A Prince (or Princess) is a title of high noble or royal status in the Ryccian Empire. There are 87,103 registered and officially acknowledged princes in the Ryccian Empire, of which 85,646 are members of the royal bloodline.

A princely title is inherited through a bloodline of an Emperor or King. Only the eldest direct descendant of a King may inherit the title of "Imperial Prince", whilst all the members of the next sixteen generations of an Emperor's offspring have the right to this title without an Imperial adjective.

Princes are ranked in accordance to their generation. For example, if you are a seventh-generation descendant of an Imperial Prince, you are entitled to be a Prince of Seventh Rank. Apart from this title, princes are not granted any official privileges, and are legally equal to commoners today.

Princes compose part of the official extended royal clan, and have the sole right to use the surname "Arzixite" (Arzix is reserved for the Emperor and their immediate offspring) unless they found a noble house of their own. Imperial descendants from the seventeenth generation onwards must use the "Filzix" surname if they wish to hold on to their royal connections. This exclusive right to use that special surname remains one of the poultry few royal privileges that exist today.

Fun (or, well, "fun" for me) Facts

Despite their royal status, most princes, especially those of lower ranks, are not always high-ranking elites. The princes as a statistical group are far wealthier than the average citizen, but most princes who are well-off are upper-middle class or millionaires. 753 princes are legally classified as "living in poverty", with 9 in "extreme poverty" by Imperial standards.