lèse-majesté

alternative lèse majesté · alternative lese majeste · alternative lese majesty · alternative lese-majesty · alternative leze majesty

1. The crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.

   It is hard to know if this rift is real or performative. In Trump’s eyes, Meloni’s sin appears to be one of lèse-majesté – specifically, failing to show the due deference of a subordinate to her boss.

   2026 July 1, Riccardo Alcaro, “Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   3 more examples

   Convictions for the crime of Lèse-Majesté are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of the army.

   1917, James W. Gerard, My Four Years in Germany

   George, old scout, you must get a move on. You must light out if you want to spend the rest of your life out of prison. Slugging a Serene Highness is lèse-majesté. It’s worse than hitting a policeman. You haven’t got a moment to waste.

   1919, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves, London: George Newnes

   And I have a hazy memory of members of the Beyhive, Beyoncé's fandom, posting disobliging commentary about my byline photo following a podcast discussion in which I was judged to have committed some forgotten act of lèse-majesté.

   2025 October 25, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, “Call yourself a fan?”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1