A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households . The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting . The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
30-432: Traditionally, a queen regnant had eight maids of honour, while a queen consort had four. Queen Anne Boleyn had seven maids of honour and one mother of maids. A maid of honour was a maiden, meaning that she had never been married (and therefore was ostensibly a virgin ), and was usually young and a member of the nobility. Maids of honour were commonly in their sixteenth year or older, although Lady Jane Grey served as
60-500: A bill to allow women to ascend the Imperial Throne, but he withdrew this after the birth of Prince Hisahito (Naruhito's nephew) in 2006. De jure In law and government , de jure ( / d eɪ ˈ dʒ ʊər i , d i -, - ˈ jʊər -/ ; Latin: [deː ˈjuːre] ; lit. ' by law ' ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether
90-470: A lower princely title . However, the concept of a king consort is not unheard of in both contemporary and historical periods. A queen dowager or empress dowager is the widow of a king or emperor; a queen mother is a queen dowager who is also the mother of a reigning sovereign. Since the abdication of Margrethe II of Denmark on 14 January 2024, there are currently no female sovereigns in
120-474: A maid of honour to Queen Catherine Parr in about 1546–48, when Jane was only about ten to twelve years old. Under Mary I and Elizabeth I , maids of honour were at court as a kind of finishing school, with the hope of making a good marriage. Elizabeth Knollys was a maid of the court at the age of nine. An ordinance for the English household of Anne of Denmark made on 20 July 1603 allowed for six maids and
150-489: A single queen regnant, Athaliah , though the Hebrew Bible regards her negatively as a usurper. The much later Hasmonean Queen Salome Alexandra (Shlom Tzion) was highly popular. Accession of a queen regnant occurs as a nation's order of succession permits. Methods of succession to kingdoms, tribal chiefships, and such include nomination (the reigning monarch or a council names an heir), primogeniture (in which
180-532: A supervisory mother of maids , with four chamberers . In 1632, six maids of honour at the court of Henrietta Maria took part in the masque The Shepherd's Paradise . The maids of honour did not always receive a fee or salary beyond their board and lodging. Some maids received £10 yearly in the 17th century. There were also grants and rewards, including property leases which provided an income known as "annual rent". In 1630, Cecilia Crofts gained pensions and an income from duty on coal mines near Benwell . Some of
210-415: Is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over an empire . A queen regnant possesses all the powers, such as they may be , of the monarchy, whereas a queen consort or queen regent shares her spouse's or child's rank and titles but does not share the sovereignty of her spouse or child. The husband of a queen regnant traditionally does not share the queen regnant's rank, title, or sovereignty and usually holds
240-470: Is different from the title ōhi (王妃, "king's consort") which means only a queen consort. The term jotei (女帝, "female emperor") or josei tennō (女性天皇, "female heavenly emperor") has been used for empresses regnant of Japan because the title kōgō (皇后, "emperor's consort") means only an empress consort. Although the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan is currently barred to women following
270-425: Is the guardian of a child monarch and rules pro tempore in the child's stead or instead of her husband who is absent from the realm, be it de jure in sharing power or de facto in ruling alone. A queen regnant is sometimes called a woman king . A princess , duchess , or grand duchess regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over a principality or ( grand ) duchy ; an empress regnant
300-687: The Imperial Household Law ( Emperor Naruhito 's daughter Princess Aiko cannot accede to the Chrysanthemum Throne), this has not always been the case; throughout Japanese history, there have been eight empresses regnant. The Japanese imperial succession debate became a significant political issue during the early 2000s, as no male children had been born to the Imperial House of Japan since 1965. Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi pledged to present parliament with
330-788: The Late Middle Ages until the late 20th century was male-preference primogeniture : the order of succession ranked the sons of the monarch in order of their birth, followed by the daughters. Historically, many realms like France and the Holy Roman Empire forbade succession by women or through a female line in accordance with the Salic law , and nine countries still do, such countries being Japan , Morocco , Jordan , Saudi Arabia , Bahrain , Brunei , Liechtenstein , Bhutan . No queen regnant ever ruled France , for example. Only one woman, Maria Theresa , ruled Austria. As noted in
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#1732780369306360-565: The United Kingdom amended their laws of succession to absolute primogeniture (in which the children of a monarch or chief have preference in order of birth from eldest to youngest regardless of gender). In some cases, the change does not take effect during the lifetimes of people already in the line of succession at the time the law was passed. In 2011, the United Kingdom and the 15 other Commonwealth realms agreed to remove
390-537: The ruling dynasty of Egypt was subject to the rulers of the Ottoman Empire but acted as de facto independent rulers who maintained the polite fiction of Ottoman suzerainty . However, starting from around 1882, the rulers had only de jure rule over Egypt, as it had by then become a British puppet state . Thus, by Ottoman law, Egypt was de jure a province of the Ottoman Empire, but de facto
420-725: The Netherlands) are currently heirs apparent to the thrones of their respective monarchies, along with Leonor, Princess of Asturias , who is the heir presumptive of the throne of Spain. All four are therefore liable to become queens regnant following the end of the current reigns. Because there is no feminine equivalent to king and emperor in East Asian languages, different titles are used for female monarchs and female consorts. The titles of female monarchs in East Asia are translated directly as "female king" or "female emperor" and
450-404: The best friend of a bride who leads her bridal party . Queen regnant Philosophers Works A queen regnant ( pl. : queens regnant) is a female monarch , equivalent in rank, title and position to a king . She reigns suo jure (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort , who is married to a reigning king; or a queen regent , who
