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{{trope}}
[[File:queen-wii.jpg|link=Visual Pun|frame|[[Wii]] ''[[The House of Windsor|are]]'' [[Queen
{{quote|KNOW YOU that it is Our will and pleasure that the Victoria Cross for Australia be the highest decoration for according recognition to persons who, in the presence of the enemy, perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry, or daring or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice or display extreme devotion to duty:
When royalty speak on behalf of their office (at least in Western systems) they tend to use the '''Royal We''' or ''Pluralis Maiestatis''. This was most famously used<ref>Maybe - see the Real Life section of this trope.</ref> by Queen "We are not amused" Victoria, who believed herself to be the avatar for the British Empire. This happens in fiction as well. A good way to show when the monarch in question has had enough and demands obedience is to have them switch to this form of address. Another way is to use this comedically, have a monarch use this in informal contexts or have people confuse the majestic plural for the regular one. ("Where are the rest of them?")▼
▲{{quote|AND WE DO ordain that the award of the Victoria Cross shall be governed by the Regulations set out in the Schedule.}}
▲{{quote|IN WITNESS whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.}}
▲{{quote|-- [[HM The Queen|ELIZABETH THE SECOND]], by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth}}
▲When royalty speak on behalf of their office (at least in Western systems) they tend to use the '''Royal We''' or ''Pluralis Maiestatis''. This was most famously used by Queen "We are not amused" Victoria, who believed herself to be the avatar for the British Empire. This happens in fiction as well. A good way to show when the monarch in question has had enough and demands obedience is to have them switch to this form of address. Another way is to use this comedically, have a monarch use this in informal contexts or have people confuse the majestic plural for the regular one. ("Where are the rest of them?")
The origin of this tradition is the idea that the monarch in question is speaking for the nation, although it was also used by religious officials in times gone by. (Although using that phrase when discussing your breakfast can be a bit strange.) Sometimes other characters will reinforce this by referring to the monarch by the name of their country; in ''[[Hamlet]]'', for example, Claudius and the dead king are both referred to as Denmark, and another king is only ever called Norway.
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Of course, if the royal in question is a [[Hive Queen]], [[Voice of the Legion|it all makes a lot more sense]]. Finally, note that no matter how many times she refers to herself as "We", the Queen of England does not like being addressed as "Y'all".
Contrast with the "editorial we" or "rhetorical we", which is similar but is used by an individual speaker or writer to give the impression and weight of group opinion or consensus when expressing a position or belief.
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* Rurichiyo speaks like this in the Amagai filler arc of ''[[Bleach]]''. Keigo once wonders why she's talking this way. Despite being lower in rank than Byakuya, she speaks as though she's higher in rank than him. This is lampshaded by Ichigo and Rukia when Ichigo complains about the way she speaks and Rukia observes not even her brother speaks like that.
* Shi Ryuuki's [[Japanese Pronouns|"yo"]] is sometimes translated this way in ''[[Saiunkoku Monogatari]]''.
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* Hotohori talks like this in ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''. He starts doing it less and less as he begins to interact with the other Seishi as friends.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
== Comics ==▼
* There was a [[New Yorker]] cartoon that showed a king answering the phone with "Yes this is we" (I'm sure they've done other Royal We jokes as well)▼
* Referred to in a ''[[FoxTrot]]'' comic where after Thanksgiving Roger is going through the fridge commenting "Boy we really polished off that turkey, eh? And that stuffing, we really did a number on that! Oh no, did we eat all the pumpkin pie?", etc, to which Andy replies "You're using the royal we, I assume"▼
* Pab Sungenis uses it a lot in his picture-collage strip ''[[The New Adventures Of Queen Victoria]]'', naturally.▼
* [[Archangel Lucifer|Lucifer]] speaks this way in the first volume of ''[[The Sandman]]'' and in his initial appearance in ''A Season of Mists''. {{spoiler|He stops once he abdicates from the throne of Hell, and stays that way for the rest of the comic as well as in [[Lucifer (comics)|his spin-off]].}}
== [[Film]] ==
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
* M. Bison in the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' movie. "We have decided to grant her a private audience."
