Is this true even if the royal in question is the sovereign's parent? I ask because, according to one biography, Queen Mary of Great Britain guessed the grim news of her son's passing by asking her lady-in-waiting (who had knocked on her door one morning) "Is it the king?" Did people refer to her sons (Edward VIII and George VI), in her presence, as "His Majesty the King"? Or to Queen Elizabeth II, in the presence of the Queen Mother, as "Her Majesty the Queen"?
I know that Queen Mary was the first to bow to her eldest son and kiss his hand, after her husband (King George V) was proclaimed dead. Did she address King Edward VIII as "Your Majesty", rather than by his personal name? Did he, in turn, call her "Your Majesty" or "Mother/Mummy"? And how exactly did Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother address each other, anyway?
Whatever the particulars of British royal etiquette, do other royal courts in Europe function likewise? I would imagine that nobody would dare refer to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in conversations with Crown Prince Frederik, as "Your Mother", either. Rather, one would always say "Her Majesty the Queen".
Of course, one may expect slight differences. In imperial Russia, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (widow of Czar Alexander III) actually outranked her own son, Czar Nicholas II.
But otherwise, an enthroned monarch is generally the highest-ranking person in the land. I read, in a biography of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, that on the day after his death, his mother (Queen Marie) asked her small gathering (a circle which included Princess Theresa, the new prince-regent's daughter) "Is something wrong with the king?" Evidently everybody already heard the news before herself.
So it looks like the formal address applied here as well. One presumes that the Queen Mother of Bavaria was obliged to bow to her son and address him as "Your Majesty" -- correct?
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