Women's Health Women

Queen regnant Wikipedia

A queen regnant is a female monarch, who possesses all the monarchal powers that a king would have, without regard to gender. This is in contrast with a queen consort|queen consort, who is merely the spouse of a reigning monarch|king, and on her own has no official powers of state.

Technically, a king may also be a "king regnant" or a "king consort" - but this distinction is unusual and has been used only twice in the history of the British and its predecessor monarchies. The husband of Mary I of England|Mary I of England and Ireland and the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots|Mary I, Queen of Scots were both created king consorts of their wives' realms, but they were not liked, and the marriages were short. The husband of Mary II of England|Mary II, Queen of England and Ireland, and Queen of Scots, was named king regnant co-sovereign with her, as William of Orange|William III of England, II of Scots, and I of Ireland - but this was the only occasion of co-sovereignty, at least officially. Thereafter, the husbands of queens regnant in Britain have been informally styled princes consort (the formal title "Prince Consort," however, being reserved by history to Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria).

Accession of queens regnant occurs as a nation's order of succession permits. Methods of succession (to kingships, tribal chiefships, etc.) include nomination (the sitting monarch or a council names an heir), primogeniture (children of a monarch or chief, in order of birth, eldest to youngest), and ultimageniture (children in order of birth, youngest to eldest). The scope of succession may be patrilineal, matrilineal or both; or, rarely (usually only when necessary), open to general election. Right of succession by gender may be open to men and women, limited to men only, or limited to women only. Right of succession is also freqently limited to certain religious groups. In Britain, for example, because the monarch is Head of the Church of England - and the Church of England is Anglican Episcopal - the monarch must, by law, not be a Roman Catholic.

The most typical succession from the late Middle Ages through the Twentieth Century was male primogeniture with secondary female primogeniture. That is, the sons of the king succeeded in order of their birth, and then the daughters after the sons. Many realms historically forbade succession by women, however, in obedience to the law of the Salic Franks; and some still do.

Thus, when Ferdinand of Aragon died, he was succeed by his grandson, Charles, instead of his daughter, Joan - who had already succeeded her mother, Isabella, as Queen of Castile - because Aragon followed the Salic law whereas Castile recognise the right of women to rule. Likewise, the King of the Netherlands used to be Grand Duke of Luxembourg. But when the last Dutch king died in 1890 and was succeeded by his daughter, obedience to the Salic law prevented Luxembourg from accepting her as Grand Duchess in her own right.

In the waning days of the Twentieth Century, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom amended their acts of succession to primogeniture with no gender preference. In some cases, the change does not take effect until the generation following the current generations in existence - to avoid dispossessing people who were already in the succession in a particular position. In the case of the United Kingdom, for example, the change will take effect with the generation following the princes William and Harry. Thus, Princess Anne and her children do not move up in the succession, but Princes Andrew and Edward, and their daughters, continue to precede them. But if Prince William has a daughter and then a son, the daughter will precede the son instead of the old system where any son preceded a daughter.

Last Modified:   2005-12-19