* Referenced in ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', when The Dude talked to the title character. Although, this is more because of a slip of the tongue (he was to deliver ransom money [[Come Alone|alone]]) and him trying and barely able to backpedal over his mistake.
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* Played straight and averted in the Soviet comedy ''[[Ivan Vasilievich]]'', where [[Ivan the Terrible]] ends up in modern-day (when the movie came out) Moscow. While he mostly speaks normally, he does, occasionally, use the royal "We", such as in the scene where he's interrogated by the cops. When asked for his last name, he replies "We are Rurikids" (i.e. of the Rurik dynasty).
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* In the ''[[Sven Hassel]]'' books, Gregor Martin always describes his unnamed [[General Ripper]] whom he served as a batman via the Royal We (''e.g.'' "my general and our monocle") right up to the moment the general commits suicide "And then we shot ourselves!" after which he's described normally.▼
▲== Literature ==
▲* In the [[Sven Hassel]] books, Gregor Martin always describes his unnamed [[General Ripper]] whom he served as a batman via the Royal We (''e.g.'' "my general and our monocle") right up to the moment the general commits suicide "And then we shot ourselves!" after which he's described normally.
* Given that several of the main characters are or become royalty, this shows up occasionally in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''. It's fairly low-key and easy to miss when it does, though, and someone unfamiliar with the trope ([[Parental Bonus|as many children might be expected to be]]) could easily take it as nothing more than a leader speaking for his immediate associates, and the story loses nothing with this interpretation.
** "We are the Empress Jadis," though, spells it out pretty clearly.
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* Used by the Dark Queen in ''Saga'' by Conor Kostick.
* [[The Bible]] has God mention something interesting about Adam and Eve after they had sinned. "They have become as one of '''us.''' Knowing the difference between good and evil." Many Biblical scholars have debated what this means, one interpretation is that God being a Trinity is referring collectively to His God-hood of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Another interpretation is that God is referring to the angels of heaven. Either way some sort of heavenly hierarchy is being talked to.
* In ''[[Inferno (novel)|Inferno]]'' by Niven and Pournelle
* Used fairly often in ''[[Safehold]]'', unsurprisingly as a [[Ruling Couple]] are main characters, and one or or the other of them makes a speech in this mode once or twice a book on average, and other royalty show up as well and are sometimes seen making such speeches.
* The wife of the late Centari Emperor in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' speaks in plural, but because she is traditionally assumed to be speaking for her dead husband.
* Silas from ''[[Kings]]''; in this case it is intended in the religious sense, not the "avatar of the nation" sense, as Silas was literally chosen by God.
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'''Cordelia:''' Okay, so he's pretentious. }}
== [[Music]] ==
* The Silversun Pickups' song
==
▲* Referred to in a ''[[FoxTrot]]'' comic where after Thanksgiving Roger is going through the fridge commenting "Boy we really polished off that turkey, eh? And that stuffing, we really did a number on that! Oh no, did we eat all the pumpkin pie?", etc, to which Andy replies "You're using the royal we, I assume"
▲* The Silversun Pickups' song ''The Royal We'' could be said to be about threats of war from the perspective of the ruler of a nation.
== Periodicals ==
▲* There was a ''[[New Yorker]]'' cartoon that showed a king answering the phone with "Yes this is we" (I'm sure they've done other Royal We jokes as well).
==
* [[TNA]]'s Matt "The Blueprint" Morgan tends to use the Royal We most of the time.
== [[Theatre]] ==
▲== Theater ==
* Shows up, of course, in any [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] play about royalty, like ''Hamlet'' or ''Henry V''.
** In ''Hamlet'', Claudius uses it even when referring to himself personally: he calls Gertrude "our sometime sister, now our Queen". Of course Gertrude is also the nation's Queen, but was never its sister(-in-law).
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'': The King of All Cosmos speaks like this.
** Which is weird, because the King has no cabinet or anything to speak of. Just the queen and the tons of cousins. The cousins really don't count.
