Highness, your royal

   The formal mode of address used to royal princes and princesses in Britain. Sarcastic use of this title to someone who is acting like a royal personage, or acting as if they are far more important than they are, at least, is fairly common. ‘We thought to ourselves that we better ask Amy about this because Amy is the big shot around here, and even Mama better not make up her mind without bowing to Missus Amy and saying, “Can we, your Royal Highness?”’ This is a boy addressing his sister in William, by Irene Hunt. The Diviners, by Margaret Laurence, has: ‘Kid not your husband’s?’ ‘That is my affair, I believe.’ ‘Oh, beg yer pardon, yer highness. Yer affair is right, kid.’ The Actor, by Horace Annesley Vachell, has a man whose name is Alfred Pugsley addressed by someone as ‘Puggy’. He replies: ‘Damn your impudence! Who gave you leave to call me Puggy?’ ‘Pardon, your Royal Highness,’ says the original speaker, ‘it just slipped out.’