Requisite Royal Regalia



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Despite what some would like to believe, there is no inherent majesty in royalty that radiates off them like Bishie Sparkle (save for certain Speculative Fiction stories). This is why they use special accessories to make their station clear to everyone looking at them. Since this is done in Real Life, why should fiction be any different?

As for fiction, The Law of Conservation of Detail means one of these can't show up unless it has something to do with royalty, however tenuous. The wearer could be actual royalty, or it could be a contest where the winner is given a crown and/or cape, hence being given a sort of recognition as royalty. (Or, of course, in a culture where the monarch selects the heir, it can be both.)

Of course in fiction, the Ermine Cape Effect is often applied, so royalty tends to wear one or more of these constantly, unless they are Modest Royalty.

In European royalty, the most common ways to identify royalty are:
 * A Crown. How can you have an Awesome Moment of Crowning without a Cool Crown? Okay, you can, but it just wouldn't be the same. Be it circlets, Gem Encrusted tiaras, or those big, fancy imperial crowns, a crown is probably the most commonly used symbol of royalty in the world.
 * An Ermine Cape. Any cape, robe, or overdress (which some queens wore as state robes) that is decorated with either ermine, some other expensive fur, or some other extravagant fabric or decoration (gold embroidery is also common). This is the second most commonly used way to identify royalty. In Theatre, it's actually preferable to a crown, because it's larger and would of course be more visible to the audience (take the page picture).
 * Common colors for these robes are Gold Makes Everything Shiny, Vermilion, Blue, and Purple Is Powerful.
 * In terms of ermine specifically, since the breakdown of sumptuary laws, nobility and even sufficiently rich women have worn ermine garments, including capes. But in fiction, the grand sweeping capes are still almost exclusively for royalty.
 * Adding symbol motifs to them is common, especially if it is part of a nation's crest or flag.
 * A Throne. which is the chair the royal personage sits on. In some early cultures this isn't a chair but some other kind of seat, like a stone. In some cases, like a few west African cultures, there's a stone inside the chair.
 * There's also the Stone of Scone under the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. Not to be confused with The Scone of Stone.
 * A Sceptre. A staff with a fancy ornament on top. Fiction usually acknowledges that it's just there to look impressive, unless it's justified by having magic powers or using it as a weapon. Can vary in length. In some cases the sceptre itself may invest the bearer with the monarchy's authority, allowing them to deliver rulings without directly consulting the ruler. The sceptre is descended from a ceremonial mace, used to literally browbeat recalcitrant nobles back into line.
 * A Royal Ring. Or course Royalty has plenty of rings, but in fiction The Law of Conservation of Detail applies, so if a ring is mentioned, it will have some significance. Often this is a way to identify the long lost heir, or as a way to mark royal seals (as they often were used in Real Life), or sometimes they have magical powers. The royal seals are sometimes on a "Signet ring", which is very important. Some royal houses have Keepers of the Seal, whose job it is to guard the seal, although it usually is not on a ring in that case..
 * An Orb. Usually carried only for coronations and the paintings thereof. Usually topped with a cross, kind of like a Holy Hand Grenade. The orb is supposed to symbolize God's rule of the whole world, and the ruler being chosen to enforce that control of the whole world (or at least part of it).
 * Pimped-Out Dress. This is optional in modern times, but if the story takes place before the 20th century (or equivalent of the world the story is taking place in), a queen or Princess will own at least a handful of these (usually colored pink), unless she has run away or been exiled from royal life. And the peeresses will have their own fancy dresses, just never as grand as the royal ladies'.
 * Opera Gloves. This is also an optional trope, but if the story takes place in the 1870-1914 period (e.g., The Prisoner of Zenda), the queen or Princess will be wearing these (usually in white kid leather) on formal occasions.
 * Bling of War. Same as above, but for kings and princes, if the setting is the 1700s or after. Often they will wear it even in times of peace.
 * A Sword. A suitably pimped out sword, which symbolises the ruler's role as protector of the people, as well as supreme commander of the military. And, of course, good for slicing up people who didn't respond to application of sceptre. Swords are ubiquitous in any medieval-type setting, but a sword is still a common piece of regalia.
 * A key. Keys are rarely seen outside the context of a coronation, but are still used as a symbol of the king's possession of the land, as well as the king's rights as the utmost arbiter of law.

