Wiktionary

prince regent

English

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WOTD – 5 February 2022

Etymology

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Studio of Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of King George IV of the United Kingdom as Prince Regent (19th century).[n 1] Due to the mental incapacity of George III of the United Kingdom, his son George, Prince of Wales, became Prince Regent from 5 February 1811 until 29 January 1820 when the king died and the regent ascended the throne as George IV.

From prince ‎ regent (“one who rules in place of the monarch”).[1]

The plural form princes regent treats the word regent attributively.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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prince regent (plural prince regents or princes regent or princes regents)

  1. A prince who rules a country as a regent in place of a monarch who is unfit to rule for a particular reason.
    Coordinate term: princess regent
    • 1612, Lewis de Mayerne Turquet [i.e., Louis Turquet de Mayerne], “The Contents of the Ninth Booke”, in Edward Grimeston, transl., The General Historie of Spaine, […], London: […] A[dam] Islip, and G[eorge] Eld, →OCLC, page 269:
      Accord betwixt D. Raymond Berenger, Prince Regent of Arragon, with the Templers and Hospitaliers, vpon the teſtament of King D. Alphonſo.
    • a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, “Book IV. Of the Reign of King James II.”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC, page 813:
      As to the propoſition for a Prince Regent, it was argued, that this was as much againſt Monarchy, or rather more, than what they moved for. If a King's ill government did give the people a right in any caſe to take his power from him, and to lodge it with another, owning that the right to it remained ſtill with him, this might have every whit as bad conſequences, as the other ſeemed to have: For recourſe might be had to this violent remedy too often, and too raſhly.
    • 1732, “A Treaty of Peace between the Empire and Sweden, Concluded and Sign’d at Osnabrug the 24th of October, 1648. The King of France was Comprehended in this Treaty as an Ally of Sweden.”, in A General Collection of Treatys, Manifesto’s, Contracts of Marriage, Renunciations, and Other Publick Papers, from the Year 1495, to the Year 1712, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] J. J. and P. Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 434:
      And if there be ſeveral Princes of that Family, one of the younger Brothers ſhall be choſen and preſented to that Biſhoprick; and if the younger Brothers fail, one of the Princes Regent ſhall be choſen: […]
    • 1749, “[Appendix of the Most Material Vouchers and Papers, Referred to in the Report.] Rationale of the Brethrens Liturgies.”, in Report from the Committee to whom the Petition of the Deputies of the United Moravian Churches, in Behalf of Themselves and Their United Brethren, was Referred: […] (Acta Fratrum Unitatis in Anglia), London: [Samuel Richardson], →OCLC, part II (The Brethrens Method of Preaching the Gospel, […]), page 106:
      It happened farther, that ſome Noblemen of Great Poland (among whom One was a Woywode (one of the Princes Regents), and Two Counts, James de Oſtrorog, and Raphael de Leſzno), being deſirous to know fully all relating to the Brethren, took a Journey to them as they were about to hold a Synod in the Heart of Moravia; […]
    • 1752, [Vincent-Claude] Chalons, “Charles VI”, in [anonymous], transl., The History of France: From the Establishment of that Monarchy under Pharamond, to the Death of Lewis XIII. […], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 420:
      We cannot determine whether it was the king [Charles VI of France] that acted himſelf upon this occaſion, or whether it was his council, or the princes regents of the kingdom: the hiſtorians ſay only ſimply the king.
    • 1813 August 5, Historicus [pseudonym], “Ancient Scandal”, in The Spirit of the Public Journals for 1813. […], volume XVII, London: […] [S. Gosnell] for James Ridgway, […], published 1814, →OCLC, paragraph XIII.4, page 196:
      [A]fter returning thanks to Heaven for the re-establishment of His Highness's health,—an event of incalculable importance to the interests of the afflicted Church, which never stood in greater need to virtuous Princes Regent (des Princes Regens vertueux)— […] [From The Times.]
    • 1813 July 28, Charles Stuart, Ricardo Raimundo Nogueira, John Bell, Henrique Teixeira Sampayo, “Report of the Committee Appointed to Direct the Distribution of the Grant Voted by the Parliament of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for the Relief of the Inhabitants of the Districts in Portugal, Laid Waste by the Enemy in the Year 1810”, in Miscellaneous, and Treaties with Foreign Powers: […], volume XIV, [London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office], →OCLC, page 5:
      The Committee will have the honour to lay these Statements before Their Royal Highnesses the Princes Regents of the two Nations.
    • 1878, Robert Gossip, “Reign of Murad—First Bulgarian Campaign—An Ottoman Brutus—Battle of Kossova—Turkish Atrocities”, in Turkey and Russia: Their Races, History, and Wars. […], volume I, Edinburgh: Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, →OCLC, page 37:
      The young princes-regent revolted and proclaimed themselves the sovereigns of the realms over which they had been placed in temporary authority during the absence of their fathers.
    • 1943, Fang Chao-ying, “FAN Wên-Ch‘êng 范文程”, in edited by Arthur W[illiam] Hummel [Sr.], Eminent Chinese of the Ch‘ing Period (1644–1912), volumes I (A–O), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, pages 231–232:
      When the news of the fall of Peking to Li Tzŭ-ch‘êng […] reached Mukden in 1644 Fan [Wên-Ch‘êng] memorialized the princes regent urging them to seize this opportunity to conquer an empire, but in so doing to spare the lives of the common people and refrain from the destruction that characterized former invasions.
    • 2003, Kobkua Suwannathat-Pian, “The Experience of a Minor Monarch”, in Kings, Country and Constitutions: Thailand’s Political Development 1932–2000, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, published 2013, →ISBN, part II (Reality: The Practice of Constitutional Monarchy, 1932–1952), page 129:
      The two Prince Regents were but junior members of the Royal family and commanded little influence over their royal seniors or peers; they would not have been the choices of the royalty, had the latter been given a say in the matter.
    • 2017, Catherine Reef, “England’s Hope”, in Victoria: Portrait of a Queen, New York, N.Y.: Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 12:
      Everyone knew that her [Princess Charlotte of Wales's] father, the prince regent [George IV], had a mistress. He ran up huge debts, which the government paid with taxes collected from the people. The prince regent had a string of younger brothers who stood in line to inherit the throne, but none of them had an heir to carry on the royal line after him.
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Translations

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Notes

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  1. ^ From the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

References

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  1. ^ “Prince Regent, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2018; “Prince Regent, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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