In 'Romeo and Juliet', which prince banishes Romeo from Verona?

In 'Romeo and Juliet', Prince Escalus banishes Romeo from Verona after Romeo kills Tybalt. Escalus is the ruler of Verona and the play's chief representative of civic law amid the Montague-Capulet feud.

The punishment follows the street fight in Act 3, Scene 1. Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo's friend, and Romeo then kills Tybalt in revenge. Although Romeo's action is technically murder, the Prince chooses banishment rather than execution because Tybalt began the violence and had already killed Mercutio. Romeo must leave Verona and is ordered never to return.

A common mix-up is to confuse Escalus with Count Paris, who is related to the Prince and hopes to marry Juliet. Lord Capulet is Juliet's father, while Friar Laurence secretly marries Romeo and Juliet; neither has legal authority to sentence Romeo. Escalus later appears at the tomb and recognizes how the feud helped cause the lovers' deaths.