Titles
The wife of a reigning king is called a queen consort. The husband of a reigning queen is usually not called “king consort”, although it was more common in Europe’s past for husbands of queens regnant to become reigning kings (e.g., Philip II of Spain in England, Antoine of Bourbon-Vendôme in Navarre, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Portugal, etc.). He is normally called a prince or prince consort, as with the husbands of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II, and with prince consort Henrik of Denmark.
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 (such as Morocco, Thailand) or is still practiced (such as the Zulu nation) the number of wives of the king varies. In Morocco, the present 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 (like virtually every other monarchy) the queen and king must be of royal blood. The king's other consorts are accorded royal titles that confer status. Other cultures maintain different traditions on queenly status. A Zulu chief designated one of his wives "Great Wife", who would be the equivalent to queen consort.
Read more about this topic: Queen Consort
Famous quotes containing the word titles:
“We have to be despised by somebody whom we regard as above us, or we are not happy; we have to have somebody to worship and envy, or we cannot be content. In America we manifest this in all the ancient and customary ways. In public we scoff at titles and hereditary privilege, but privately we hanker after them, and when we get a chance we buy them for cash and a daughter.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“I have known a German Prince with more titles than subjects, and a Spanish nobleman with more names than shirts.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774)
“Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy?
Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)