Majesty, your

   An honorific title used when addressing a king, queen, emperor, or empress. Used in England since the seventeenth century. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were addressed as ‘your Grace’ and ‘your Highness’. In the dedication to the Bible of 1611, James I is both ‘your Highness’ and ‘your Majesty’. In modern Britain it is customary to address the Queen as ‘your Majesty’ at the beginning of the conversation, then continue with ‘ma’am’. In ordinary life, ‘yoy Majesty’ is used to a man or woman who is behaving in what is thought to be a regal way, usually with sarcastic intentions on the part of the speaker. Special circumstances can also bring about its use. In A Salute to the Great McCarthy, by Barry Oakley, a conversation runs:

   ‘You look as if you’ve been in that bed all your life.’

   ‘I pricked my finger with a needle, you see.’

   ‘I am no prince, your majesty, but a common huntsman.’

   ‘Perhaps your quarry is near. I told you to sit down.’

   The speakers are of course alluding to The Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. In Pinktoes, by Chester Hines, we have: ‘And now, Mrs Mamie Mason, or rather I should say, Your Majesty (toothy smile)…’. The woman to whom this is addressed has been elected queen of a masked ball.