Recent studies indicate that the southern royal albatross may, on average, be somewhat larger than the wandering albatross in mass and have a similar wingspan,[3] although other sources indicate roughly similar size for the two species and the wandering species may have a larger average (and maximum) wingspan in some colonies.

Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus.

All ages have a pink bill with black on the cutting edge on the upper mandible, and the legs are flesh-coloured.

Most wandering albatrosses have dark feathers in the tail and crown and the white in this species expands from the middle of the wing, in larger blotches.

[13] The majority of the world's population of southern royal albatrosses nest on the rat-free[19] subantarctic Campbell Island, around 8,200 to 8,600 pairs.

Direct counts on Enderby Island using a helicopter and also on foot in January 2017 estimated there were 47 breeding pairs there.

[20] There are some sanfordi × epomophora hybrids at the northern royal albatross colony on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand.

[21] The southern royal albatross eats squid and fish, with smaller amounts of carrion, crustaceans, and salps.

As a top-tier organism in its natural habitat, it has very few predators but major fishing industries are a huge problem for all albatross species among other seabirds.

Longline fishing is a major problem and a possible emerging threat is Dracophyllum, a shrub that is taking away from their nesting range.