(If anyone knows common royal items in other cultures, please add them here.)

Nobles can also make use of regalia when they are working directly for the king, or when there is no monarch, to indicate the chief of a council of nobles. They wear special stripy mantles of their own, dependent on rank, and even have a coronet (a small crown with no arches) for very special occasions. Other times there is a Dress Code dictating what regalia the royals and the nobles wear.

Also, in some fiction, these tend to have magical properties related to royalty. Even if not, these will rarely be as heavy, delicate, or cumbersome in fiction as they are in real life, unless it's explicitly mentioned as a Take That to royal life.

Compare Ermine Cape Effect, Everything's Better With Princesses, Impractically Fancy Outfit, Gold Makes Everything Shiny (which a lot of regalia uses).

'''N.B. If a character simply wears one of these, it's probably best to just list that in Ermine Cape Effect. This works better if reserved for instances that we can state how they actually stand out in some way.'''

Anime & Manga

 * The Sailor Senshi wear tiaras, given that they are all princesses, and Sailor Moon used hers as a weapon. Even though most historical tiaras looked a bit more like medieval steeple hats. Even modern tiaras sit on top of the head, so why they're across the forehead like fallen-down hairbands is beyond me.
 * Sailor Jupiter's also had a lighting rod built into it. (In the orginal manga it is always present while reprint mangas and the anime have it extend when she uses it.
 * Non Sol Senshi have some form of Tiraa or headgear as well. Lead Crow's Feather tied to her forehead, Tin Nayanako's goofy headgear with gold accents, the X shaped straps across Sirien's face, Galaxia's Headdress, Kakyuu's crown (if it can be called that) being the least Tiara like.
 * One of the accessories Ahiru gets when she turns into Princess Tutu is a cute little crown shaped like a broken egg. Also, Mytho wears a crown and a cape when he's restored to his former princely self...
 * Prétear has tiaras in at least some of her outfits, as well. She is referred to as a "princess" at least once in both the anime and the manga (by different characters) -- this makes sense, considering the series is loosely based on Snow-White; besides, it is a pun on her name, Himeno. She also gains an even more crown-like tiara when she achieves the form of the Legendary White Pretear.

Film

 * The Crown Jewels of Britain were stolen as a plot to steal the throne in the film Johnny English.
 * In The Movie version of Ella Enchanted, the crown was poisoned so the Evil Chancellor type could keep the rule for himself.

Literature

 * The Wheel of Time has the Crown of Swords, which I think everyone took to be a metaphor until the last page of book 7.
 * Most of the trappings are avoided in Valdemar, where the Monarch and Heir are Royals Who Actually Do Something, and simply wear extra-nice versions of normal Heralds' white uniforms. Their only other concessions to rank are circlets: gold for the Monarch, silver for the Heir.
 * Once Tremaine takes the throne of Hardorn, he gets a goldsmith to make him a similar circlet. Unfortunately, he's still stuck with wearing the full crown for formal occasions.
 * The Crown of Lancre plays a significant part in Wyrd Sisters, even though it looks really tatty next to the fake crowns used by the strolling players.
 * In Simon Spurrier's Warhammer 40000 Night Lords novel Lord of the Night, Corona Nox -- the gift of a primarch to his designated heir.
 * The title crown of Andre Norton's Ice Crown, and the others of a set. The destruction of one such crown destroyed its nation.
 * The crown of Gondor in Lord of the Rings is essentially a blinged-out war helm. The kings of the northern realm (and later the chieftains of the Rangers) make do with a tiara with a single large gem (the Elendilmir).
 * But by the end of the books, King Aragorn Elissar Telcontar ends up touting not just the crown, but the Ring of Barahir, the Sceptre of Anumminas, Anduril and the Palantir of Orthanc.
 * In Robert E Howard's "The Pool of the Black Ones", Conan the Barbarian notes that the Black One that tortured one of the crew wore "a jeweled head-band."
 * In Robert E Howard's Kull/Bran Mak Morn story "Kings of the Night", Bran's iron crown with its Mineral MacGuffin.

