Why is it so, in Britain, that the wife of a male monarch, e.g. the Queen Mother, takes on her husband's rank and style upon marrying, becoming Queen, while the husband of a female monarch, e.g. Prince Philip, does not his wife's rank and style?

looney_tunes

The bottom line seems to have been that a male with a rank and style equal to his female partner was seen as a threat to control of the throne. 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. Most of the time, however, queen consorts have no real power. A queen regnant holds the title in her own right, having inherited it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_consort In the United Kingdom, there is no automatic right of the consort of a queen to receive any title, as with any husband of a suo jure peeress. Victoria of the United Kingdom (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. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (acceded 1952) did not create her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh a Prince of the United Kingdom until 1957, five years after her accession. He has never been formally designated Prince Consort or King Consort. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_consort Jul 28 09, 5:25 AM

star_gazer

And Queen Anne's husband was prince consort George of Denmark. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_of_Denmark Jul 28 09, 5:34 AM

Baloo55th

It works the same right down the titles - the wife of a Knight is a Lady, but the husband of a Dame isn't a Sir. The only case of a husband taking the title King was Philip of Spain - which probably explains why it's not been done again since. Up to that time, a person marrying an heiress could take the title that she then couldn't (in the peerage, this is). In Scottish law, certain titles could descend to females, but in England it could be dodgy sometimes descending through females, never mind to them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain William'n'Mary is a different case. They were both in line for the English and Scottish thrones (which were only in personal union at the time - same person just happened to sit on both). Jul 28 09, 1:16 PM

Baloo55th

Incidentally, it's not only the UK. The line of Queens of the Netherlands have all had a prince-consort going back to Wilhelmina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmina_of_the_Netherlands Jul 28 09, 2:00 PM

JaneofGaunt

And there's Prince Henrik of Denmark, Consort of Queen Margrethe II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik,_Prince_Consort_of_Denmark Jul 28 09, 3:40 PM

author

Thanks for the answers. It seems like Prince Albert, then, was the only Prince Consort in England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha Jul 30 09, 7:57 AM

author

By the way, it seems like Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco is one of the very few Princess consorts of the present time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Lalla_Salma_of_Morocco Jul 30 09, 8:00 AM

Baloo55th

George of Denmark was Queen Anne's prince consort... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_of_Denmark Jul 30 09, 1:25 PM

Baloo55th

To continue: Albert was consort to the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland rather than England. George managed to be both consort to the monarch of the United Kingdom and to the English monarch and Scottish monarch. Anne was Queen of England and Queen of Scotland, and became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. (She was Queen of Ireland right through.) George just survived into the United Kingdom. Jul 30 09, 1:32 PM