King consort
Encyclopedia
King consort is an alternative title to the more usual "prince consort" - which is a position given in some monarchies to the husband
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 of a reigning queen
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

. It is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a prince consort
Prince consort
A prince consort is the husband of a queen regnant who is not himself a king in his own right.Current examples include the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , and Prince Henrik of Denmark .In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal...

, which is the male equivalent of a queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

. The title of "king consort" is rarely given, since the husband of a reigning queen is usually titled as a "prince consort" instead. There is a gender asymmetry in the titles because the royal throne usually goes to a male heir, and only passes to a female when there is no male heir. The title of king usually refers to a reigning king, a sovereign monarch; while the title of queen usually refers to a queen consort, the non-reigning wife of a reigning king.

Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–1567) married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...

, the eldest son of the Earl and Countess of Lennox
Lennox
Lennox may refer to:* Lennox , often referred to as "The Lennox", an historic mormaerdom, earldom and then dukedom, in Stirling, Scotland* Lennox International, a global manufacturer of furnaces and central air conditioners....

 in July 1565. Darnley was a great-grandson of King Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

 and Mary's first cousin, and he was considered to have a strong claim to the Scottish throne. On the evening before their marriage, Mary proclaimed Darnley "King of Scots", a title that she could not legally grant him without the consent of Parliament, but which was never formally challenged. However, this title did not grant him any automatic right of rule or of succession to the throne if Mary should die. For that to happen, it was necessary that Mary grant him the Crown Matrimonial
Crown Matrimonial
The Crown Matrimonial is a legal concept used to describe a person's right to co-reign equally with his or her spouse.The Crown Matrimonial was offered to King Francis II of France, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, by the Parliament of Scotland and Mary's mother, Mary of Guise, who was regent of...

 of Scotland, which never happened. Mary's marriage to Darnley rapidly became unhappy, and despite Darnley's constant demands for the Crown Matrimonial, Mary never gave it to him. If she had, Darnley would have inherited the throne of Scotland if Mary (and their children, if any) had predeceased him. Under that scenario, if Darnley had then remarried and had children with his new queen, he would have started a new dynastic line and those children also would have been the legitimate heirs to the Scottish throne. (However, Darnley and Mary did have one son, who outlived both parents and became James VI of Scotland and later James I of England and Ireland
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, the heir not only of his mother Mary but also of Elizabeth I, Queen of England.)

Queen Victoria (reigned 1837–1901) wanted to make her husband Albert king consort. But the British government refused to introduce a bill allowing it, as Albert was a foreigner. She instead gave him the title of Prince Consort in 1857.

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, there is no automatic right of the consort of a queen to receive any title, as with any husband of a suo jure
Suo jure
Suo jure is a Latin phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage....

peeress. Queen Elizabeth II (acceded 1952) did not create her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....

 a Prince of the United Kingdom
British prince
This is a list of British princes from the accession of George I in 1714. The title of prince is at the will of the sovereign, who can both grant and revoke the title. Individuals holding the title of prince will usually also be styled His Royal Highness or formerly His Highness...

 until 1957, five years after her accession. He has never been formally designated Prince Consort or King Consort.

In the event that a king consort were to outlive his wife, he would remain a king in the same way that a queen dowager remains a queen after being a consort. He would retain the style His Majesty and would remain a member of the royal household. This was also the case with Francis, Duke of Cádiz. He remained King even after his wife's reign was over. Also if a King consort produced an heir to the throne and his son or daughter is the new king or queen regnant, the king could also be given the title king father - like that of a queen mother, which is normally given to queens consort after they become dowager queens. This is similar to when King Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...

 of Cambodia abdicated and was later given the title HM King-Father Norodom Sihanouk.

See also

  • Prince consort
    Prince consort
    A prince consort is the husband of a queen regnant who is not himself a king in his own right.Current examples include the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , and Prince Henrik of Denmark .In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal...

  • Jure uxoris
    Jure uxoris
    Jure uxoris is a Latin term that means "by right of his wife" or "in right of a wife". It is commonly used to refer to a title held by a man whose wife holds it in her own right. In other words, he acquired the title simply by being her husband....

  • Queen consort
    Queen consort
    A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

  • Princess consort
    Princess consort
    Princess consort is a title or an informal designation normally given to the wife of a sovereign prince. Since a male sovereign ruler is generally titled as a king and not a prince, the title of princess consort is not widely used. More rarely, it may be given to the spouse of a king, if the more...

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