Live Action Television

 * In Merlin the King and Queen of Camelot each have a crown; the King's crown is a simple circlet with engravings, whilst the Queen's crown is much more elaborate, with plenty of jewels.
 * Uther has two crowns, the gold circlet and a more typical crown. Arthur's new one is rather typical but not the same as Uther's.

Tabletop Games

 * Dungeons and Dragons has quite a few crowns as magic items.
 * The Circlet of Blasting, which fires a maximised Searing Light once per day.
 * In Warhammer, King Thorgrim Grudgebearer has an extremely special crown worn by every dwarf High King, and just in case anyone would confuse it with another oversized solid gold crown it has magical runes on it. The phoenix crown was such a symbol until the dwarfs stole it from the elves. The king of Brettonia has one as well but it's not quite as fancy as the others. Ogre Overtyrant Greasus Goldtooth has a specially made crown hammered into his skull that increases his intelligence beyond that of your average ogre.

Video Games

 * The logo for Dragon Quest VIII had a crown in the background, given that the subtitle for that game is "Journey of the Cursed King".
 * Also in that game, a King Slime is stuck in a well, and you can free it by removing the crown, allowing it to turn into regular slimes. You also get to keep the crown as armor.
 * Way back in Dragon Quest III, one of the kingdoms has its crown stolen by a thief. Upon retrieving it, the king actually offers to let your hero rule in his stead, leading to a temporary Nonstandard Game Over if you accept.
 * In The Neverhood, the crown is the source of Hoborg's power. When it is stolen, he shuts down, and the player character must decide whether to return it or put it on and become the next king.
 * Finding the princess's tiara in Shining in The Darkness is how you confirm where she is being held.
 * Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina from the Super Mario Bros series games.

Web Comics

 * Tamuran: They plan to strike the day their younger brother gets this.

Western Animation

 * There was a cartoon where a prince was a rightful heir but just wearing the crown was enough to be king, and an evil chancellor stole it, and the prince was trying to get it back.
 * In My Life As a Teenage Robot Tucker's robot Little Dipper wins a crown in a competition, and it's like five sizes too big.
 * King Pariah of Danny Phantom has a crown made of fire. He also adorns a royal ring. Both contribute to his strength...more so, that is; he's already quite powerful without one or the other.
 * Averted with the Fire Nation in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Instead of a Crown the Fire Lord and his family wear hairpins of increasing ornateness to hold the topknots that are more or less standard issue for Fire Nation nobility. Avatar Roku also wore one, a gift from his friend Sozin.
 * Although when Fire Lord Ozai, he does give himself an ornate helmet.

Real Life

 * Real Life aversion: beauty pageants usually give the winner a tiara (and sometimes an ermine cape and scepter) and she is called a beauty queen. No royalty, but what the hell.
 * Will most certainly show up any coronation, even if the other accessories don't.
 * The Real Life ultra-fancy crown that's probably the first image you think of when you hear "crown", is almost never worn by the British monarch, except during the coronation. Why, do you ask? Because the thing is fucking heavy.
 * She does have to wear the lighter but even more ultra-fancy Imperial State Crown every year for the Speech from the Throne. She has been observed eating breakfast and reading newspapers with the thing on her head on the morning of a State Opening of Parliament to get used to the weight (two pounds).
 * Any contest that crowns a 'King' (rarely 'Queen' in sport) will often have this and a cape as props for the winner. American Go-Karting, for example, has 'King of the Streets', a race where the winner gets these (as well as some more useful prizes, like cash and test rides).

