royal we

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royal we

The use by a monarch of the plural personal pronoun to refer to him- or herself (e.g., as we or ourselves), which suggests that he or she is something more than a singular and speaks as a representative of the people.

References in periodicals archive ?

This type of "we" narration is neither a case of pluralis modestatis, employed to demonstrate the modest opinion of the narrator, nor a case of pluralis majestatis ("royal we"), which lays emphasis on the praiseworthiness of the narrator who presents (or addresses) herself or himself in the plural.

A contextual view of narrative fiction in the first person plural

Juliana also refused to use the pluralis majestatis or royal 'we', preferring to say 'my husband and I'.

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, 1909-2004

The "we" may be as pluralis majestatis or the slip of a slipshod writer giving away the multiple authorship.