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A prince consort, generally speaking, is a common term for the husband of a queen regnant
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
, unless he himself also is a king
Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
 in his own right. A prince consort of a certain country may also be a man who marries a royal princess of that country and thus obtains a princely title of his own there.

Current examples include the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom since 20 November 1947, and her prince consort since 6 February 1952....
 (husband of Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
, prince consort in each of the realms of which she is Queen
Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch....
), and Prince Henrik of Denmark (husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark

}|-||}Margrethe II is the queen regnant of Denmark. Only very rarely is her name anglicized as Margaret II....
).

In recognition of his status, the prince consort can be given a formal title, such as prince
Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
, Prince Consort (see below) or king consort
King consort

King consort is a title given in some monarchies to the Marriage of a queen regnant. Nowadays, it is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a queen consort, namely to produce an heir to the throne....
, with prince being the most common.






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A prince consort, generally speaking, is a common term for the husband of a queen regnant
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
, unless he himself also is a king
Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
 in his own right. A prince consort of a certain country may also be a man who marries a royal princess of that country and thus obtains a princely title of his own there.

Current examples include the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom since 20 November 1947, and her prince consort since 6 February 1952....
 (husband of Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
, prince consort in each of the realms of which she is Queen
Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch....
), and Prince Henrik of Denmark (husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark

}|-||}Margrethe II is the queen regnant of Denmark. Only very rarely is her name anglicized as Margaret II....
).

In recognition of his status, the prince consort can be given a formal title, such as prince
Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
, Prince Consort (see below) or king consort
King consort

King consort is a title given in some monarchies to the Marriage of a queen regnant. Nowadays, it is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a queen consort, namely to produce an heir to the throne....
, with prince being the most common. However, most monarchies do not have formal rules on the styling of princes consort, so it is quite feasible that such a person may be left entirely without royal titles. In the event that a queen were to die before her husband, the consort would likely be given the title of Prince. This was the case with Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, when Juliana of the Netherlands abdicated. As Juliana had abdicated, Bernhard was no longer the consort, so he was given the title of Prince. She became the Queen mother, and even after his wife's death he kept the title. Being a member of the royal household, a prince consort is rarely left without any title.

Prince Consort (capitalized) is quite different from the above as it is a formal title. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is the only spouse of a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 queen ever to have held it. It was awarded to him in 1857 by his wife, Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
 (reigned 1837–1901). In 2005, Prince Henrik
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark

Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark is the husband of the queen regnant of Denmark, Margrethe II of Denmark....
, the spouse of Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark

}|-||}Margrethe II is the queen regnant of Denmark. Only very rarely is her name anglicized as Margaret II....
, was awarded the same title.

Neither the female counterpart of the term, princess consort
Princess consort

A princess consort is the female equivalent to a prince consort. It is a title or more informal designation normally given to a princess who is the wife of a sovereign prince....
, nor the title, 'Princess Consort', has ever been used in Western monarchies, as dynastic
Dynasty

A dynasty is a succession of rulers who belong to the same family for generations. A dynasty is also often called a "Royal House", e.g. the House of Saud or House of Habsburg....
 wives of kings have been queens consort
Queen consort

A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning Monarch. Queens consort usually share their husbands' Royal and noble ranks and hold the feminine equivalent of their husbands' monarchical titles....
. However, Clarence House
Clarence House

Clarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall . It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, but is now the official residence of Charles, Prince of Wales, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and the Princes Prince William of Wale...
 has announced that when the present Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales

The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, making him heir apparent, equally and separately, to the thrones of Commonwealth realm....
 becomes the sovereign, his wife will not be known as Her Majesty The Queen but rather as Her Royal Highness The Princess Consort (see Duchess of Cornwall
Duchess of Cornwall

The Duchess of Cornwall is the title held by the wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Duke of Cornwall is a non-hereditary peerage held by the British monarchy eldest son and heir....
 and princess consort
Princess consort

A princess consort is the female equivalent to a prince consort. It is a title or more informal designation normally given to a princess who is the wife of a sovereign prince....
). An example of the title of Princess Consort being used is Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco
Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco born Salma Bennani on May 10, 1978 is the Princess Consort of Mohammed VI of Morocco of Morocco and the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title....
, who is the first Moroccan royal wife to be granted any title.

See also

  • List of British consorts
  • List of royal consorts of Canada
    List of Canadian monarchs

    This page lists those monarchs who have reigned over Canada since Canadian Confederation in 1867, at which time the country was deemed to have become a Monarchy in its own right, though before that date the territories that today comprise Canada were reigned over by History of monarchy in Canada#Monarchs of Canadian territories since 1534....