List of British royal consorts
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2021) |
A royal consort is the spouse of a reigning king or queen. Consorts of monarchs of the United Kingdom and its predecessors have no constitutional status or power but many have had significant influence.[citation needed]
Prince Philip, the longest-served and oldest-ever consort, died aged 99 after having served for nearly 70 years. His mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who died aged 101, lived longer than any other royal consort, but at the time of her death she did not hold the position of consort, as her husband King George VI died 50 years before her.[citation needed]
After the death of Prince Philip, the position of royal consort was vacant until the Death of Elizabeth II on the 8th of September, 2022. Camilla became the next queen consort upon the accession of the Queen's eldest son, Charles III, as king.[citation needed]
History
Since the union of England and Scotland in 1707, there have been ten consorts of the British monarch.[citation needed] Queens between 1727 and 1814 were also Electress of Hanover, as their husbands all held the title of Elector of Hanover.[citation needed] Between 1814 and 1837, queens held the title as Queen of Hanover, as their husbands were Kings of Hanover.[citation needed] The personal union with the United Kingdom ended in 1837 on the accession of Queen Victoria because the succession laws (Salic Law) in Hanover prevented a female inheriting the title if there was any surviving male heir (in the United Kingdom, a male took precedence over only his own sisters, until the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 which removed male primogeniture).[citation needed] In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia and became the Province of Hanover.[citation needed]
Exceptions
Not all wives of monarchs have become consorts, as they may have died, been divorced, had their marriage declared invalid prior to their husbands' ascending the throne, or married after abdication. Such cases include:
- Divorced before spouse became monarch: Sophia Dorothea of Celle, wife of George, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (the future King George I), married 22 November 1682, divorced 28 December 1694, died 13 November 1726.
- Invalid marriage before spouse became monarch: Maria Fitzherbert, wife of George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), married 15 December 1785, marriage invalid, died 27 March 1837.
- Married after spouse abdicated: Wallis Warfield, wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII), married 3 June 1937, widowed 28 May 1972, died 24 April 1986.
An unusual case was Caroline of Brunswick, who had separated from her husband George IV prior to his accession, became queen consort by law but had no position at court and was forcibly barred from attending George IV's coronation and being crowned. This caused public outrage.[citation needed]
Only George I and Edward VIII were unmarried throughout their reigns.[citation needed]
Male consorts
While all British female consorts were automatically styled as queen consort, the titles of the three male consorts were inconsistent.
- Prince George of Denmark, husband of Queen Anne, never received an official style as the consort, but was raised to the peerage of England as the Duke of Cumberland in 1689, several years before his wife's accession in 1702.
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria, did not take an English peerage title but was granted the title of Prince Consort as a distinct title in 1857, the only male consort in either the United Kingdom or its predecessor realms to have officially held the title. Victoria wished to style him as king consort, but the government would not allow it.
- Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was raised to the peerage as Duke of Edinburgh in 1947, five years before his wife's accession, and was made a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957.
Future consorts
This section needs to be updated.(September 2022) |
Because Charles has ascended the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, his wife, Camilla, has taken on the title and style of queen consort.[2] All references to "princess consort" were removed by the websites of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House in 2018.[3][4] On the eve of her Platinum Jubilee in February 2022, the Queen expressed her "sincere wish" that Camilla would be known as queen consort.[5] Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, she is styled as the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom in their announcement of the late Queen's passing.
List of consorts
Picture | Name | Arms | Birth | Marriage | Became consort | Coronation | Ceased to be consort | Death | Resting place | Tenure | Spouse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince George of Denmark and Norway | 2 April 1653 Son of Frederick III of Denmark and Norway and Duchess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
28 July 1683 | 1 May 1707 Creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain |
Not crowned | 28 October 1708 55 years, 209 days |
Westminster Abbey | 1 year, 180 days | Anne | |||
Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach | 1 March 1683 Daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach |
22 August 1705 | 11 June 1727 Spouse's accession |
11 October 1727 | 20 November 1737 54 years, 172 days |
Westminster Abbey | 10 years, 162 days | George II | |||
Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 19 May 1744 Daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Prince of Mirow and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen |
8 September 1761 | 8 September 1761 Marriage to the monarch |
22 September 1761 | 17 November 1818 74 years, 126 days |
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | 57 years, 70 days | George III | |||
Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel | 17 May 1768 Daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta of Great Britain |
8 April 1795 | 29 January 1820 Spouse's accession |
Not crowned | 7 August 1821 53 years, 72 days |
Brunswick Cathedral | 1 year, 190 days | George IV | |||
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen | 13 August 1792 Daughter of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Princess Louise Eleanore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg |
13 July 1818 | 26 June 1830 Spouse's accession |
8 September 1831 | 20 June 1837 Spouse's death |
2 December 1849 56 years, 311 days |
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | 6 years, 359 days | William IV | ||
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | 26 August 1819 Son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |
10 February 1840 | 10 February 1840 Marriage to the monarch |
Not crowned | 14 December 1861 42 years, 110 days |
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle then Frogmore Mausoleum | 21 years, 307 days | Victoria | |||
Princess Alexandra of Denmark | 1 December 1844 Daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel |
10 March 1863 | 22 January 1901 Spouse's accession |
9 August 1902 | 6 May 1910 Spouse's death |
20 November 1925 80 years, 354 days |
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | 9 years, 104 days | Edward VII | ||
Princess Mary of Teck | 26 May 1867 Daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge |
6 July 1893 | 6 May 1910 Spouse's accession |
22 June 1911 | 20 January 1936 Spouse's death |
24 March 1953 85 years, 302 days |
25 years, 259 days | George V | |||
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon | 4 August 1900 Daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck |
26 April 1923 | 11 December 1936 Spouse's accession |
12 May 1937 | 6 February 1952 Spouse's death |
30 March 2002 101 years, 238 days |
15 years, 57 days | George VI | |||
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark | 10 June 1921 Son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg |
20 November 1947 | 6 February 1952 Spouse's accession |
Not crowned | 9 April 2021 99 years, 303 days |
69 years, 62 days | Elizabeth II | ||||
Camilla Parker Bowles (née Shand) | 17 July 1947 Daughter of Bruce Shand and Rosalind Cubitt |
9 April 2005 | 8 September 2022 Spouse's accession |
' | Incumbent Age: 77 years and 30 days |
Charles III |
References
- ^ "Royal Family to pay tribute to His Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh in new BBC One film". BBC. 8 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ "Clarence House press release". Clarence House. 10 February 2005. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ Furness, Hannah (10 March 2018). "Could Camilla become Queen after all? Clarence House quietly removes statement about Duchess of Cornwall's future role". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ Sewell, Katie; Bacquart, Charlotte (8 April 2021). "Why Camilla will not be queen when Prince Charles becomes king". The Cornishman. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth supports a 'Queen Camilla' — shaping the future of the UK monarchy". NPR. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.