1. Hist. Rights held by the Crown under feudal law. • Regalia is a shortened form of jura regalia.
regalia majora (m[schwa]-jor-[schwa]). [Latin “greater rights”] The Crown’s greater rights; the Crown’s dignity, power, and royal prerogatives, as distinguished from the Crown’s rights to revenues.
regalia minora (mi-nor-[schwa]). [Latin “lesser rights”] The Crown’s lesser rights; the Crown’s lesser prerogatives (such as the rights of revenue), as distinguished from its royal prerogatives.
2. Hist. Feudal rights usu. associated with royalty, but held by the nobility.“Counties palatine are so called a palatio; because the owners thereof, the earl of Chester, the bishop of Durham, and the duke of Lancaster, had in those counties jura regalia, as fully as the king hath in his palace ….” 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 113 (1765).
3. Emblems of royal authority, such as a crown or scepter, given to the monarch at coronation.
4. Loosely, finery or special dress, esp. caps and gowns worn at academic ceremonies.
