Queen consort

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A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally share the king's political and military powers, unless on occasion acting as regent.[1]

In contrast, a queen regnant is a female monarch who rules in her own right and usually becomes queen by inheriting the throne upon the death of the previous monarch.

A queen dowager is the widow of a king, and a queen mother is a former queen consort who is the mother of the current monarch.

Titles

When a title other than king is held by the sovereign, his wife can be referred to by the feminine equivalent, such as princess consort or empress consort.

In monarchies where polygamy has been practised in the past (such as Morocco and Thailand), or is practised today (such as the Zulu nation and the various Yoruba polities), the number of wives of the king varies. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has broken with tradition and given his wife, Lalla Salma, the title of princess. Prior to the reign of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan monarchy had no such title. In Thailand, the king and queen must both be of royal descent. The king's other consorts are accorded royal titles that confer status. Other cultures maintain different traditions on queenly status. A Zulu chieftain designates one of his wives as "Great Wife", which would be the equivalent to queen consort.

Conversely, in Yorubaland, all of a chief's consorts are essentially of equal rank. Although one of their number, usually the one who has been married to the chief for the longest time, may be given a chieftaincy of her own to highlight her relatively higher status when compared to the other wives, she does not share her husband's ritual power as a chieftain. When a woman is to be vested with an authority similar to that of the chief, she is usually a lady courtier in his service who is not married to him, but who is expected to lead his female subjects on his behalf.

While the wife of a king is usually titled as the queen, there is much less consistency for the husband of a reigning queen. The title of king consort is rare. Examples are Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in Scotland and Francis, Duke of Cádiz, in Spain. Antoine of Bourbon-Vendôme in Navarre and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Portugal gained the title king, not king consort, and were co-rulers with their reigning queen wives because of the practice of Jure uxoris.

The title of prince consort for the husband of a reigning queen is more common. An example is Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He married Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; because she insisted that he be given a title identifying his status, he became Albert, Prince Consort.[2]

Role

The traditional historiography on queenship has created an image of a queen who is a king's "helpmate"[3] and provider of heirs.[4][5][6] They had power within the royal household and partially within the court. Their duty was running the royal household smoothly, such as directing the children's education, supervising the staff, and managing the private royal treasury.[7] They unofficially acted as hostesses, ensuring the royal family was not involved in scandals and giving gifts to high-ranking officials in a society where this was important to maintain bonds. As a result, consorts were expected to act as wise, loyal, and chaste women.[8]

Some royal consorts from foreign origins have served roles as transfers of culture. Due to their unique position of being reared in one culture and then, when very young, promised into marriage in another land with a different culture, they have served as a cultural bridge between nations. Based on their journals, diaries, and accounts, some exchanged and introduced new forms of art, music, religion, and fashion.[9]

However, the consorts of monarchs have no official political power per se, even when their position is constitutionally or statutorily recognized. They often held an informal sort of power that was dependent on what opportunities were afforded to her. Should she have an amiable personality and high intelligence, produce a healthy heir and gain the favor of the court (especially the monarch's), then chances were higher for her to gain it over time.[10] There have been many cases of royal consorts being shrewd or ambitious stateswomen and, usually (but not always) unofficially, being among the monarch's most trusted advisors. In some cases, the royal consort has been the chief power behind her husband's throne; e.g. Maria Luisa of Parma, wife of Charles IV of Spain. Often the consort of a deceased monarch (the dowager queen or queen mother) has served as regent if her child, the successor to the throne, was still a minor—for example:

Examples of queens and empresses consort

Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, consort of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412), was first the consort of King Haakon of Norway and Sweden and later ruled Denmark, Norway and Sweden in her own right
Queen Sophia Magdalene wearing the crown of the Queen of Sweden.
Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamun
Empress Carlota of Mexico as a regent was the first woman to rule in the Americas.[11]

Past queens consort:

Past empresses consort:

Current queens consort:

Current empress consort:

Current queens consort in federal monarchies

Because queens consort lack an ordinal with which to distinguish between them, many historical texts and encyclopedias refer to deceased consorts by their premarital (or maiden) name or title, not by their marital royal title (examples: Queen Mary, consort of George V, is usually called Mary of Teck, and Queen Maria José, consort of Umberto II of Italy, is usually called Marie José of Belgium).

See also

References

  1. ^ "What is Queen Consort? What will be the role of Camilla?". The Economic Times. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ^ Chancellor, Frank B. (1931). Prince Consort. New York: The Dial Press. pp. 215–218.
  3. ^ Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 100.
  4. ^ Nelson, J (1986). Politics and Ritual in Early Medieval Europe. London. pp. 7.
  5. ^ Mistry, Zubin (2019). "Ermentrude's consecration (866): queen-making rites and biblical templates for Carolingian fertility". Early Medieval Europe. 27 (4): 567–588. doi:10.1111/emed.12373. ISSN 1468-0254.
  6. ^ Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 86.
  7. ^ Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 112.
  8. ^ Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 99.
  9. ^ Watanabe-O'Kelly, Helen (2016). "Cultural Transfer and the Eighteenth-Century Queen Consort". German History. 34 (2): 279–292. doi:10.1093/gerhis/ghw002.
  10. ^ Orr, Clarissa Campbell (2004). Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–9. ISBN 0521814227.
  11. ^ "Carlota, The Belgian Princess Who Went Mad When She Became A Mexican Empress". Cultura Colectiva. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Marie-Antoinette | Facts, Biography, & French Revolution". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  13. ^ Phillips, Lawrence Barnett (1871). The Dictionary of Biographical Reference: Containing One Hundred Thousand Names, Together with a Classed Index of the Biographical Literature of Europe and America. S. Low, Son, & Marston. p. 900.
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