Posted by Jane
on 9/6/2009, 1:43:39
138.87.140.57
To clarify the subject of titles for dowager queens, I wanted to ask: just what exactly is the FORMAL title for the widow of a king (granted that there may be slight variations from country to country)?
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but is the full, formal style and title of the widow of Belgium's King Baudouin "Her Majesty Fabiola, Dowager Queen of the Belgians"? If so, I would imagine shortened (if still formal) variations to be "Her Majesty Dowager Queen Fabiola" (in a national context) or "Dowager Queen Fabiola of the Belgians" (in an international context).
However, I believe she is known mainly by her informal titles -- i.e. "Her Majesty Queen Fabiola" (within Belgium) and "Queen Fabiola of the Belgians" (outside Belgium).
At first, I thought that perhaps the widow of a king might be known as "Her Majesty the Dowager Queen" (nationally) or "The Dowager Queen of __"
(internationally). The trouble with this title, however, lies in the fact that one can theoretically have two dowager queens living -- as was the case in the UK, 1952-1953. As such, there would be too much ambiguity in such a title -- even with attempts to specify by the use of an article ("the").
Speaking of the UK, let me get straight the progressive styles and titles of King William IV's wife: I believe she was, in succession, "HH Princess Adelheid of Saxe-Meiningent" (from her birth in 1792 to her marriage in 1818; or perhaps she was only a HSH early on?), "HRH The Duchess of Clarence" (between her marriage in 1818 to her husband's accession to the British throne in 1830), "HM The Queen", nationally, and "The Queen of the UK", internationally (during the years of her husband's reign), and "HM Adelaide, Dowager Queen of the UK" (from her husband's death in 1837 to her own in 1845). Is all this correct?
I didn't wish to sound presumptuous, but I wanted to create distinctions for a queen's style and title, from a national and international perspective. It only stands to reason, after all, that the international community cannot be expected to automatically understand just who exactly is being referred to, when "The Queen" is mentioned. Also, there is no obligation to be especially reverential by using the style "Majesty", when mentioning a foreign queen (that being said, one is obliged out of courtesy to use this in the context of a personal meeting or greeting -- even if the queen in question is not your own. That is: if I came face to face with the Spanish queen, then although I'm not a Spaniard myself, I would be obliged to call her "Your Majesty" -- although not to go so far as to curtsy).
Conversely, in a national setting, it really makes no sense to refer to Sofia as "The Queen of Spain". I don't consider it pretentious for a Spaniard to assume that a fellow Spaniard knows whom he is referring to, when mentioning "Her Majesty the Queen" -- even in the context of distinguishing her from another queen (say during a state visit), referred to as "The Queen of Sweden."
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