List of British royal consorts

For the royal consorts of the predecessor realms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, see List of English royal consorts, List of Scottish royal consorts, and List of Irish royal consorts.

A royal consort is the spouse of a reigning king or queen. Consorts of British monarchs have no constitutional status or power but many have had significant influence, and support the sovereign in his or her duties.^[1] There have been 11 royal consorts since Britain's union of the crowns in 1707, eight women and three men.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, was the longest-serving royal consort in history.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is the longest-serving and oldest-ever consort, and served for nearly 70 years until his death in 2021. Since the accession of Charles III on 8 September 2022, his wife Camilla has held the position of queen consort.^[2]

History

Since the union of England and Scotland in 1707, there have been eleven consorts of the British monarch.^[3] Queens between 1727 and 1814 were also Electress of Hanover, as their husbands all held the title of Elector of Hanover.^[4] Between 1814 and 1837, queens held the title as Queen of Hanover, as their husbands were kings of Hanover.^[5] 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).^[6] In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia and became the Province of Hanover.^[7]

Not all wives of monarchs have become consorts, as they may have died, been divorced prior to their husbands' ascending the throne, or married after abdication. Such cases include Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle, wife of George, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (the future King George I), Wallis Warfield, wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII), and Lady Diana Spencer, wife of Charles, Prince of Wales (later King Charles III).

Only George I and Edward VIII were unmarried throughout their reigns.^[8]

Since 1937, the sovereign's consort and the first four individuals in the line of succession who are over 21 may be appointed counsellors of state. Counsellors of state perform some of the sovereign's duties in the United Kingdom while the sovereign is out of the country or temporarily incapacitated.^[9]

Style

The wife of the reigning king has typically been styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" or "Her Majesty Queen [first name]" and is addressed as "Her Majesty" or "Your Majesty" (when addressing directly). Since her coronation in 2023, the current royal consort, Camilla, has also been styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" per tradition. She was initially styled as "The Queen Consort" to distinguish her from her then recently deceased mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, who as a queen regnant was also styled as "Her Majesty The Queen".^[10][11]

Male consorts

 

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is the only male consort to be awarded the title Prince Consort.

The husband of a reigning queen does not share the regal title and style of his wife. The titles of the three male consorts were inconsistent. There is no rule on the title of male consorts in the UK.

• Prince George of Denmark, husband of Queen Anne, never received an official style as the consort, his princely title being Danish, 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 a British peerage title but was granted the title of Prince Consort as a distinct title in 1857, the only male consort of the United Kingdom or its predecessor realms to have 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.

Coronation

 

The Coronation of King George V: King George V and Queen Mary Enthroned by Laurits Tuxen, 1912

Queens consort participate in the coronation ceremony, undertaking many of the same ceremonies as the monarch. Queens traditionally wear elaborate robes and walk in the procession under a canopy. They have also been anointed with holy oil and been crowned. Traditionally, male consorts are not crowned or anointed during the coronation ceremony.^[12]

An unusual case was Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 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.^[13]

Regalia

The earliest surviving consort's crown is that created in 1685 for Mary of Modena. Since the early-20th century, it was traditional for a new crown to be created for a queen consort. However, Queen Camilla did not have a new crown created for her coronation in 2023 and she was crowned using the 1911 Queen Mary's Crown.^[14]

The Queen Consort's Ring, was first created for the coronation of Queen Adelaide in 1831, and has been used by queens consort ever since.^[14]

The Queen Consort's Rod with Dove represents 'equity and mercy' and the dove, with its folded wings, is symbolic of the Holy Ghost. The Queen Consort's Sceptre with Cross, originally made for the coronation of Mary of Modena in 1685, is inlaid with rock crystals.^[14]

List of consorts

Picture	Name	Arms	Birth	Marriage	Became consort	Coronation	Ceased to be consort	Death	Grave site	Tenure	Spouse
	George of Denmark and Norway		2 April 1653 Son of Frederick III of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg	28 July 1683	1 May 1707 Creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain; became consort to the monarch of England and Scotland upon spouse's accession 8 March 1702	Not crowned	28 October 1708 55 years, 209 days		Westminster Abbey	1 year, 180 days	Anne
	Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach		1 March 1683 Daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach	22 August 1705	11 June 1727 Spouse's accession	11 October 1727	20 November 1737 54 years, 172 days			10 years, 162 days	George II
	Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz		19 May 1744 Daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow and Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen	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
	Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel		17 May 1768 Daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and 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
	Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline of Saxe-Meiningen		13 August 1792 Daughter of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and 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
	Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha		26 August 1819 Son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg	10 February 1840 Marriage to the monarch		Not crowned	14 December 1861 42 years, 110 days		St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, then Frogmore Royal Mausoleum	21 years, 307 days	Victoria
	Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark		1 December 1844 Daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and 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
	Victoria Mary Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck		26 May 1867 Daughter of 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
	Elizabeth Angela Marguerite 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
	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 Rosemary Shand		17 July 1947 Daughter of Bruce Shand and Rosalind Cubitt	9 April 2005	8 September 2022 Spouse's accession	6 May 2023	Incumbent Age: 76 years, 100 days		Living	1 year, 48 days	Charles III

References

1. Tudor and Stuart consorts : power, influence, and dynasty. Aidan Norrie. Cham, Switzerland. 2022. ISBN 978-3-030-95197-9. OCLC 1336986822.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link); Bogdanor, Vernon (1995). The monarchy and the constitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-152089-1. OCLC 344061919.; Queens & power in medieval and early modern England. Carole Levin, R. O. Bucholz. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-8032-2278-6. OCLC 316765760.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
2. "Camilla, the new Queen Consort". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
3. "Monarch award, Consort category". Merry Christmas. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
4. Kirsty.Oram (30 December 2015). "The Hanoverians". The Royal Family. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
5. "Marie, Queen of Hanover. She was the wife of King George V of..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
6. Emma.Goodey (17 March 2016). "Succession". The Royal Family. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
7. "Kingdom of Hannover". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
8. "Why was Edward VIII still unmarried at 42 years old? At that time wasn't it customary for royal parents to arrange an engagement or urge ..." Quora. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
9. "Counsellors of State". The Royal Family. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
10. "The Queen". The Royal Family. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
11. "Is Camilla now Queen Camilla?". Constitution Unit. 9 August 2018.
12. "What is a queen consort?". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
13. "Why Was Queen Caroline Barred From Her Husband's Coronation?". TheCollector. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
14. "The Coronation Regalia". The Royal Family. 9 April 2023.

External links

• www.royalty.nu