The Shadow of the Queen: Consort Kings in Contemporary Times

In honor of International Women's Day in 2025, this article concludes a trilogy that began a year ago about the role of consorts to queens throughout history. In the first part, it was seen that during the Middle Ages, the husband often played a military role and sometimes held total power, despite his wife being the true owner of the kingdom (Fernández Guisasola, 2024b). In the second part, it was observed that this role persisted during the Modern Era, although it declined in the eighteenth century and some sovereigns (Fernández Guisasola, 2024c) began to govern with full functions.

In this article, we will conclude with more recent reigns, and how consorts have shifted from invisibilizing their wives to having a secondary role, to being practically 'the shadow of the queen'. It is important to note that starting in the nineteenth century, the world was very different: some authoritarian regimes evolved into democratic governments where the monarch only had representational power. In these systems, it was easier to overcome resistance to female reigns, first in the absence of male relatives and more recently based on age (and not gender) distinguishing the successor (Corcos, 2012). It is assumed that since the sovereign did not hold an executive role, it was easier to overcome the reluctance caused by stereotypes of the time.

Perhaps the most well-known queen in the nineteenth century is Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who ascended to the throne at eighteen years old in 1837. In 1840 she married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. It seems that Anne of Great Britain had set a precedent for her successors, as Victoria's husband did not receive any designation as consort to the queen (Urbach, 2014). However, Anne did not grant her husband any title, who was born a prince, while Albert, who was only born a duke, was elevated to the rank of prince consort. It is most likely that neither Anne's husband nor Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg were named king consorts so as not to be seen as equals to their wives, as had been the case with the husbands of Mary I and Mary II of England. 

Despite having no official power, his influence on the queen can be noted, especially in cultural or ceremonial aspects of the British monarchy (Baz Vevia 2023a; Baz Vevia 2024b). Victoria outlived her husband by forty years, during which she maintained a strict mourning period for his loss (Baz Vevia 2024a).

Victoria's reign coincided with those of other women in the rest of Europe. Previously, in 1826, Pedro IV of Portugal abdicated the throne to his daughter Maria II. She was the second woman to rule Portugal after her great-grandmother, Maria I, who had been married to her uncle, Pedro III, to preserve the dynasty.  Pedro III ascended to the throne with his wife, being more than a consort (Graça Feijó, 2006, pp. 268-270). The same logic was followed for Maria II, and she was promised to her uncle Miguel, who would rule until his niece-wife reached majority age. However, this marriage never took place. Prince Miguel deposed his niece and restored absolutism (Sardica, 2012, pp. 539-541). 

Maria II was restored to the Portuguese throne in 1834. The following year she married Augusto of Beauharnais Portugal, who was known as prince consort (Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança, 2024). This is the same treatment that would be used shortly after for Prince Albert. Augusto died in 1835, and two years later Maria II married Fernando of Saxe-Coburg, a cousin of Queen Victoria. Like his predecessor, the new consort received the title of prince. However, following the birth of their son Pedro, his status was elevated to king. Fernando II had an important role in political affairs, something that Portuguese contemporaries detested but which was appreciated abroad. After the death of his wife in 1853, the throne passed to her children and Fernando II only served as regent for their minority or absence (Alves, 2014).

In 1833 Isabella II ascended to the Spanish throne at three years old after her father repealed a law that made it difficult for women to ascend to the throne (wrongly called Salic Law). After intense debate about whom she should marry, the queen married her cousin, Infante Francisco de Asís, who received treatment as king consort (Burdiel, 2010, pp. 159-181). Despite having the title of king, this did not generate doubts about to whom the crown belonged. In fact, he did not receive any power, as was customary for any queen consort.

In her later years, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was the longest-reigning monarch in Europe. In contrast, the youngest was Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who ascended to the throne in 1880 at just ten years old. After abdicating in 1948, the throne passed to her daughter Juliana, and in 1980 she abdicated in favor of her daughter Beatrix. The three Dutch queens married German nobles who received the title of prince consort (Grever & Zanten, 2014), clearly influenced by the English model.

The title of prince consort became established in European monarchies. Despite the UK popularizing this model, it was not used again after Albert's death. In 1952 Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne (Baz Vevia, 2023b). Her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, did not receive any title for his new royal consort status. Ten years later he was given the title of Prince of the United Kingdom but not as Elizabeth II's consort, rather by her prerogative to name princes as if they were born into it (Brandeth, 2004, pp. 194-195).

The title of prince consort was also used by Henri de Laborde de Monpezat after his wife, Margrethe II, became Queen of Denmark in 1972 (Fernández Guisasola, 2024a). Prince Henri publicly opposed his title, which placed him in a lower position than his eldest son. He explained that the title of prince consort was created to avoid anyone considering a male consort superior to his wife. For him, this no longer made sense as nobody would doubt that Margrethe II was the sovereign. Therefore, he considered that he should be king consort, just like any wife of a male ruler is known as queen consort (Iraksen, 2014).

Although widely reported by sensationalist press, Prince Henri of Denmark's observations did not have institutional consequences. In fact, Spain also accepted the title of prince consort. Despite having a clear precedent with Francisco de Asís, who was king consort without undermining Isabel II's royal prerogatives, Royal Decree 1368/1987 states: «The consort of the Queen of Spain, while she is or remains widowed, shall hold the dignity of Prince» (BOE, 1987).

In conclusion, female reigns have been accepted during the Modern Era. This was facilitated, among other reasons, by a change in the role of monarchs when constitutional regimes were established. To avoid confusing husbands of queens with co-rulers, they have been called princes consort, something that has not happened with women of kings, who remain queen consorts. However, as Henri of Denmark pointed out, this may no longer make sense. Today, nobody questions the role of a queen exercising as head of state. In a way, the only thing questioning her role is wanting to diminish the role of her husband, as if she needed additional protection to exercise her position.

Although since Margrethe II's abdication in 2024 there are no reigning queens in Europe, most monarchies have a female heir. In the coming years, new female reigns will be observed, and what role their husbands occupy, always in a secondary position, as if they were 'a shadow.'

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