How to Address an Excellency
How to Address an Excellency: His/Her/Your Excellency
Envelope: His/Her/Excellency (Full Name)
Conversation: Your Excellency
Excellency is not an office. Your Excellency is a courtesy title used when addressing high national officials such as president and cabinet minister, and foreign diplomats such as ambassador and accredited minister.
Your Excellency is also used when addressing the governors of certain U.S. states.
—-#1) Confirm the office held by the individual
—-#2) Follow the link in the list at right (on desktops) or at the bottom of this page (on phones and tablets) for the form of address for their office.
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
Use of His/Her/Your Excellency
Others address an official as ‘Your Excellency’ in conversation or a salutation, or ‘His/Her Excellency (Full Name)’ in writing.
The officeholder never uses Excellency as part of his/her own name.
For example, the wording on an invitation issued by the Ambassador of Belgium would be:
—-Correct: The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium requests the pleasure of…
—-Incorrect: His Excellency the Ambassador of Kingdom of Belgium requests the pleasure of …
Signing one’s name: Or when presenting one’s name, such as in a signature or preprinted on a holiday card just present your name — nothing before, nothing after.:
—-Correct: Carol Ann Sudol, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium
—-Incorrect: Her Excellency Carol Ann Sudol Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium
—-Inorrect: H.E. Carol Ann Sudol, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium
— Robert Hickey How to Address an Excellency
See Specific Ambassadors:
———U.S. Ambassador by a U.S. Citizen
———U.S. Career Ambassador Retired
———U.S. Ambassador, Retired Foreign Service
———U.S. Ambassador, former, political appointee
———U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
———Goodwill Ambassador
———Foreign Ambassador
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See Other Diplomats:
———Attaché
———Chargé d’Affaires
———Consul
———Consul General
———Consul Honorary
———Counselor
———Deputy Chief of Mission
———First Secretary
———Second Secretary
———Third Secretary
Ab
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
When Should You Use the Forms on this Page?
You can use these forms of address for any mode of communication: addressing a letter, invitation, card or Email. (If there are differences between the official and social forms of address, I will have mentioned the different forms.) The form noted in the salutation is the same form you say when you say their name in conversation or when you greet them.
___What I don’t cover on this site are many things I do cover in my book: all the rules of forms of address, about names, international titles, precedence, complimentary closes, details on invitations, place cards, all sorts of introductions, etc. I hope you’ll get a copy of the book if you’d like the further detail.
Not Finding Your Answer?
—-#1) At right on desktops, at the bottom of every page on tablets and phones, is a list of all the offices, officials & topics covered on the site.
—-#2) If you don’t see the official you seek included or your question answered send me an e-mail. I am pretty fast at sending a reply: usually the next day or so (unless I am traveling.) Note: I don’t have mailing or Email addresses for any of the officials and I don’t keep track of offices that exist only in history books.
—-#3) If I think your question is of interest to others, Sometimes I post the question – but always change all the specifics.
— Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
Recommended Resources: The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW) and Protocol and Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (PDI-POA) For more information see the Protocol Resources page.