Style Guide - People

Names
Refer to people without title by full name at first mention, thereafter by surname, e.g. Guy Fawkes, then Fawkes. Do not use Mr Fawkes or Guy.

Titles
Titles of nobility in descending order are as follows: duke, marquess (not marquis, except in foreign contexts and occasional Scottish titles), earl, viscount and baron. 
At first mention, give the formal title e.g., the Marquess of Paddington, the Earl of Waterloo, but then Lord Paddington, Lord Waterloo, etc. 
This does not apply to barons, who are always Lord except in the announcement of new baronies. Dukes are always dukes and do not become Lord (e.g., the Duke of Rutland). 
A common error is to write Lady Helen Brown, etc., when we should say simply Lady Brown. As a quick rule of thumb, no wife of a baronet or knight takes her Christian name in her title unless she is the daughter of a duke, marquess or earl.
Some titles include a place name, e.g., Lord Callaghan of Cardiff, Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, while others do not. 
Apart from royalty (e.g., the Duke of York), all these titles take lower case rather than capital after the first mention (e.g., the Duke of Argyll, thereafter the duke).
ALWAYS check a title if in the slightest doubt. 
See Religion for Church titles.

Royalty
Do not need to state King in front of a sovereign's name, e.g. Henry VIII, but after the King (capital) or continue to use Henry VIII.
Be careful with a person's changing title during their life, e.g. Duke of Gloucester to Protector to Richard III. Be accurate and clear about the subject.
Note: Diana, Princess of Wales, at first mention; subsequently the Princess (capital, as she remained a member of the Royal Family until her death). 

Foreign appellations 
Use local honorifics for:
France: M, Mme, Mlle and Me (for Maître, legal);
Germany and Austria: Herr, Frau, Fräulein;
Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America: Señor, Señora, Señorita;
Italy: Signor, Signora, Signorina;
Portugal and Brazil: Senhor, Senhora (but not Senhorina).
Note that with Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Canada, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, etc. are used because of those countries' linguistic sensitivities  
Similarly the English forms with Francophone Africa, where French is more the language of the elite rather than the lingua franca.
For all other nationalities, use English except where it is possible to use a local title (e.g., Ayatollah, Begum, Chief, Pandit, Sheikh), or a military one (e.g., Colonel Gaddafi); occasionally, where titles are in general use (e.g., Baron von X in Germany), we would respect such exceptions.

Job titles 
The general rule is that for the most senior high-profile jobs we should capitalise at first mention, and thereafter lower case. 
Thus senior civil servants, diplomatic and political leaders, civic leaders, Editor (of well-known leading publications), Director-General (of the BBC, CBI etc), Vice-Chancellor and academic titles, Chief Constable and police ranks, military titles, President of a small number of high-profile national institutions (e.g., President of the Law Society, the TUC etc.), all take the cap at first mention and then - usually - lower case thereafter.
However, chairman, director, managing director (of a company), general secretary (of a union), artistic director (of a theatre), etc. are lower case; so are most presidents and chairmen of societies and institutions. 

Nicknames
When a person is well known by their nickname, write the nickname first and their full name in commas after, e.g. The Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, thereafter continue to use the nickname. 
Sometimes a nickname is all that can be used, e.g. Jack the Ripper, as the true identity is not known.

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