Where Is the King?

To add to Diane's e-mail. The title Queen is two fold in England:

1) the reigning Monarch (Queen Elizabeth) AND

2) the name of the King's wife (but holding no succession title).

There is no 'King' title that is used solely for the husband of the reigning Queen - hence Prince Phillip, the Duke, etc.

If William is named King then Kate will become a Queen.... but in title only, not in succession. If they have a son that child would succeed William as King.

There is no King at the present time. Queen Elizabeth had no brothers, and just one sister who was younger. Therefore, when her father died (he was the King profiled in the recent film, "The King's Speech" starring Colin Firth), she inherited the throne as the oldest child. (While her father's wife, also named Elizabeth, was called Queen, she was not in the royal line and did not inherit when he died. She became known as the Queen Mother at that time. When Elizabeth the daughter (current queen) married, her husband Philip was given a series of honorary titles, including Prince Philip and the Duke of Edinburgh and many others. I believe he got some when they married, and possibly some additional ones when she ascended to the throne. He cannot become king as he is not in the royal line.

Since Elizabeth had 4 children, they were in line for the throne in birth order for the males - Charles is the oldest, so the throne was to be his. After him, originally it was his 3 siblings: Andrew, Edward and Princess Anne (she is last because she's a female!). However, once Charles had children, they come next in the line of succession - William is the oldest so he's next.

Kate can never become queen. She will probably be given a royal title - probably Princess and most likely some additional titles. That's what was done with Diana.

So, the current line of succession is:

Charles
His son, William
His 2nd son, Harry (until William and Kate have a child, then that child is next after William and before Harry)
Prince Andrew (Charles' brother)
Princess Beatrice (Andrew's eldest)
Princess Eugenie (Andrew's 2nd)
Prince Edward (Charles & Andrew's younger brother)
Prince Edward's children (not sure if he has any yet but I think there's a baby)
Princess Anne
Princess Anne's kids, starting with her son.

Everyone would have to either die or abdicate for this to occur.

Does this help? or make it more confusing???

Prince Philip is not a King --he is properly referred to as Prince Philip and/or the Duke of Edinburgh since he's both those things.

There is no current King because the Queen is a "queen regnant," meaning she reigns in her own right; she inherited the throne. Philip is her prince and consort, though he is also a prince (of Greece) in his own right. It is possible for a regnant queen to have her consort named King with Parliament's consent, but that did not happen with Queen Victoria (who wanted Prince Albert made a king but Parliament wouldn't have that) and there has never been a question of it with Prince Philip.

William and Charles will become kings because they are the direct blood heirs to the throne, as Elizabeth was before them. It is unlikely that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (Charles's wife) will be granted the title of Queen, and I can't see Charles pursuing that, but it's likely that Kate Middleton will be a princess and then receive the title Queen when William takes the throne. In the meantime, Kate's title after marriage is one thing I'm not sure about. Technically she cannot be "Princess Kate" though she will get called that informally. She is not a princess in her own blood right. She would be "Catherine, Princess of Wales" when Charles becomes king and William takes the title of Prince of Wales. In the meantime, I"m not sure what the title will be. She could actually be "Princess William" as that is an acceptable title for the non-royal wife of a royal prince, hence there is a "Princess Michael" already, wife of the queen's cousin Prince Michael.

Diana was never legally "Princess Diana" but "Diana, Princess of Wales" as she was not a princess.

I"m adding this based on someone else's post saying that "all" other royal families other than the British one follow a simple King-Queen titling. Not true. In Denmark, the queen regnant, Queen Margrethe, is married to the Prince Consort, Prince Henrik. He's not a king; she's queen regnant because she inherited the throne from her father. So certainly in that case, the protocol of a prince consort, rather than some kind of automatic king, is the case for the regnant queen's spouse, just as it is in Britain.

The King is dead. God save the Queen.

There are two types of queen.

A queen consort is the wife of a king. She has no inheritance rights to the throne and no special powers.

A queen regnant is a woman who reigns in her own right, the female equivalent of a king. A queen regnant inherits the throne from a previous monarch who was her blood relative.

Queen Elizabeth is a queen regnant, having inherited the throne from her father, King George VI.

The wife of a king is automatically a queen consort, but she can never be a queen regnant as in the case of Camilla and K..

Both queens regnant and queens consort are entitled to be addressed as "Your Majesty".

The queen comes from the royal blood, and he married in the family.

The Queen is the queen because she was the Heir to the throne her father was King George ( I think it was george) Anyway she was the first born so she was to be Queen , Her husband is Prince Phillip , Who was a prince when she married him but he's from another family and country , italy ( I THINK) or was he greek (cant remember) . He was given his title Duke , when he married, but he was never refereed to as "King" because he wasn't a king he kept his title from his family.

Thanks for asking this, I learned something today :)

Wow - there are some very knowledgable ladies on this site! I learned a lot today. Thanks girls.
The way my college prof explained it to me was....
The legend is that the Royal blood line was ordained by God and desceneded directly from God himself. So, the blood that runs through the Royals is what makes them eligible to be King or Queen. You can't marry yourself into the title. You have to have the Blue Blood of a royal.

Yay for learning today!!

Watch the King's Speech! It's a great movie and is based on Queen Elizabeth's father (who was second in line). Very interesting! And true.

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I researched this on so many websites...Prince Phillip gave up his rights to his own possible throne to wed Elizabeth since she would be queen. That way they are not both rulers of different countries.

Phillip is not called the King Consort. He will never be king nor will anyone not the reigning rulers oldest child ever be called king or queen. If Elizabeth died tomorrow Phillip is not the King. Charles or William would be named King. Kate Middleton is being called the future queen but in fact will not ever be queen but may be called Queen consort. It is a title that gives her rights and status but she will never be Williams equal as queen or even queen consort. She will not head the church of England or have a seat in authority over anything. She will have royal duties and obligations assigned her by Queen Elizabeth, or Charles if he is made King, and later by her husband.

There are many web sites that have this information. Wikipedia is pretty easily read, and there are many on the royal family lineage and history.

Prince Phillip is not of royal blood therefore will NEVER be king. He is Prince of consort and Kate will more than likely be Queen of consort, not Queen in the sense Queen Elizebeth is. Basically men are only King if they are of Royal Blood.

And she WILL have the title of Queen when William is King should Queen Elizibeth allow it ... she dictates all of Kate's titles at this moment ... Charles and William would be able to change/add when she is no longer the head of the monarchy in their own turns.

There are lots of facts here and most are true, but I have to say that Prince Phillip is a prince in his own right, and is of royal blood. Before marrying the Queen he came from the greek royal family. He also shares the same great great grandmother as Queen Elizabeth (Queen Victoria), by way of his mother's blood line.