A royal house or royal dynasty is a designation for a family that has ruled a state for any number of generations. The term may refer to imperial, royal or even noble families, such as dukedoms or earldoms. Modern examples include the British House of Windsor, the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and the Spanish House of Bourbon. Historically, the most famous royal houses are the German House of Hohenzollern, the French House of Bonaparte and the incredibly long-reigning Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Though today royal houses serve a figurehead role in most countries, with the exception of the Arabian House of Saud, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance period those monarchies ruled with near absolute power.
Tracking a royal household can be very difficult as different cultures have different qualifications for the continuity of a dynasty and often intermarriages can complicate matters greatly. For instance, the British House of Hanover is actually of German origin, a matter which become especially embarrassing for the royal family when they were fighting Germany in the First World War. Furthermore, new dynasties can often germinate out of old ones, as when the English Houses of Lancaster and York were united under King Henry VII, thereby creating the House of Tudor.
To assist with alternative history writing, here is a list of reigning royal houses (wikipedia):
- Bahrain: House of Al Khalifa
- Belgium: House of Wettin (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha line)
- Bhutan: House of Wangchuck
- Brunei: House of Bolkiah
- Cambodia: House of Norodom
- Commonwealth realms: House of Windsor; the following are the 16 Commonwealth realms:
- Denmark: House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (a branch of the House of Oldenburg)
- Japan: Imperial House of Japan (Yamato Dynasty)
- Jordan: House of Hashemite
- Kuwait: House of Al-Sabah
- Lesotho: House of Moshesh
- Liechtenstein: House of Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg: House of Nassau-Weilburg and Bourbon-Parma, (agnatically the House of Bourbon, Capetian Dynasty)
- Malaysia: Nine royal houses
- Monaco: House of Grimaldi
- Morocco: Alaouite
- Netherlands: House of Orange-Nassau (agnatically the House of Lippe)
- Norway: House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (a branch of the House of Oldenburg)
- Qatar: House of Al Thani
- Oman: House of Al Bu Sa'id
- Saudi Arabia: House of Saud
- Spain: House of Bourbon (Capetian Dynasty)
- Swaziland: Dlamini
- Sweden: House of Bernadotte
- Thailand: House of Chakri
- Tonga: House of Tupou
- United Arab Emirates: House of Al Nahyan (Al Qasimi)
Similarly, here is a list of extinct royal houses (wikipedia):
- Afghanistan
- Albania: House of Zogu
- Anhalt: House of Ascania
- Aragon: House of Aragon
- Armenia:
- Austria: House of Habsburg-Lorraine
- Azerbaijan: House of Shirvanshahs
- Baden: House of Zähringen
- Bavaria: House of Wittelsbach
- Bohemia: Přemyslid dynasty, House of Luxembourg, Jagiellon Dynasty; House of Habsburg-Lorraine
- Bosnia: House of Boričević-Berislavić
- Brazil: House of Bragança (an illegitimate branch of the House of Capet); later Orléans-Bragança (branch of the House of Bourbon, a line of the House of Capet)
- Brunswick: House of Hanover (branch of the House of Guelph, a line of the House of Este)
- Bulgaria:
- House of Dulo
- House of Krum
- House of Cometopuli
- House of Assen
- House of Terteroba
- House of Sratsimir
- House of Dragaš
- House of Battenberg (branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt
- House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Busseto: Pallavicino
- China:
- House of Aisin Gioro 愛新覺羅 (Qing Dynasty, Manchu Imperial Family)
- Ming Dynasty
- Yuan Dynasty
- China
- Hata clan 秦氏 (Qin Dynasty), descendants of Qin Shi Huang
- Former Commonwealth Realms: House of Windsor (agnatically the House of Wettin, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha line)
- Croatia: Jagiellon Dynasty
- Egypt: Muhammad Ali Dynasty
- England:
- Ethiopia: Solomonic dynasty
- Ferrara, Modena & Reggio: House of Este; later Austria-Este (a branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine)
- France:
- House of Capet (royal), branches including: House of Valois (extinct 1589), House of Bourbon , and House of Orleans.
