Queen consort

Imperial, royal, princely, others

nobles and chivalric ranks

Heraldic Imperial Crown (Gules Mitre).svg

Emperor / Empress

King / Queen

Archduke / Archduchess

Grand Prince / Grand Princess

Grand Duke / Grand Duchess

Prince / Princess / Infante / Infanta / Królewicz / królewna

Duke / Duchess

Sovereign Prince / Sovereign Princess

/ Fürst / Fürstin

Marquess / Marquis / Marchioness /

Margrave / Landgrave /

Count palatine

Count / Countess / Earl

Burgrave / Châtelain / Castellan

Viscount/Viscountess / Vidame

Baron / Baroness

Baronet / Baronetess

Hereditary Knight / Lady / Ritter / Ridder

Knight / Dame

Chevalier

Esquire / Laird / Edler / Jonkheer / Junker

Gentleman / Younger / Maid

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A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king (or an empress

consort in the case of an emperor). A queen consort usually

shares her husband's social rank and status. She holds the

feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles, but

historically, she does not share the king's political and military

powers. A queen regnant is a queen in her own right with all

the powers of a monarch, who (usually) has become queen by

inheriting the throne upon the death of the previous monarch.

In Brunei, the wife of the Sultan is known as a Raja Isteri with

prefix Pengiran Anak, equivalent to queen consort in English,

as were the consorts of tsars when Bulgaria was still a

monarchy. Titles

The title of king consort for the husband of a reigning queen is

rare, but not unheard of. Examples are: Henry Stuart, Lord
Darnley, in Scotland; Antoine of Bourbon-Vendôme in

Navarre; and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Portugal.

Where some title other than that of king is held by the

sovereign, his wife is referred to by the feminine equivalent,

such as princess consort or empress consort.

In monarchies where polygamy has been practiced in the past

(such as Morocco and Thailand), or is practiced 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 that 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.