Posted by Rico
on 13/6/2009, 8:17:39, in reply to "A question of titles"
115.130.6.129
A dowager Queen is titled (in english) Her Majesty Queen HERNAME, Dowagwer Queen of HER_HUSBANDS_REALM. She would always be styled as HM Queen HERNAME, a territorial desingation is not required, but may be used if desired
A regnant or consort queen is always styled HM The Queen you always include a territioral designation outside of her realm (numbers are only used for regnants, though are not always used in informal contexts) An exception may be made for Elizabeth II if she is in one of the realms and the reference is being made in another of her realms (eg, she is still styled in Australia as HM The Queen even if the reference is in relation to Canada or the UK).
The consorts of Geroges V & VI were both officially titled as HM The Dowager Queen. Mary used her name in her formal styling, Elizabeth used the informal title of Queen Mum to distinguise between herself as Queen Elizabeth and her daughter who is also Queen Elizabeth
--Previous Message--
: 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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