- House of Bonaparte (imperial)
- Georgia: Bagrationi
- German Empire: House of Hohenzollern (Prussian line)
- Greece: Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (branch of the House of Oldenburg)
- Hesse and by Rhine: House of Lorraine-Brabant
- Hawaii:
- House of Kamehameha
- House of Keoua
- House of Kalaimamahu
- House of Kalakaua
- House of Kawananakoa
- House of Kalokuokamaile
- Hungary:
- Iran (Persia): Pahlavi
- Irak (Iraq): Hashemites
- Ireland (native): Provincial overkingdoms: O'Neill dynasty (Ulster), MacMurrough-Kavanagh dynasty (Leinster), O'Connor dynasty (Connacht), O'Brien dynasty (Munster). Regional kingdoms: O'Donnell dynasty (Tyrconnell), O'Rourke dynasty (Breifne), MacCarthy dynasty (Desmond)
- Ireland (non-native): House of Tudor, House of Stuart, House of Windsor
- Israel: House of David
- Kingdom of Italy (medieval): House of Ivrea - lines Valperga di Masino, Lorenzato di San Martino, Castellamonte, San Martino d'Aglie.
- Italy:
- House of Savoy, or in Italian "Savoia"
- House of Bonaparte (royal)
- Korea:
- House of Dae
- House of Go
- House of Kim
- House of Ma
- House of Park
- House of Sok
- House of Wang
- House of Yi
- Leinster: MacMurrough Kavanagh.
- Libya: Senussi
- Lippe: House of Lippe
- Grand Duchy of Lithuania: House of Mindaugas, House of Gediminas (Ruthenian Hedyminovichy, Belarusian: Гедымінавічы) later a branch of Gediminids - the Jagiellons
- Maldives: Huraa dynasty
- Mecklenburg-Schwerin: House of Mecklenburg (Nikloting dynasty)
- Mecklenburg-Strelitz: House of Mecklenburg (Nikloting dynasty)
- Melfi: House of Melfi
- Mexico:
- Mirandola: Pico della Mirandola
- Modena & Reggio
- Monferrato : House of Gonzaga
- Mongolia: the Borjigin Mongol Empire, Choros
- Montenegro:
- Naples and the Two Sicilies: House of Bourbon (branch of the House of Capet)
- Nepal: Shah dynasty
- Oldenburg: House of Oldenburg
- Ottoman Empire (Turkey): House of Osman
- Palatinate of the Rhine: House of Wittelsbach
- Parma Piacenza & Guastalla:
- Farnese
- Bourbon-Parma, a line of the House of Capet
- Poland
- Portugal
- House of Burgundy
- House of Aviz
- Branch of Aviz-Beja
- House of Braganza
- House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Persia (Iran): Qajar Dynasty
- Polatsk: House of Rahvalodavichy, a branch of the Rurik Dynasty
- Prussia: See German Empire
- Reuß : House of Reuss
- Romania: House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
- Russia: House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (branch of the House of Oldenburg)
- House of Rurik (Several princely and noble families of Rurik stock)
- Ryukyu Kingdom: House of Sho
- Sarawak: Brooke family
- Saxony: House of Wettin
- Saxe-Altenburg (Ernestine branch)
- Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Ernestine branch)
- Saxe-Meiningen and Hildburghausen (Ernestine branch)
- Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Grand Duchy of Saxony, Ernestine branch)
- Saxony (Kingdom of Saxony, Albertine branch)
- Schaumburg-Lippe: House of Lippe
- Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: House of Schwarzburg
- Schleswig-Holstein: House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (branch of the House of Oldenburg)
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Yugoslavia:
- Sicily: House of Hohenstauffen; later House of Bourbon, a line of the House of Capet
- Slavonia: Jagiellon Dynasty
- Spain (pre-unification)
- Spain (unified Kingdom)
- House of Habsburg
- House of Bourbon
- House of Bonaparte
- House of Savoy
- Sri Lanka: Nayaks of Kandy
- Turkey: House of Osman
- Tunisia: Husainid Dynasty
- Tuscany:
- Medici
- House of Habsburg-Lorraine
- Tyrconnell: O'Donnell
- Vietnam: Nguyễn Dynasty
- Waldeck and Pyrmont: House of Waldeck-Pyrmont
- Wales:
- Westphalia: House of Bonaparte (royal)
- Wied: House of Wied
- Württemberg: House of Württemberg
- Yawnghwe (Myanmar): Kanbawza
- Yemen: al-Qasimi
- Zimbabwe: Munhumutapa the bloodline survives in several kingdoms and chieftaincies in Southern Africa.