Anime & Manga

 * In Rose of Versailles, Marie Antoinette, and the two Louis, wear them to show off their authority. But when forced to speak to Madame DuBarry, Marie is so upset she flings her ermine cape away from her as if to show she was unworthy at that moment.

Film

 * In Eyes Wide Shut, the rich, aristocratic Doctor Hartford (Tom Cruise) is advised by the girl (Leelee Sobieski) to buy a "cape lined with ermine", before going to the Secret Society function.
 * Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. When we first meet the king and queen, they are in audience in the royal chamber and have all of their Regalia. In a later scene, when they're in private, they take it off; Gwendolyn's popping off her elaborate earrings in the middle of a line.

Literature

 * In Discworld the fur of choice is "vermine". The fur of vermine (a more careful relative of the lemming) is highly prized, especially by the vermine itself.

Live Action TV

 * Subversion in one of the Black Adder series. Blackadder believes he is about to be made a Lord and buys an ermine cape, only to find out it's made out of cats.
 * Lady Morgana and Princess Mithian from Merlin.

Tabletop Games

 * In a 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons book about magic items, there is the "Cloak of Lordliness", which for humans, is an ermine cape.

Theatre

 * As mentioned, theater productions preferred ermine capes to show who was royalty. This even included productions of Antony and Cleopatra. Then again, stage productions until the 19th century didn't really bother with trying to use accurate period costume. It was just contemporary clothing. So no, Cleopatra didn't wear an ermine cape over Egyptian clothing (which still would have been inaccurate, since Egypt was a Hellenistic nation at that time).

Western Animation

 * King Bumi in Avatar: The Last Airbender puts on robes that make him look almost like a fop. It's just part of his Obfuscating Stupidity.
 * Care Bears in Wonderland. The Princess of Wonderland and Alice wore an ermine trimmed cape. What makes this stand out is that there were quite a few Blooper shots with it. Some shots it was on her, and others it wasn't. Some shots the main part of the cape was pink, and others it was white.
 * Some of the dress variants of the Disney Princesses have them wearing fur-trimmed capes.

Film

 * King Ralph used one as proof Ralph was next in line to the British throne.

Literature

 * The rings given by Sauron to nine kings of men. Didn't turn out so well.
 * Also, in the movies, Gr Ã ma sees Aragorn's ring (the Ring of Barahir) and tells Saruman about it, allowing Saruman to deduce Aragorn is Isildur's heir. (In the books, Aragorn gave the ring to Arwen about forty years beforehand.)
 * The ring was originally given to Aragorn's distant ancestor Barahir by the Elf king Finrod Felagund, after Barahir saved his life in battle. Barahir's son Beren takes the ring when him when he goes to find King Felagund and ask him to return the favor and help him get the Silmarils.

Live Action TV

 * Even though Lwaxana Troi from Star Trek the Next Generation wasn't explicitly royalty, she might have been, with all her bragging about heirlooms, including "Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed".
 * At least in the Expanded Universe, she's made out more explicitly to be nobility.

Western Animation

 * Played with in the Tale Spin episode "Waiders of the Wost Tweasure". A queen had lost a royal heirloom, but everyone in the kingdom had Elmuh Fudd Syndwome, so she called the heirloom "the wuby wings". So Baloo and his friend thought "ruby rings". Well they were actually wings made of ruby.
 * The Mickey-lookalike Prince from the Disney featurette The Prince and the Pauper had a royal ring to prove his identity, even when he was dressed in peasant clothes. When he becomes king he gets the full treatment with an ermine cape, a crown, and a scepter.

