The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word ROYALTY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
R
O
Y
A
L
T
Y
More clues leading to the result ROYALTY
- Maybe King Priam’s family and Troy lay destroyed
- Payment to Prince, say, a member of the monarchy
- Two boys getting extremely timely payment
- Ruler's position rising amid ruins of Troy
- Faith gets a new head — a prince, say
- Allegiance swapping sides initially, shifting to monarch
- Payment to an author – it isn’t common
- Tory shambles containing rising of the people — top people
- Payment to author from people in palaces?
- Princely payment?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a prince, say" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a prince, say = royalty.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ROYALTY mean?
ROYALTY noun- The rank, status, power or authority of a monarch.
- People of royal rank, plus their families, treated as a group.
- A royal right or prerogative, such as the exploitation of a natural resource; the granting of such a right; payment received for such a right.
- The payment received by an owner of real property for exploitation of mineral rights in the property.
- (by extension) Payment made to a writer, composer, inventor etc for the sale or use of intellectual property, invention etc.
- Someone in a privileged position.
- A king and a queen as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.
- The bounds of a royal burgh.