Status
A queen consort, as a king's wife, has an important royal position but does not normally have any rights to succeed a king as monarch after his death.
The queen consort's eldest son (or daughter, if there is no son or if the kingdom practises absolute primogeniture) would normally be crowned as successor upon the king's death, often leaving the new monarch's mother still alive, but no longer holding any official position. A new king, of course, might already be married, or marry subsequently, and would have his own queen consort. A daughter who succeeded would be a queen regnant and normally called simply "the Queen", so a confusion of titles could result.
Therefore, the "queen mother" title identifies the widow of the deceased former king and mother of the currently reigning king or queen. The title distinguishes the queen mother from the current queen consort, who is the currently reigning king's wife. It also distinguishes such a person from a monarch's mother who was not previously a queen consort. For example, The Duchess of Kent was "the Queen's mother" when her daughter Victoria became queen regnant but not "queen mother".
As the king's or queen's mother, the queen mother is typically supported throughout her remaining years and given honour as a beloved relative, but has no official position or power. She is expected to carefully abstain from any involvement in governance or politics.
In Swaziland, located in Southern Africa, the Queen Mother, or Ndlovukati, reigns alongside her son. She serves as a ceremonial figurehead, while her son serves as the administrative head of state. He has absolute power. She is important at festivals such as the annual reed dance ceremony.
In many matrilineal societies of West Africa, such as the Ashanti, the queen mother is the one through whom royal descent is reckoned and thus wields considerable power. One of the greatest leaders of Ashanti was Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa (1840–1921), who led her subjects against the British Empire during the War of the Golden Stool in 1900.
In more symbolically driven societies such as the kingdoms of the Yoruba peoples, the queen mother may not even be a blood relative of the reigning monarch. She could be a female individual of any age who is vested with the ritual essence of the departed queens in a ceremonial sense, and who is practically regarded as the monarch's mother as a result. A good example is Erelu Kuti of Lagos, who has been seen as the iya oba or queen mother of every succeeding king of that realm, due to the activities of the three successors to the noble title that have reigned since her demise.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother served as a Counsellor of State several times. She had always remained a popular royal-family figure.
Read more about this topic: Queen Mother
Famous quotes containing the word status:
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)
“The influx of women into paid work and her increased power raise a woman’s aspirations and hopes for equal treatment at home. Her lower wage and status at work and the threat of divorce reduce what she presses for and actually expects.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)