Anime & Manga

 * Once again, Sailor Moon: the title character's weapon from the second season, the Cutie Moon Rod, is essentially a queen's scepter. (This troper believes the English dub actually called the thing a "scepter", but she is not sure.) Her weapon from the last season, the Eternal Tiare, is a rod with the top resembling a crown.
 * Check Wikimoon -- The dub name is "Moon Scepter"
 * This is explicitly confirmed in the manga. Neo-Queen Serenity has a scepter that is clearly based on the Cutie Moon Rod. Which she turns back into the Cutie Moon Rod and gives to the newly awakened Sailor Chibimoon for use in the final battle. When Sailor Moon's Cutie Moon Rod is broken in the battle Neo-Queen Serenity magically obtains a new scepter with a different design. She later has Chibi-Usa give Usagi a new weapon, the Heart Moon Rod, which is clearly what the new scepter is based off of. For reference, see Here.

Comic Books

 * Indeed, one of the few occasions where a scepter has a central role in a story is the Tintin (Comic Book) tale King Ottokar's Scepter, where the new King of Syldavia will be forced to abdicate if he can't find the titular object. It's all a front for an attempted Anschluss.
 * There is an Assassin's Creed comic that reveals that the staff of Tsarist Russia is a Piece of Eden.

Fairy Tales

 * Racha's Mum always used to complain about the Prologue for Beauty and the Beast. The reason? 'As if he's going to answer the door with his crown and sceptre!'

Literature

 * In Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghosts novel Necropolis, the Master Legislator uses his golden specter as a staff. This is also a sign that the vote on Sturm's tactics (which Gaunt and other generals have been shut off from comment on) is binding despite the excellent reasons offered against the plan after the vote.
 * In Dan Abnett's Warhammer 40000 novel The Brothers Of The Snake, the coronation regalia include a sceptre and orb. They are supposed to react if the heir is improper, and they don't. More importantly, they are the sealants for the Sealed Evil in A Can; the queen had been assassinated precisely so they would be removed from the Royal Mound. Weather Dissonance soon shows up, and an Inquisitor and a squad of Space Marines must move to contain it.
 * In Lord of the Rings, the Sceptre of Annuminas, which is said to be the oldest manmade object in the world at that point. The backstory details that the sceptre, not the crown, is the primary regalia of royalty among Middle-Earth humans.

Tabletop Games

 * Warhammer: Overtyrant Greasus Goldtooth again, he has a sceptre bigger than a man.

Web Original

 * In the Strong Bad email "rampage", Strong Bad mentions going on a "Regal Rampage", which was him repeatedly smacking the King of Town with the king's own scepter, shouting "I bequeath thee! I bequeath thee! Ye have quivered me tuppence!" Um, don't actually try doing that to someone.
 * Homestuck 's White and Black kings carry scepters. These scepters bequeath size, power, and prototypings to their bearers.

Western Animation

 * The supervillain Professor Princess (yes, that is her real name as well as her alias) wears a tiara and shoots some kind of weird energy blast out of her sceptre. It's got flowers and stars in it.
 * The Queen of England from Cars 2 actually uses her own antenna as a scepter.

