Status
A queen consort, as a king's wife, has an important royal position but does not normally have any rights to succeed a king as monarch after his death.
The queen consort's eldest son (or daughter, if there is no son or if the kingdom practises absolute primogeniture) would normally be crowned as successor upon the king's death, often leaving the new monarch's mother still alive, but no longer holding any official position. A new king, of course, might already be married, or marry subsequently, and would have his own queen consort. A daughter who succeeded would be a queen regnant and normally called simply "the Queen", so a confusion of titles could result.
Therefore, the "queen mother" title identifies the widow of the deceased former king and mother of the currently reigning king or queen. The title distinguishes the queen mother from the current queen consort, who is the currently reigning king's wife. It also distinguishes such a person from a monarch's mother who was not previously a queen consort. For example, The Duchess of Kent was "the Queen's mother" when her daughter Victoria became queen regnant but not "queen mother".
As the king's or queen's mother, the queen mother is typically supported throughout her remaining years and given honour as a beloved relative, but has no official position or power. She is expected to carefully abstain from any involvement in governance or politics.
In Swaziland, located in Southern Africa, the Queen Mother, or Ndlovukati, reigns alongside her son. She serves as a ceremonial figurehead, while her son serves as the administrative head of state. He has absolute power. She is important at festivals such as the annual reed dance ceremony.
In many matrilineal societies of West Africa, such as the Ashanti, the queen mother is the one through whom royal descent is reckoned and thus wields considerable power. One of the greatest leaders of Ashanti was Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa (1840–1921), who led her subjects against the British Empire during the War of the Golden Stool in 1900.
In more symbolically driven societies such as the kingdoms of the Yoruba peoples, the queen mother may not even be a blood relative of the reigning monarch. She could be a female individual of any age who is vested with the ritual essence of the departed queens in a ceremonial sense, and who is practically regarded as the monarch's mother as a result. A good example is Erelu Kuti of Lagos, who has been seen as the iya oba or queen mother of every succeeding king of that realm, due to the activities of the three successors to the noble title that have reigned since her demise.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother served as a Counsellor of State several times. She had always remained a popular royal-family figure.
Read more about this topic: Queen Mother
Famous quotes containing the word status:
“As a work of art it has the same status as a long conversation between two not very bright drunks.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“Knowing how beleaguered working mothers truly are—knowing because I am one of them—I am still amazed at how one need only say “I work” to be forgiven all expectation, to be assigned almost a handicapped status that no decent human being would burden further with demands. “I work” has become the universally accepted excuse, invoked as an all-purpose explanation for bowing out, not participating, letting others down, or otherwise behaving inexcusably.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)