British Queens Dowager - Definition - 20th Century

20th Century

• Queen Victoria was mother to Edward VII but was queen regnant until 1901. Since Edward VII did not become king until his mother died, there was no queen mother in his reign. This case is inherent for any monarch whose mother was a queen regnant.
• Alexandra of Denmark was wife of Edward VII and mother of George V. She was Queen Mother from 1910 to her own death in 1925.
• Mary of Teck was wife of George V and mother to both Edward VIII and George VI. However, since Edward VIII was not married while he was King, she was technically not Queen Mother during his reign. She was Queen Mother from December 1936 until the death of her second son in 1952. Since her daughter-in-law then became Queen Mother, Mary was briefly the Dowager Queen Mother until her own death in 1953.
• Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was wife to George VI and mother of Elizabeth II. She was Queen Mother from 1952 until her death in 2002, and held the style HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

There will not be a Queen Mother for many years now, as the first in line to the throne, Prince Charles, is the son of a queen regnant. The mother of Princes William and Harry (second and third in line to the throne), Diana, Princess of Wales, is deceased, while Prince Andrew, the fourth in line, divorced Sarah, Duchess of York, the mother of his daughters, so she would not be Queen Mother in the unlikely event that one of the two princesses inherits.