Queen Catherine?

[echokilo]

Why are the media referring to the fact that when William is king his wife will be Queen Catherine? How can this be when The Queen is accompanied by Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh and not by "The King"?? How will it really work? As far as I know we didn't have Queen Victoria and King Albert either for example ....... confused.com

[jno]

If the queen holds the throne in her own right (ie she was the heir) her husband may or may not be a king. If a king holds the throne in his own right his wife is always called queen.

[B00]

What do you mean jno? Aren't they all heirs?

[echokilo]

Boo - I think jno means that SHE was the member of the royal famil, the next in line (like the current queen) .......
Jno - why is this the case? So for, say, Henry VIII, his wives were Queen then? Seems an odd custom that it varies- do we know why a man beside his heiress wife is not necessarily King? Why was Phillip not King if he could have been? What is the deciding factor?

[boxtops]

There's a line of succession - so if Beatrice becomes queen (and she is currently the first female in the line of succession) her husband may or may not be called King. All the males before her in the line are automatically King, and their wives become Queen (hence King George VI's wife was Queen Elizabeth, but not a Queen in her own right - so her daughter became QE2 in her own right)

[jno]

no, there's only one heir. Elizabeth was the heir of her father (because she had no brothers - males always come first even if they have older sisters); Philip's just her husband. Charles is the current heir to his mother, not Camilla. His wife will probably become Queen Camilla, though she might not if there's still strong public feeling about it. Kings have queens but queens don't usually have kings.

[mike11111]

A wife assumes her husband's rank and title, but a husband does not assume his wife's. The only King consort we have had was King Philip II, husband of Mary I, who was King of Spain in his own right. Parliament granted him the title of King of England but with very limited powers, and then only during the Queen's lifetime. The consort of a king is always a queen. When Charles accedes to the throne Camilla will legally become queen, even is she does not use the title or be crowned. The only way she can be deprived of the title is by Act of Parliament.

[albaqwerty]

Is it not party political and/or consitutional?

Wan't Albert and isn't Philip the Queen's Consort?

[jno]

echokilo, yes, it is an oddity. Royalty has lots of oddities, like younger sons taking the throne ahead of older sisters. But generally King has only one meaning - he was the heir, now he's on the throne - whereas Queen has two meanings: she inherited the throne, or she married the man who did.

An exception: James II was chased away and William III, who was married to James's daugher Mary, was offered the throne. They agreed as long as they could rule jointly as William and Mary.

[echokilo]

Let's get the act of parliament done and dusted then!!! (Sorry if that's controversial!!!) Thanks everyone for explaining it for me x

[B00]

bit of a head wreak for this time in the morning, but i think i get it now....possibly.

Cheers :-)

[albaqwerty]

I was following that until jno's exception. It's back to being as clear as mud now :)

[Hopkirk]

Is young Catherine a Princess now?

All they call her is the Duchess of Cambridge, but is she also a princess?

[mike11111]

jno's exception was a one-off. The heir to James II was his daughter Mary (II), married to Prince William of Orange. It was he who organised the invasion when James II fled. He was reluctant to play second fiddle to his wife so parliament granted him the title of King to rule jointly with his wife. After her death he ruled alone but after his death the throne passed to Mary' sister Anne, and not to William's nearest relative. It is unique in British history and will not be repeated. Prince Philip, although a prince of Greece, had to surrender the title when he became a British subject. On the morning of his wedding George VI created him Duke of Edinburgh and granted him the style of HRH, but he was not a prince until the Queen created him one in 1957.

[albaqwerty]

I think Kate is now Princess William, the Duchess of Cambridge.

[jno]

as I said, it was an exception. It will indeed be a one-off... until the next time, I suppose. History is full of exceptions.

[Hopkirk]

Princess William? How old fashioned and sexist.

[DTCwordfan]

Catherine will not be a Queen Regnant but a Queen Consort. The title for the partner of a Queen has usually been Prince Consort as with Albert along with Queen Victoria. The Queen for some reason has not given this to Phil the Greek but maybe this is his 90th birthday present - but maybe he doesnt give a toss........

[mike11111]

Albert is the only one in history with the official title of Prince Consort, which he was given only years before his death. Victoria wanted to make him King Consort but the government would not allow it. Parliament even refused to make him a peer. Albert claimed he had no need of a peerage as a Duke of Saxony was superior to a Duke of York.

[jno]

it's like Princess Michael, Hopkirk. Although it's not unknown for women to take their husband's name (eg Mrs Hopkirk), they usually just stop at the surname.

[sandyRoe]

King Charles + Queen Camilla need to get their turn. He's waited long enough for it.