As you advance to higher levels your reporting permissions grow, as your reports get greater influence on real-time routing. This is tracked in the Waze client application as can be seen in the Waze client application Scoreboard.
Waze Levels (Waze Points Levels)
To reach the Royalty level (crown icon), you need to be in the top percentage of all Wazers in your locality (in the US, this is determined by state).
The top percentage is calculated once a month, and if more and more Wazers get points, it's possible that the total amount needed to reach shield / sword / crown will actually go up.
While it could be frustrating, it helps guarantee that no one gets the 'Waze Royalty' level for good. It always gives a chance for new Wazers to come along and get it.
Waze Rank (Waze Points Rank)
The Waze client application Scoreboard displays your points and points rank compared to Everyone or your Facebook Friends for your country, your state (in the US) for Weekly or All Time, time frames.
These Ranks are different than Editing Ranks (as also indicated by Cones).