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][2]
In contrast, a queen regnant is a female monarch who rules suo jure (Latin for, "in her own right") and usually becomes queen by inheriting the throne upon the death of the previous monarch.[3]
A queen dowager is a widowed queen consort, and a queen mother is a queen dowager who is the mother of the current monarch.[3]
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 the king’s wives and their status varies. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has broken with tradition and given his wife, Lalla Salma, the title of princess; prior to his reign, the Moroccan monarchy had no such title. In Thailand, the king and queen must both be of royal descent; his other consorts need not be royal before marriage to him but are accorded royal titles that confer status. A Zulu chieftain designates one of his wives as "Great Wife", an equivalent to queen consort.
The situation is more complex in Yorubaland. All of a chief's consorts are essentially of equal rank. Although one wife, usually the one married to the chief for the longest time, may be given a chieftaincy of her own to highlight her relatively higher status 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, although not married to him, is expected to lead his female subjects on his behalf.
The title of prince consort for the husband of a reigning queen is more common. The monarchies that adopted this title did so because the title of king is usually historically higher than queen, so when the sovereign is female, her husband should never have a higher title than her. An example is Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He married Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom; because she insisted that he be given a title identifying his status, he became Albert, Prince Consort.[5]
The traditional historiography on queenship has created an image of a queen who is a king's "helpmate"[6] and provider of heirs.[7][8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
Some royal consorts of foreign origin have served as cultural transmitters. 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 other autobiographical or historical accounts, some exchanged and introduced new forms of art, music, religion, and fashion.[12]
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 dependent on the opportunities afforded to them. Should a queen consort have had an amiable personality and high intelligence, produced a healthy heir, and gained the favor of the court, then chances were higher she would gain more power over time.[13] Many royal consorts have been shrewd or ambitious stateswomen and, usually (but not always) unofficially, 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. At other times 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:
Queen Emma, second consort of William III of the Netherlands: When William died on 23 November 1890, Emma became regent (1890–1898) for her underaged daughter, Wilhelmina, the late king's only surviving child.
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).
^ abDavis, Fanny (1986). "The Valide". The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN0-313-24811-7.
^Chancellor, Frank B. (1931). Prince Consort. New York: The Dial Press. pp. 215–218.
^Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 100.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 86.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 112.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stafford, P (1983). Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. London. p. 99.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Orr, Clarissa Campbell (2004). Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–9. ISBN0521814227.
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