* The Pharaoh Sammun-Mak [[Memetic Mutation|("Sammun-Mak is handsome, Sammun-Mak is cute!")]] from Season Three of [[Telltale Games]]' ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam
** Sybil also does in the last episode of the first season as the Queen of Canada.
* The Baronet in ''[[Quest for Glory]] I'' talks like this when he thanks you for breaking the enchantment that {{spoiler|turned him into a bear}} and returning him to normal. He's portrayed as being rather pompous.
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* Vivaldi (the Queen of Hearts) from ''[[Heart no Kuni no Alice]]'' uses this the whole time.
* The King of Canalot talks this way in the DS version of ''[[Dragon Quest IV]]'', using capitalization of the first person plural, of course.
* ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 2
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
== Web Comics ==▼
* [http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0015.htm Completely misunderstood] by Arthur in ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space]]''.
* Suzette did this for a few strips in ''[[Precocious (Webcomic)|Precocious]]''.
* [[Hive Mind|Gavotte]] from ''[[Skin Horse]]''.
* ''[[Chainsawsuit]]'' features a variant, the [http://chainsawsuit.com/2009/12/28/ha-ha-treated-like-royalty/ Royal I].
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has [[God-Emperor|Her Undying Majesty Albia of England]] as the ''only'' one doing it — all the time, even in whispered asides to her daughter; curiously, her [[Brain Uploading|stored personality]] from (presumably) shortly after her transformation to godlike status [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181212 refers to herself in singular] — and later when she switches back and forth, the first-person pronoun changes accordingly.
▲* Pab Sungenis uses it a lot in his picture-collage strip ''[[The New Adventures Of Queen Victoria]]'', naturally.
* The Administrator from ''[[Echo Chamber]]'' never refers to himself in the first person, though he does appear to speak for an entire wiki... so...[[Voice of the Legion|possibly justified]]?
** He also expects other tropers to refer to themselves in the [[This Troper|third person]].
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{{quote|'''BOFH''': It's like the Royal 'we' but far more dangerous.}}
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* Elizabeth II speaks like this on ''[[Animaniacs]],'' which leads Yakko, Wakko and Dot to believe she has Multiple Personality Disorder.
* Oberon on ''[[Gargoyles]]'' uses this or [[Third Person Person|his own name]].
* An episode of ''[[Timon and Pumbaa]]'' uses this when the title duo meet a rich pig who is being carried by several servants and introduces himself by saying "''We'' are Mr. Pig," to which Pumbaa replies, "All of you?" Timon quickly points out that he was using the royal "we".
* Princess Luna speaks like this in ''[[My Little Pony:
== [[Real Life]] ==
* One of the most well-known phrases using this is Queen Victoria's
** This was referenced in her appearance on ''[[Doctor Who]]''; the Doctor and Rose made a bet over whether or not she would say it. {{spoiler|She didn't; she said "I am not amused!" The Doctor and Rose seemed to count it as the same thing, though.}}
** A phrase which frequently pops up in Victoria's diaries is: ''"I was very much amused."'' Go figure...
* It was also common for Russian Tsars and Emperors to use "we" when referring to themselves.
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* Hillary Clinton is quoted by James Stewart in "Blood Sport: The President and His Adversaries" as having responded to a question regarding subpoenaed documents, "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
* In various European languages, other august personages such as bishops and university rectors also use the royal "we." In fact, in Spanish, there's an entirely separate pronoun for it (''nos'', the origin of the modern first person plural ''nosotros'').
* It is common enough in legal writing that a letter from a firm of lawyers will use the pronoun "we," simply because the letter has gone through multiple hands (who all agree on its contents) or it is the considered opinion of the entirety of the lawyers who are working on that matter. It does look rather odd when only one of them signs it, however. It is *also* not a grammatical error when a lawyer switches from "I" to "we" in legal correspondence and vice versa. (This is an example of the "editorial we" of group opinion or consensus that is mentioned in the trope description.
* As seen in the quote at the top of the page, [[HM The Queen|Elizabeth II]], Queen of the United Kingdom and fifteen other countries, including as mentioned in the quote, Australia, uses the Royal We in official documents. The quote is not fiction, it is (part of) the [[Real Life|real]] order setting forth the awarding of the Victoria Cross (Australia).
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