480-650: The ceremony, especially carrying the trains of her robes. They were: A lady-in-waiting is a woman who attends a female member of the Royal Family other than the queen regnant or queen consort. An attendant upon one of the latter is a Lady of the Bedchamber or Woman of the Bedchamber , and the senior lady-in-waiting is the Mistress of the Robes . The women of the bedchamber are in regular attendance, but
510-538: The children of a monarch or chief have preference in order of birth from eldest to youngest), and ultimogeniture (in which the children have preference in the reverse order of birth from youngest to eldest). The scope of succession may be matrilineal, patrilineal, or both; or, rarely, open to general election when necessary. The right of succession may be open to men and women, or limited to men only or to women only. The most typical succession in European monarchies from
540-501: The death of the monarch, subject to the rules of male-preference primogeniture. A lot of times, the wife or mother of a childless king were allowed to succeed to the throne as well and allowed to rule as queen regnants in their own right, until their death, after which the throne passed to the next closest relative. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Sweden , Norway , Belgium , the Netherlands , Denmark , Luxembourg and
570-522: The list below of widely-known ruling queens, many reigned in European monarchies. Male-preference primogeniture was also practised in a lot of the separate kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent from the Middle Ages, until the Indian independence movement. In a lot of these kingdoms, adoption was allowed from a relative if a monarch didn't have children, and the adopted child could succeed to the throne at
600-505: The maids received dowries from the monarch. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term maid of honour in waiting was sometimes used. The queen mother often also had maids of honour. In 1912, for example, Ivy Gordon-Lennox was appointed a maid of honour to Queen Alexandra . In 1912, King George V granted maids of honour the style of The Honourable , with precedence next after daughters of barons. At her coronation , Queen Elizabeth II had six maids of honour who attended her throughout
630-527: The masculine form of the word in languages that have grammatical gender as a way to classify nouns. The Roman Empress Irene of Athens sometimes titled herself basileus (βασιλεύς), 'emperor', rather than basilissa (βασίλισσα), 'empress', and Mary of Hungary was crowned as Rex Hungariae , King of Hungary in 1382. Among the Davidic Monarchs of the Kingdom of Judah , there is mentioned
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#1732780369306660-637: The mistress of the robes and the ladies of the bedchamber are normally only required for ceremonial occasions. At the Tudor and Stuart courts, the women in attendance included gentlewomen, maids of honour, and chamberers . The gentlewoman in charge of the maids of honour was known as the Mother of the Maids . The term maid of honour is the origin of the American English term maid of honor , usually
690-604: The only remaining female monarch of a sovereign state in the world, until her abdication on 14 January 2024. This made it the first time that no female sovereigns have reigned in over 200 years. On the other hand, there are non-sovereign queens, such as Rain Queen Masalanabo Modjadji VII and Māori Queen Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō , who currently reign. Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden , Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (monarchy of Belgium), and Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (monarchy of
720-658: The practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with de facto ('in fact'), which describes situations that exist in reality, even if not formally recognized. De jure is a Latin expression composed of the words de (from) and jure (adjective form of jus , meaning 'law'). In U.S. law , particularly after Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the difference between de facto segregation (that existed because of voluntary associations and neighborhoods) and de jure segregation (that existed because of local laws) became important distinctions for court-mandated remedial purposes. Between 1805 and 1914,
750-408: The royal titles of East Asia. The title as a queen regnant of Trưng Trắc was Nữ vương ( chữ Hán : 女王, "female king") and the title as an empress regnant of Lý Chiêu Hoàng was Nữ hoàng ( chữ Hán : 女皇, "female emperor"), and they are different from the titles of female consorts. In Japan, the title used for two queens regnant of Yamatai : Himiko and Toyo was joō (女王, "female king") and it
780-493: The rule of male-preference primogeniture. Once the necessary legislation was passed, this means that had Prince William had a daughter first, a younger son would not have become heir apparent. In 2015, Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in world history. She was the longest serving incumbent head of state and monarch from 2016 until her death on 8 September 2022. Following Elizabeth's death, Margrethe II of Denmark became
810-498: The title huánghòu (皇后, "emperor's consort") means only an empress consort. The term nǚwáng (女王, "female king") was also used for queens regnant of Eastern Kingdom of Women [ zh ] of the tribe Sumpa and it is different from the title wánghòu (王后, "king's consort") which means a queen consort. In Korea, the term yeowang ( Hangul : 여왕, Hanja : 女王, "female king") was developed to refer to three queens regnant of Silla : Seondeok , Jindeok and Jinseong , because
840-469: The title wangbi ( Hangul : 왕비, Hanja : 王妃, "king's consort") means only a queen consort. The term yeoje ( Hangul : 여제, Hanja : 女帝, "female emperor") was also used for Yi Hae-won , the titular empress regnant of Korean Empire because the title hwanghu ( Hangul : 황후, Hanja : 皇后, "emperor's consort") means only an empress consort. Although Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia, it used
870-468: The titles of female consorts in East Asia are translated directly as "king's consort" or "emperor's consort". So, the titles of female monarchs in East Asia are the same as those of male monarchs, just indicating that they are women. In China the term nǚhuángdì (女皇帝, "female emperor"), abbreviated as nǚhuáng (女皇), has been used for three empresses regnant to assume the title of huángdì : Daughter of Xiaoming , Chen Shuozhen and Wu Zetian , because
900-491: The world. This is the first time this has been the case in over 200 years. The oldest attested queen regnant was the Pharaoh Sobekneferu from the 18th/17th century BC. In Ancient Africa, Ancient Persia , Asian and Pacific cultures, and in some European countries, female monarchs have been given the title king or its equivalent, such as pharaoh , when gender is irrelevant to the office, or else have used
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