Queen vs Prince

BoomTheBear86 · 2023-10-07T17:25:58+00:00

It’s largely due to “interpretation of rank”

In traditional systems of monarchy the established order was typically king > queen.

A king marries someone who becomes his queen. Queen is an inferior rank and does not outrank him. He is the reigning monarch.

Formally those who marry a king and do not become queen by direct act of royal ascension are “Queen Consort” but often it is short handed to queen because it is understood the king rank is still superior.

When the opposite happens (A queen ascended by royal ascension marrying a prince) the title king consort is not used because traditionally king outranks queen, and it may cause confusion over who the reigning monarch is. In this case the queen is the reigning monarch with all the traditional powers, and her husband is not. To avoid the confusion of people mistaking the king being superior in rank to the queen, the title “Prince Consort” is used instead, because between a Queen and a Prince, Queen is obviously the superior rank.

Ex: If Elizabeth IIs husband Phillip was “King of the British Commonwealth” it may cause confusion over whether he, or she was the reigning monarch.

SouthernSeeker · 2023-10-07T17:27:17+00:00

Sure- just as soon you explain why you make a post with a title like that and not have it be about Freddie Mercury in the Purple Rain! /s. /mostly,anyway.

It's pretty simple: titles don't have a specific authority handing them out; every monarchy does things in its own way.

phoenician_anarchist · 2023-10-07T20:49:03+00:00

Can someone explain this double standard to me?

Many years of history, the whole system is a bit of a mess, and it depends on when and where you ask.

The King's wife is given the title of Queen because she is the King's wife, but the Queen's husband is not the King's wife, so he is not given the title of Queen, and he is not necessarily given the title Prince either, it (being given a title, and the title itself) is a courtesy afforded at the Queen's discretion (at least in England?). At one point, Queen (rather, an earlier form of) meant any wife, not just the King's. (and "wife" just referred to a woman, not necessarily a married one).

Queen Mary II was married to William III King of Scotland, so a Queen's husband can be a King
Mary, Queen of Scots had three husbands, one of which was titled King consort
Queen Anne's husband was a Prince of Denmark (?), but no Prince of Great Britain
Queen Victoria gave Albert the title of Prince Consort, (I believe that he is the only one to have held that title)

There is a distinction made, though, in the form of Queen consort (the King's wife) vs. Queen regent (wearer of the crown). For a few languages (e.g. Chinese, I believe) the literal translation for "Queen" (regent) is "female King" and there is a different word for the King's wife, whereas they are both often referred to as simply "Queen" in English. In some cases, (all?) when a woman is the reigning monarch, she is still technically The King, but we refer to her as The Queen because when the King tells you to do something, you do.

AgincourtSalute · 2023-10-07T20:14:15+00:00

Interestingly it is to do with sexism. It’s the old “what’s hers is hers but what’s his belongs to both of them”.

In the British aristocracy if a man marries below his rank, his wife is automatically elevated to his level. For example, if a duke married a commoner she would become a duchess.

If a woman marries below her rank, her husband does not automatically climb the social ladder. So if a duchess marries a commoner he would remain a plain old mister.

So basically a woman can ‘better herself’ by marriage, but a man is not allowed to.

SensitiveSugarr · 2023-10-07T17:40:59+00:00

Countless centuries of men outranking women is why they do it that way. But that makes it look like women were historically oppressed which is not the look anyone is going for.

Rad_Knight · 2023-10-07T19:50:35+00:00

Because queen is a lower rank than king, and because a royal consort can't have a higher rank than the monarch, a queen regent's husband will be a prince consort.

Have you noticed that king is the only title where the female equivalent doesn't have the ess suffix? The wife of an emperor is an empress, the wife of a baron is a baroness, the wife of a duke is a duchess, but the wife of a king is a queen.

Title	Queen vs Prince
Author	DutchOnionKnight
Upvotes	0
Comments	8
Date	October 7, 2023 5:10 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/172bdlp/queen_vs_prince/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/queen-vs-prince.1234321 https://theredarchive.com/post/1234321

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