How to Address a Prime Minister
———On this page:
———-—–Prime Minister, Australia
———-—–Prime Minister, Canada
—————Prime Minister, United Kingdom
—–———-Prime Minister, Non-Commonwealth Country
———-—–Former Commonwealth Prime Ministers
How to Address a Prime Minister of a Non-Commonwealth Country
A prime minister – a head of government – from a non-English speaking country has a traditional form of address in their local language. But when traveling internationally, and the common language is English, address in writing as:
—-Envelope or address block on letter or email:
—-—-His/Her Excellency (Full Name)
—-—-Prime Minister of the (official country name)
—-—-(Address)
—-Salutation and conversation:
—-—-Your Excellency:
—-—-—-or
—-—-Prime Minister:
—-#1) If you have several ‘excellencies’ and are concerned if you use ‘Your Excellency’ it will be confusing, use ‘Prime Minister (Surname)’. Using the person’s name is less formal than just their ‘title’ – but clarity is always the priority.
—-#2) Note that the formula specifies ‘official country name’. In your case the short form is ‘Lithuania’. The official country name is the ‘Republic of Lithuania’. Using the ‘official country name’ is formal. Look it up.
Why are Prime Ministers addressed as Your Excellency when traveling outside their country? The logic is they are traveling as ‘ambassadors of their government‘ and as such, they are addressed as accredited diplomats while on international missions.
– Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
How to Address the Canadian Prime Minister?
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), PC, MP
—-—-Prime Minister
—-—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Prime Minister:
—-—-Dear Prime Minister
—-—-Dean Mr./Madam Prime Minister:
—-Conversation:
—-—-Prime Minister
—-—-Sir / Madam
– Robert Hickey
How to Address the Canadian Prime Minister & Spouse?
How to I address an invitation to the Prime Minister of Canada and his wife?
—-—-—-– Sarah
Dear Sarah:
This is the formula used in all of the Commonwealth realms. Many Commonwealth countries, once colonies or dependenies of the United Kingdom use the same form of address. For other nations – see another post on this page for a Prime Minister of a non-Commonwealth country.
#1) If his wife uses the same surname:
—-Social Envelope:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), PC, MP
—-—-and Mrs. (Surname)
—-—-Address
#2) If his wife uses a different surname or has a special honorific of her own (Dr., military rank, etc.) write her name fully:
—-Envelope:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), PC, MP
—-—-and (Honorific) (Given Name) (Surname)
—-—-(Address)
—-Inside envelope:
—-—-Prime Minister and Ms./Mrs./Dr./etc. (Surname)
—-Salutation or conversation:
—-—-Prime Minister
——–Ms./Mrs./Dr./etc. (Surname)
I have more in my book, but this is enough to get you through!
– Robert Hickey
Australian, British and Canadian forms of address are related.
See note on use of British spelling in honourable and right honourable.
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
How to Address the Australian Prime Minister?
In Australia the courtesy title is ‘the Honourable” rather than ‘the Right Honourable’ used in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations.
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Honourable (Full Name), MP
—-—-Prime Minister
—-—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Prime Minister:
—-Conversation:
—-—-Prime Minister
– Robert Hickey
Australian, British and Canadian forms of address are related.
See note on use of British spelling in honourable and right honourable.
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
How to Address the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), MP
—-—-Prime Minister
—-—-Address
——–Frequently written:
——–—-The Right Hon. (Full Name), MP
——–—-Prime Minister
——–—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Prime Minister:
—-Conversation:
—-—-Prime Minister
– Robert Hickey
Australian, British and Canadian forms of address are related.
See note on use of British spelling in honourable and right honourable.
How to Address a Former Commonwealth Prime Minister?
The pattern is to keep their courtesy title (honourable/right honourable) but go back to the honorific (most often Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr./etc.) in the salutation or in conversation. These forms assume the former prime minister continues to be an MP. If they do not continue to to be an MP, remove it and use only the courtesy title before their name.
AUSTRALIA
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Honourable (Full Name), MP
—-—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname):
—-Conversation:
—-—-Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname)
CANADA
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), PC, MP
—-—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname):
—-Conversation:
—-—-Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname)
UNITED KINGDOM
—-Official envelope or address block on a letter or email:
—-—-The Right Honourable (Full Name), PC, MP
—-—-Address
—-Salutation:
—-—-Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname):
—-Conversation:
—-—-Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Surname)
– Robert Hickey
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.