Real Life

 * Real Life, sorta: every parliamentary body in Canada has a Ceremonial Mace which represents the power and authority of the reigning monarch. It's only a "sorta" example because they aren't actually requisite for Queen Elizabeth II herself. Instead, it's required for the actual business of Parliament to proceed. Without the Mace, a Provincial or Federal Parliament isn't even allowed to sit down.
 * The ceremonial mace is common in most English-speaking legislatures; the UK parliament at Westminster started the tradition (the Mace of the House of Commons -- Cromwell apparently asked for 'that fool's bauble' to be removed as he angrily dismissed the Rump in 1653, but it didn't take), and the new devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly both have very cool-looking, postmodern maces. The Australian House of Representatives and various other Commonwealth legislatures also have maces. Even the United States House of Representatives has a mace: thirteen ebony rods bound with silver (echoing the fasces of the Roman Republic) topped with a silver eagle on a globe; this is a subversion, because the US is, of course, a republic, with no king.
 * If you're wondering why the US House has a mace, recall that the US was once a collection of thirteen British colonies, most if not all of which had maces in their legislatures. It just didn't seem right that a directly-elected legislature would meet without a mace. Why this logic didn't apply to the Senate is unclear, but perhaps the Senate, whose members were elected by the state legislatures at the time, was seen as more of a diplomatic-like body.
 * Every Commonwealth governmental assembly has a Royal Mace as part of the way that the commonwealth works. The (British) Houses of Parliament have three, two in the house of Lords. In 1965 the (then over 160 year old) Royal Mace of the Bahamas was thrown from the building by the opposition leader over the way the party in power was redrawing the constituency borders (he claimed they where trying to dilute his party's voter base). It worked, they could not go on until the mace was retrieved.
 * While still a Republic (mostly), in Real Life, Roman Consuls (whom scholars of the Roman constitution agreed had "kingly" authority, i.e. equivalent to the authority of the old Kings of Rome) could have men called lictors walk with them bearing scepters called Fasces as a symbol of their authority. They were essentially a bundle of reeds, representing strength in unity (one reed breaks easily--a bundle does not). The fasces, when outside of the city limits of Rome, had an axe lodged in with them, as a symbol of Rome's ultimate authority. The fasces later became a potent symbol for later republics, and they were extensively used in the national symbols of both the French and American republics. This probably kept the fasces from becoming losing its acceptability as a symbol after it lent its name to "fascism", unlike a certain other, much older symbol.

Literature

 * The throne of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings remains unoccupied. The Steward has a smaller chair under it.
 * The same is true for the throne of Ankh-Morpork in Discworld, although the reason no one uses the real one is that it's rotten.
 * Also from Discworld is the Scone of Stone, a parody of the Stone of Scone, which the Low King of the Dwarfs must sit on during the coronation.
 * Narniahas the Four Thrones of Cair Paravel.
 * The Iron Throne of Westeros, from A Song of Ice and Fire, forged from swords from the kingdoms conquered by Aegon and his sisters. Aegon said that "a king should never sit easy," so the sword points are still there in a number of places, and sharp.
 * Similarly, the Eastern Empire in the Valdemar series also has an Iron Throne, specifically forged from the personal weapons of the monarchs of conquered nations.
 * In Polgara The Sorceress, Prince Daran normally uses a chair set next to King Riva's throne. (Daran is officially prince regent at the time -- Riva was mentally out of action after Beldaran's death.) But when he needs to make a point, he has the chair removed and sits on the throne.
 * In Dune, the Emperor's throne is carved from a single piece of rare quartz. It's actually one of the few pieces of regalia they allow themselves; to show off their command of the Sardaukar (the reason they have the throne in the first place), the Corrino Emperor Shaddam IV wears military uniforms and displays the captured flags of defeated Houses.
 * In the old space opera The Legion of Space, the benevolently democratic government of the Solar System in the 30th century overthrew a dictatorial monarchical government that ruled the Solar System with an iron fist in the middle centuries of the Third Millennium. In the 30th century, the old throne, a huge chair cut from a single piece of purple crystal, sat empty and waiting...

Tabletop Games

 * In Warhammer Thorgrim Grudgebearer is carried into battle on one of these, it seems to be made of gold, magic and awesomeness.
 * Greasus Goldtooth has the 'too rich to walk' rule; he's carried into battle by dozens of Gnoblars.
 * Once again Warhammer 40000 goes a little over the top with the Golden Throne, which is an ultra-advanced life support system supposedly keeping The Emperor barely alive for ten thousand years and counting. Supposedly. It's roughly the size of a city.
 * The Throne of the Scarlet Empress is probably her most notable regalia piece, being a huge piece made from the intertwining bodies of the Five Elemental Dragons. It's noted to have lost quite a bit of its mystique in the years that the tiny and pathetic Regent has been sitting it.

