Basic Trope: Fictional royalty and aristocracy are depicted in ways which don't conform to Real Life precedent, if they make sense at all.
- Straight: The Kingdom of Troperia is ruled by Princess Mary, who is addressed by her subjects as "Your Excellency". When she dies the throne will first pass to her husband, Prince Alexander and then her eldest daughter, Princess Alice.
- Exaggerated: The Imperial Republic of Troperia is ruled by Countess Mary. Her subjects just call her Mary. When she dies, the throne will pass to her pet cat Lord Tibbles IV unless it's because one of her courtiers defeated her in a duel, in which case the winner claims the inheritance.
- Downplayed: The Kingdom of Troperia is ruled by King Mary, who is addressed as "Your Grace", "Your Highness" or "Sir". When she dies, the throne will pass to her eldest daughter, the Duchess Alice.The rationalization?
- Justified:
- Troperia has a long and complex history and the quirks of its hierarchy are not without precedent.
- Royal protocol and conventions in Troperia work on the basis of "whatever the monarchnote says, goes."
- Mary is The Caligula who seized full power for herself after being elected, declared herself "Princess" and set about changing things to suit herself with no regard for historical convention.
- Inverted: The Republic of Troperia is "ruled" by President Mary King, who is addressed as "Madame President" and will leave office at the end of her four-year term unless re-elected.
- Subverted: It turns out that the normal conventions are supposed to apply, but no-one bothers with them. So for example, Queen Mary is referred to colloquially as "Princess" because that's what people are used to, and she doesn't care how people address her as long as they show proper respect.
- Double Subverted: Or at least, the main characters think they apply because they've been reading the out-of-date textbook Protocols, Conventions and Customs of the Troperian Royal Court by T. Troper, considered the definitive authority on the matter about a century ago but now hopelessly out of date.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig Zagged: Everything changes depending on what Princess/Duchess/Empress/Queen/Countess/Lady/Goddess/"just plain" Mary feels like it being that day.
- Averted: The Kingdom of Troperia is ruled by Queen Mary, who is addressed by her subjects as "Your Majesty". When she dies, the throne will pass to her daughter, Princess Alice, but only because she has no son.
- Enforced: Executive Meddling by people who think the audience will want it that way, or because it's a fantasy world so things aren't meant to work the same way as in Real Life.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
A right Royal Mess you'll return to, if you click on the link!
