Otto I of Bavaria]] and recognize him as king.

==Prince regent in Belgium==
*The first head of state of Belgium after it seceded from the Dutch monarchy in 1831 was a regent (but not a prince in his own right), baron [[Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier]], before the new nation, which had chosen to become a parliamentary monarchy, had its first king sworn into the constitution.
*[[Prince Charles of Belgium]] served as prince regent of Belgium from 1944 to 1950 during the German captivity and exile to Switzerland of his elder brother, King [[Leopold III of Belgium]] amidst [[royal question|ongoing political controversy about Leopold's fitness to serve as head of state]].

==Prince regent in Bulgaria==
[[Image:BASA-3K-15-273-9-Prince Kyril of Bulgaria.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Kiril, Prince of Preslav|The Prince Regent Kyril, Prince of Preslav]]]]
[[Kiril, Prince of Preslav]] was appointed head of a regency council by the Bulgarian parliament following the death of his brother, Tsar [[Boris III of Bulgaria|Boris III]] on 28 August 1943, to act as Head of State until the late Tsar's son and successor, Tsar [[Simeon II of Bulgaria|Simeon II]], reached the age of 18 years. On 5 September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on the [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]] and on 8 September Soviet armies crossed the Romanian border and occupied the country. On 1 February 1945 the prince regent Kyril, and the two other former regents – Professor [[Bogdan Filov]] and General [[Nikola Mikhov]] – as well as a range of former cabinet ministers, royal advisors and 67 MPs, were executed.

==Prince Lieutenant in Luxembourg==
The heir-apparent or heir-presumptive to the [[grand duke of Luxembourg]] may be titled ''prince-lieutenant'' ('prince deputy') during a period in which [[Grand Duke of Luxembourg|the incumbent]] remains formally on the grand ducal throne, but (progressively, most) functions of the crown are performed by the 'monarch [[apprentice]]', as [[Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|prince Jean]] did 4 May 1961 &ndash; 12 November 1964 in the last years of his mother [[Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg|Charlotte]]'s reign until she abdicated and he succeeded to the grand ducal throne (she lived until 1985), and Jean's own son [[Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|prince Henri]] 3 March 1998 &ndash; 7 October 2000 until his father abdicated and he succeeded (Jean lived until 2019).

==Queen regent==
If a king is unable to perform his duties then his consort or the [[queen mother]] may act for him as a ''Queen Regent''. Queen mothers have acted in this way in the [[Kingdom of Eswatini]].

==Other notable princes and princesses regent==
:''More prince-regents (often without such specific title) are to be found in [[List of regents]].''
*[[Duke of Zhou]] Dan served as prince regent for his nephew [[King Cheng of Zhou]] until the latter came of age.<ref>{{cite AV media |last1=袁|first1=腾飞 |script-title=zh:腾飞五千年之中华文明起源10 王的叔叔不好 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MftIyBmp_54 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810085353/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MftIyBmp_54| archive-date=2017-08-10 | url-status=dead|url-access=registration |via=YouTube |publisher=Tengfei Official |access-date=5 May 2016}}{{Self-published source|date=May 2017}}</ref>
*[[Tiberius II Constantine|Tiberius Constantine]] served as regent for his mentally incapacitated adoptive father [[Justin II]] whilst holding the rank of [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] (574–578).   
*[[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] was Regent of France from the death of Louis XIV in 1715 until Louis XV came of age in 1723; this is also used as a period label for many aspects of French history, as "Régence" in French.
*Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, younger brother of [[Māori King Movement|Māori King]] [[Mahuta Tāwhiao]], served as Whirinaki-a-te-Kiingi (Prince Regent) for his brother from 1903 to 1910. This was because Mahuta Tāwhiao spent this period of his reign as a member of the [[New Zealand Legislative Council|Legislative Council]].   
*[[Frederick VI of Denmark|Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark]] served as regent from 1784 to 1808 for his father, King [[Christian VII of Denmark]], who was insane.
*[[Wilhelm I of Germany|Prince William of Prussia]] served as regent from 1858 to 1861 for his older brother King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]], who had become mentally unfit to rule.
*[[Dorgon|Prince Dorgon]] of the early [[Qing dynasty]] served as regent for his nephew, the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], from 1643 to 1650, because the latter was only six at the time of his ascension. Dorgon was instrumental in moving Manchu forces into Beijing in 1644, proclaiming the Qing dynasty to be the legitimate successor to the [[Ming dynasty]]. In Qing dynasty historical records, Dorgon was the first to be referred to as ''Shezhengwang'' (摄政王; "Prince regent").
*[[Rameses the Great]]
*[[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]] of the late Qing dynasty served as regent from 1908 to 1911 for his son [[Puyi]], the Xuantong Emperor. Apart from Dorgon, Zaifeng was the only person in Chinese history who was specifically referred to as prince regent.
*[[Hirohito|Crown Prince Hirohito]] served as regent from 1921 to 1926 for his ailing father, [[Emperor Taishō]].
*[[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia]] from 1934 to 1941, known in [[Serbian language|Serbian]] as ''Његово Краљевско Височанство, Кнез Намесник'' (English: His Royal Highness The Prince Regent) served as regent for his first cousin once removed, King [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|Peter II]] who was a minor.
* [[John VI of Portugal|John, Prince of Brazil]] (1767–1826) served as regent of Portugal for his mother Queen [[Maria I of Portugal|Maria I]], who had become mentally unfit to rule, from 1799 to 1816.  His regency was associated with the [[transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil]].
*[[Princess]] [[Erelu Kuti]] of [[Lagos]], a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] [[chieftain|chieftess]] of the eighteenth century who served as [[Queen mothers (Africa)|queen mother]] of a line of [[tribal king]]s. The successors to the [[noble title]] that now shares her name have all subsequently served as regent of Lagos following the death of a reigning [[Oba (ruler)|oba]]. Princesses are traditionally called upon to serve as regents in this fashion in most of the other kingdoms of [[Yorubaland]] as well. In [[Akure Kingdom|Akure]], for example, the eldest daughter of a recently deceased king ruled in his stead until a substantive successor to the royal title was chosen by the college of noble [[kingmaker]]s, a period that lasted for an unusually long six years due to a succession crisis in the state.
*[[Chieftain|Chief]] [[Tshekedi Khama]] of the [[Bamangwato]], a [[Tswana people|Tswana]] prince who served as regent during the reign of his famous nephew, Sir [[Seretse Khama]]. He opposed Sir Seretse's marriage to [[Ruth Williams Khama|Lady Khama]] on the grounds that it would have an adverse effect on the chieftaincy, and attempted to claim the tribal throne in his stead thereafter because of it. He was ultimately unsuccessful.
*[[Anne of France]] served as regent of France for her younger brother between 1483-1491.
*[[Sophia Alekseyevna]] from 1682-1689 as regent of Russia on behalf of her younger brothers.
*[[Aurora Pinedo]] served as Princess Regent of the [[Afro-Bolivian monarchy]] from 1954-1992.
*[[Prince Nicholas of Romania]] served as a prince regent between 1927 and 1930 for his minor nephew, [[Michael I of Romania|King Michael I of Romania]]. Nicholas' brother, [[Carol II of Romania|King Carol II of Romania]], was refusing the throne of Romania since 1925, but in 1930, he came back dethroned his own son.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

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[[Category:Princes| ]]
[[Category:Regents| ]]
[[Category:Royal titles]]