Video Games

 * In the now freeware game Castle of the Winds, thrones are very stationary one-use magical items once you get rid of the current occupant.

Western Animation

 * From Avatar: The Last Airbender: the Firelord's throne is made very intimidating by being on fire. And it has a huge gold dragon behind it.

Real Life

 * Real Life has the British throne, which has a slot for the aforementioned Stone of Scone (pronounced 'skoon'). The Stone was the Scottish symbol of lordship. Every so often they seem to ask for it back..
 * In response to which, the Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland in 1996. It is kept in Edinburgh Castle. It will be shipped back to Westminster Abbey in London, temporarily, for the next coronation.
 * Charlemagne's (The Holy Roman Emperor) throne sits in Aachen Cathedral in Aachen, Germany.
 * The official Swedish throne (that has not been sat on for quite a while, despite Sweden still having a royal family) is known as The Silver Throne (no relation to Lewis' The Silver Chair).

Swords

 * A new sultan of the Ottoman Empire was inaugurated by being "girt with the Sword of Osman," which purportedly belonged to the Ottoman dynasty's founder.
 * The Royal Sword is generally recognised as the symbol of the Ankh-Morpork monarchy in Discworld. No-one's exactly sure what it looks like any more, though, but it's generally assumed it must be shiny and impressive-looking. So obviously it's not the perfectly ordinary looking but really sharp sword weilded by Captain Carrot of the Watch.
 * According to The Companion, during the period of messiness towards the end of the monarchy, there were any number of True Royal Swords showing up in the hands of various nobles. In the case of King Blad, Scourge of Dolly Sisters, this was two peices of wood nailed together.
 * The premier symbol of the King of Riva is the sword of Riva Ironhand. There is some mention of a crown, but it is decidedly less important.

Other

 * The Pope and Cardinals usually haven't in recent years, but have been known in the past to dress up in a rather royal fashion. Since 1978, it's explicitly become a tradition for the Pope to not to be crowned, though several very elaborate Papal "tiaras" (actually large crowns) worn by past Popes still exist and the option is left open for any future Pope to have a coronation rather than the less formal inauguration.
 * Heck, even many Catholic bishops have the right to use some pretty amazing robes and capes.
 * Does the Popemobile count? It should.
 * The Ottoman Empire was more likely to go in for a Nice Hat than a crown. The sultan and grand vizier are almost always depicted wearing large, lavishly decorated turbans that, in what may or may not be artistic exaggeration, are sometimes twice the size of their actual heads.
 * Eighteenth century monarchs often pointedly avoided wearing military uniforms. After all soldiers were the king's servants.
 * As noted above, during the late Victorian Era and through the end of the Edwardian Era (roughly 1870 through the beginning of World War One), female monarchs and noblewomen almost always wore Opera Gloves at any even remotely formal occasion. This continued to be quite common into the 1960's (check out pictures of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret from the 1950's, for example) but has become comparatively rare in current times.
 * In The Basalt City Chronicles, the full regalia of the Guardian Of The Crown is said to weigh close to twenty pounds, most of it being gold jewelry. Tors Beers actually goes through a physical training regimen so he can wear it when he's confirmed the heir. Its weight symbolizes the weight of office.
 * In the Dragaera series, the ruler of the Empire is orbited and protected by the Imperial Orb, which serves not only as an emblem of their authority but also as the single most potent magical item in that world. How potent? When it was temporarily lost due to Adron's Disaster, there was no Empire for a couple of centuries.
 * The princesses of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic seem to settle for a crown-like tiara, hoofboots, and matching necklaces. (Well, that, and manes/tails that glow and never stay still, and the whole winged unicorn bit.) Normally justified as being horses, it's hard to go for capes and other regalia. (Except that one of the main characters is a dressmaker..)
 * In John C Wright's Count To A Trillion, Menelaus is argued into wearing clothes befitting his social stature because it helps the princess maintaining her kingdom.