I can’t say I disagree with her. Kings have queens consort; it’s a relic of sexism that regnal queens can’t have a king as a spouse. There’s no reason the UK parliament couldn’t invent the title of “King Consort” if they wanted to.
Didn’t a Queen Consort get to use the title Queen? (Officially? Unofficially maybe?) Wasn’t George’s wife called Queen Elizabeth (even though she didn’t get the dignity of having a number, thus the current Queen being Elizabeth II)? Whereas, as I thought I’ve understood it, a regnal queen’s husband was never called King.
Note also, a regnal queen is Queen for Life, but Queen Elizabeth (if in fact she had that title) lost that title when George died. She sort of made up the later title “Queen Mother” herself, I think. Is that more-or-less correct?
ANYWAY: I wonder how this all has changed (or will change soon) now that Parliament has officially and legally done away with male primogeniture. Can the position of King Consort be far behind? Hey, we’re this close to having a First Gentleman in the United States!
She was a princess, but he wasn’t a prince when they got married. He was born a prince of Denmark and Greece but he gave up those titles when they got engaged several months before the wedding. He wasn’t make a prince of the UK until ten years after the wedding. (I wonder who he had to sleep with to get that). On his wedding day his highest title was Duke of Edinburgh, a position which he had held for all of one day.
Yes, but the current official line is that they won’t call her that, and she’ll be called “Princess Consort” instead. But that was decided eleven years ago, and the reasons for that have faded quite a bit, so maybe they’ll reassess at some point. (I’m not saying she’s wildly popular, but the idea that she’s a wicked temptress who destroyed the rightful future queen’s marriage and ultimately her life doesn’t seem nearly as salient.)
Mary I’s husband was, but that was when they were just getting used to the idea of women monarchs. They also gave him some actual powers, unlike a queen consort, because hey, he was the man.
He might be part of why they never really considered doing it again. He did not have the best relationship with England after Mary died.
The reason I hope that the succession passes to William and Catherine is that I detest the way Charles behaved.
If he wanted to marry Camilla, he should have done so immediately (even resigning as Heir to the throne), not had a adulterous marriage with Diana.
She remained Queen Elizabeth, like her mother-in-law remained Queen Mary after George V died. Both became dowager queens rather than queens consort. The Queen Mother title was popularly used to distinguish the two Queens Elizabeth.
It’s simple people. Husbands of queen regnants are not called King because in the forever sexist world we have all been born into, King trumps Queen in hierarchy. That’s really all there is too it.