Requisite Royal Regalia: Difference between revisions

** Adding [[Symbol Motif Clothing|symbol motifs]] to them is common, especially if it is part of a nation's crest or flag.

* '''[[Cool Chair|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.

* '''[[Staff of Authority|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.

* '''[[Ring of Power|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..

* Most of the trappings are avoided in [[Heralds of Valdemar|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.

* In Simon Spurrier's [[Warhammer 40,000]] [[Night Lords]] novel ''Lord of the Night'', ''Corona Nox''—the [[It Was a Gift|gift]] of a primarch to his [[Take Up My Sword|designated heir]]. {{spoiler|Or so he told the Space Marine he told to take it after his death.}}

* The title crown of [[Andre Norton]]'s ''Ice Crown'', and the others of a set. The destruction of one such crown destroyed its nation. {{spoiler|They are part of a mind-controlling experiment on the planet. The Ice Crown greatly alters the new Queen's personality to get the experiment back on track. In the end, they destroy the control device; the queen is injured but appears to be recovering her mind in the [[Denouement]].}}

** 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, [[Cool Sword|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]].

 

* In ''[[Merlin (TV series)|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.

* [[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 [[Awesome Moment of Crowning|coronation]], even if the other accessories don't.

* 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).

 

== Ermine Capes ==

 

=== [[Literature]] ===

** Also, in the movies, Gríma Wormtongue 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.

** At least in the [[Expanded Universe]], she's made out more explicitly to be nobility.

 

*In Teutonic poetry a synonym for "King" was "Ring-giver". It was assumed that Kings would give rings to their retinue as rewards for service. In this case it was kind of second-hand regalia. The ring marked you as someone who served the King.

 

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunt's 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 40,000]] 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.

 

=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===

* Once again ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' [[Serial Escalation|goes a little over the top]] with the Golden Throne, which is an ultra-advanced life support system supposedly keeping [[Physical God|The Emperor]] barely alive for ten thousand years and counting. Supposedly. It's roughly the size of a city.

* The [http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs10/i/2006/080/e/3/The_Scarlet_Throne_by_MelUran.jpg Throne] of the [[Exalted|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]] ===

=== [[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..

* 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]]).

* The Peacock Throne was a famous possession of the Grand Mogul's in India, known for it's [[Gem-Encrusted|rich decorations.]] Later it was captured by the Persian warlord Nadir Shah.

 

== Swords ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Luxury Tropes]]

[[Category:Royalty and Nobility Tropes]]

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]