Posted by Jane
on 13/6/2009, 3:33:36
71.113.145.135
Let me get this clarified: it has been explained that the first time in England the title "Queen Mother" was formally used (granted that it's actually only an unofficial title) was 1952. The widow of King George VI -- to distinguish herself from the new queen, her own daughter who bore the same first name as her own, and who had chosen to use it for regnal purposes -- opted for the style of "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother" (it could have been slightly shortened to "Her Majesty Elizabeth, the Queen Mother").
Until then, there was no precedent in England (whatever might be said about Scotland) of a dowager queen who was also the living mother of a queen regnant (interestingly enough, Mary, Queen of Scots also bore the same first name as that of her widowed mother, born Mary of Guise).
That being said, the title "Queen Mother" still had to have been around for centuries before -- and used at least informally. If nothing else, people had to have been familiar with at least the concept. I still don't have a clear idea as to when exactly it first appeared in England -- whatever might be said about its formal application (which, as stated above, didn't occur until 1952).
Or Scotland: how exactly was the widow of King James V styled, anyway? Or other dowager queens (who also lived to witness their children's accessions as royal sovereigns) elsewhere, for that matter? To be more specific: I'd like to ask about the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark.
The whole reason for my asking is the pretenses made in 1837 by the Duchess of Kent to the title of Queen Mother -- as her daughter Victoria (once again, there was an interesting situation of a queen regnant bearing the same Christian name as that of her mother. Of course as princess of Kent, she had actually been christened as Alexandrina Victoria. In this case, however, the mother was certainly no dowager queen) succeeded to the British throne as the new sovereign. To this the new queen gently chided her mother, "No, Mama; you're the queen's mother."
So obviously the twice-widowed Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha had to have been familiar with the concept -- granted that she didn't fully understand how exactly it was applied (and that it was nonapplicable to herself).
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