The fact that France applied the salic law and every french queen was necessarily a consorte-queen, did not prevent for recognizing Regnant queens in other countries.
Isabel was Reine de Castille et León and consorte queen of Aragon.
Of course they recognized the english Mary I and II, Elisabeth I and II, Anne or Victoria as QUEENS.
The same way they recognized their consorte-queen Mary Stuart as The Queen of Scotland.
Maria Theresia as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.
Maria I and II of Portugal, etc.
Regnant queens from outside France were "just" Queens or the Queen of ...
Don't know if, today, the french protocol refers in a different manner Elizabeth II or Margreth II from Mathilde, Silvia or Maxima.
If any of these 3 ladies would pay an official visit to France without their husbands (if consorte queens can pay official visits) I suppose the Élysée would say The Queen of the Belgians, The Queen of Sweden or The Queen of the Netherlands.
This may be a somewhat stupid question; but what title has she been historically referred to in the French language? The reason for my asking is that since the Salic law has always applied to the succession in France, the term QUEEN REGNANT obviously cannot exist in the vocabulary. The only type of queen possible in the country is the wife or widow of a king (it goes without saying that all dowager queens, queen mothers, and queen regents are former queens consort).
If, for instance, Isabel was referred to as "Reine", would this not have led to a misconception that she was not a sovereign -- i.e. somebody who occupied a throne in her own right (and even ruled, since this was during a time when monarchs wielded genuine political powers)? It might have even led the French people to think that she was only the wife of a king -- granted that her husband was King Fernando II of Aragon.
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