Duc/Prince or Duchesse/Princesse
New grants of the titles of nobility of Duc or Prince and Duchesse or Princesse are generally reserved only for members of the Royal family of Rwanda from the date of this Guidance, but these honours can and have been given to non-Royal persons.
Historically, the equivalent of a ducal or princely title in the Kingdom of Rwanda was a royal gift that translates as “120” or Ijana Namakumyabiri. This referred to the 120 hand-made spears and lances that were received by the grantee from the Mwami. A historical example was the title of “120” granted to H.M. King Boudouin from H.M. King Mutara III in 1955. By tradition, there could never be more new grants of this title during the Mwami’s reign than the number of fingers on His Majesty’s hands. For example, if some fingers were lost in battle, the number of new grants during the reign could not exceed the number of current fingers. This is because this title and honour was a metaphorical extension of His Majesty’s personal hands. Consequently, a Duc or Duchesse or non-Royal Prince or non-Royal Princesse is the highest honour His Majesty can award to a non-Royal grantee. The remainder of this section applies to both Ducs/Duchesses and non-Royal Princes/Princesses.
Article 8
Style of the Duc/Duchesse and Prince/Princesse
The title and honour of Duc and Duchesse and non-Royal Prince/Princesse are entitled to the style of “Son Excellence”.
Article 9
Title and Address
The title of Duc/Duchesse may be granted with or without a territorial designation. If a territorial designation is granted, the full name, title, and style of a Duc is “Son Excellence First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname, [number of the honour, beginning with the 1st] Duc de Territorial Designation”. If a territorial designation is granted, the full name, title, and style of a Duchesse is “Son Excellence First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname, [number of the honour, beginning with the 1st] Duchesse de Territorial Designation”. If a territorial designation is not granted, the full name, title, and style of a Duc is “Son Excellence First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname, [number of the honour, beginning with the 1st] Duc Surname”. If a territorial designation is not granted, the full name, title, and style of a Duchesse is “Son Excellence First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname, [number of the honour, beginning with the 1st] Duchesse Surname”. A Prince or Princesse cannot have a territorial designation. Consequently, the full name, title, and style of a Prince is “Son Excellence Prince First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname”. Similarly, the full name, title, and style of a Princesse is “Son Excellence Princesse First Name Middle Name Second Middle Name [if any] Surname” If the Letters Patent for a particular recipient contains a different style, title, and address than the above, the Letters Patent will triumph only for that particular recipient.
Article 10
Definition of Lawful Spouse
A lawful spouse is a person who is legally wed to the Duc/Duchesse or Prince/Princesse either prior to or after his/her rise to the title and honour. The wedding must be lawful in the place of residence of the title holder. Only one lawful spouse may be alive at any time.
Article 11
Courtesy Spousal Title and Courtesy Titles for Children
The lawful spouse of a Duc is accorded the courtesy spousal title of Duchesse de Territorial Designation (if a territorial designation was granted) or Duchess Surname if a territorial designation was not granted. The lawful spouse of a Prince is accorded the courtesy spousal title of Princesse. The lawful spouse will have a style of “Son Excellence”. The lawful spouse is noble for as long as she is married to the Duc or Prince or is the widow of the same. If a widow of the Duc or Prince, the addition of “Douairière” is added to the courtesy title before Duchesse or Princesse.
However, if the Duchesse or Princesse is a substantive title holder in her own right, that is, it is not a courtesy spousal title but rather a granted title by the Head of the Rwandan Royal House, the lawful spouse receives no courtesy title.
All bloodline children of the Duc/Duchesse and Prince/Princesse are noble, but this nobility ends with that generation, except if one of the children succeeds to the title and honour in the future. Said another way, the grandchildren of a current Duc/Duchesse or Prince/Princesse are not noble unless one of their parents succeeds to the titles and honours of Duc/Duchesse or Prince/Princesse. The courtesy style for children of the Duc/Duchesse and Prince/Princesse will be “Le Noble” as a prefix to the name for the entirety of the lives of these children. In Kinyarwanda, this is “Imfura”.
Article 12
Passage of Title and Honour
The titles and honours of the de jure Kingdom of Rwanda may only pass to another person in strict accordance with this document. They cannot be sold, transferred, or otherwise altered. A grant of a substantive title of Duc/Duchesses or non-Royal Prince/Princesse to a person from the Head of the Rwandan Royal House is hereditary. Unless the Letters Patent for a particular grantee specifically stipulates another method of transmission, the default method of transmission is bloodline absolute primogeniture springing solely from the original grantee. That is, the honour and title of Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse will only pass from a current substantive title-holder to the eldest child of the title-holder (or the next in line to the title and honour if there are no living descendants of the current title-holder but there are living collateral descendants elsewhere who spring from the original grantee of the Ducal or Princely title and honour) upon the death of the current title-holder, unless the current title-holder renounces the honour in accordance with Article 13. There may only be one inheritor of the title and honour at any time.
Written notice of each transfer of the title and honour should be made to the current Head of the Rwandan Royal House so that good record-keeping is maintained and registration occurs of the new holder of the title and honour. A small registration fee might be necessary to record this transfer. However, title passage will occur without the need for official blessing by a future Head of the Rwandan Royal House. For example, if a title holder dies, his heir according to either the individualized Letters Patent or this document immediately becomes the next holder of the title and honour. This ensures the smooth and immediate transmission of the title and honour. But notification to the Royal House is required after transmission so that proper record keeping can be maintained. If more than 100 years passes after a legitimate transfer of a title and honour and the Royal Rwandan House has not received notification and recorded the transmission, the title and honour becomes extinct and reverts back to the Royal Rwandan House. Only if the Head of the Royal Rwandan House then regrants the title and honour can it be restored after 100 years of lack of registration after it legitimately transfers.
In the event that the descendant lines of the original grantee of the Ducal or Princely title and honour all fail – that is, that each line eventually has no bloodline heirs left – the title will become extinct, as all possible heirs have died out. Similarly, the title becomes dormant if no person has claimed the title or no claim has been satisfactorily proven. A period of 100 years of dormancy results in the dissolution of the title with no restoration possible except for an explicit new grant from the Head of the Rwandan Royal House. In the event of a dispute regarding who is the true inheritor of the title and honour of the Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse, the current Head of the Rwandan Royal House has ultimate jurisdiction as to the rightful holder of the title. Note, for purposes of this document, the word bloodline heir means all issue (descendants), not just the immediate children of the original Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse.
In the event that an inheritor of the title and honour resides in a domicile/jurisdiction/state/country of residence that prohibits the use of titles and honours at the time of receiving the title, or a current Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse moves into such a domicile/jurisdiction/state/country of residence, the title becomes honorary solely to allow the grantee to not violate the law in the place of residence. However, this honorary state exists and accords the Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse all rights accorded a non-honorary substantive title and honour. Put another way, the honorary title and honour are honorary in name only, but the title and honour still are substantive in the de jure Kingdom of Rwanda. This state of the Ducal and Princely title and honour being honorary will exist until the current Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse moves into another domicile/jurisdiction/state/country of residence that recognizes titles and honours, the domicile/jurisdiction/state/country of residence changes its stance on titles and honours, or a new inheritor, residing in another domicile/jurisdiction/state/country of residence has a claim to the title through the previous title-holder dying or renouncing the honour. Under no circumstances is the title and honour of Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse considered extinct until all possible heirs to it have died out. A foreign government cannot extinguish this title and honour as the title falls under the legal jurisdiction and protection of the de jure Kingdom of Rwanda.
Article 13
Renunciation of Title
The title and honour may be renounced by the current Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse at any time and for any cause. The renunciation must be in writing and witnessed by two individuals not related to the current Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse. Both witnesses should sign and date the renunciation along with the renouncing Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse, and the document should be delivered to the current Head of the Royal House of Rwanda. Upon signing, the title and honour of Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse will pass by the rules of Article 12 as if the renouncing Duc or Duchesse or Prince or Princesse died. Thus, a renunciation of the title and honour does not dissolve it; the title and honour merely passes to the next lawful recipient under Article 12 or the Letters Patent of the original grantee. Per Article 12, only an extinction of the title and honour by the death or renunciation of all bloodline descendants springing from the original grantee, or all eligible recipients outlined in a specific Letters Patent if the specific Letters Patent outlines a different mode of title transmission, can effectively end its existence.
Article 14
Armorial Achievement
Heraldry is not a significant part of the historic cultural tradition of Rwanda, but there are some precedents. For example, His Majesty King Kigeli V has a heraldic achievement with a Bantu-style shield. The coronet for a Duc or Duchess or Prince or Princesse will be an Or coronet surmounted by four stylized Proper leaves of Nymphaea thermarum, called the pygmy Rwandan water lily, with four alternating balls of pearl Argent. The band of the coronet will display white and blue beading similar to the Crown of Rwanda. The heraldic representation for the Ducal or Princely coronet will be:
Grantees and inheritors of the Ducal or Princely title and honour may display their heraldry with a Bantu-style shield or else a heater-style shield, a Ducal or Princely coronet, a helm, a crest, torse, a manteau, and supporters. In accordance with the original vision of H.M. King Mutara III, leopard skin may be used as a manteau for Ducs/Duchesses and non-Royal Princes/Princesses. Grantees and inheritors also had the right, beginning with H.M. King Mutara III, to decorate their battle shields, and this is akin to a heraldic system.
A sample leopard skin manteau image may be seen below:
