royal consort
{{Short description|Royal title}}
{{other uses|Consort (disambiguation)}}
A royal consort is a person of either sex who has an official status through an intimate relationship, often through marriage or concubinage, with a monarch.Clarissa Campbell Orr, Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort (2004). The term consort was thereafter extended to encompass similar relationships with other significant figures, such as a head of state. The term as pertains to royalty "has its roots in seventeenth-century vocabulary in both New England and England", where it was initially used to mean a spouse.Association for Gravestone Studies, Markers: The Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (2007), Vol. 24, p. 5. However, the word itself originates from the Latin term "consors", meaning "partner", and can be used in everyday English as a synonym for "partner", or as a verb meaning "to associate".{{cite web | title=Definition of CONSORT | website=Merriam-Webster | date=May 10, 2023 | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consort | access-date=May 12, 2023}}
In more recent usage it has been noted that the term, "though literally denoting a partner or spouse, is a heavily loaded term, for a consort is usually implied to be a mere appendage, far inferior in power and status to his or her spouse".Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts (1982), p. 78. In invitations for the 2023 coronation of King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla, the British royal family notably styled to Camilla as "The Queen" instead of "The Queen Consort", signifying a reluctance to keep using the position as part of the style.{{cite web | title=The royals dropped 'consort' from Queen Camilla's title. What's the big deal? | website=NPR | date=April 5, 2023 | url=https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168260561/king-charles-coronation-invitation-camilla-queen-consort | access-date=May 12, 2023}}{{cite web | title=The Difference Between Queen and Queen Consort | website=Cosmopolitan | date=May 5, 2023 | url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a39179430/queen-consort-queen-regnant-difference/ | access-date=May 12, 2023}}
Variations of the term in royalty include:
- Queen consort, wife of a reigning king{{Cite news |date=9 September 2022 |title=What is Queen Consort? What will be the role of Camilla? |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uk/what-is-queen-consort-what-will-be-the-role-of-camilla/articleshow/94092575.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2022-09-14}}
- Prince consort, husband of a reigning queen{{cite news |last1=Gonzales |first1=Erica |title=Why Prince Philip's Title Wasn't King |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a29748471/prince-philip-title-not-king/ |access-date=12 May 2023 |publisher=Bazaar |date=6 May 2023}}
- King consort, rarely used alternative title for husband of a reigning queen{{cite news |last1=Savin |first1=Jennifer |title=What's the difference between a Queen and a Queen Consort? |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a43720186/difference-between-queen-and-queen-consort/ |access-date=12 May 2023 |publisher=Cosmopolitan |date=27 April 2023}}
- Princess consort, rarely used alternative title for wife of a reigning king{{cite news |last1=Engber |first1=Daniel |title=What Is a Princess Consort? |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/02/what-s-a-princess-consort.html |access-date=12 May 2023 |publisher=Slate |date=11 February 2005}}
The spouses of governors-general of some Commonwealth countries, such as Canada, are sometimes referred to as the "viceregal consort", despite not being married to royalty.{{cite web | title=Being Whit Fraser: From Reporter to Viceregal Consort | website=Policy Magazine | date=September 7, 2022 | url=https://www.policymagazine.ca/being-whit-fraser-from-reporter-to-viceregal-consort/ | access-date=May 12, 2023}}{{cite web | last=Tugwell | first=James | title=Youth residential rehabilitation centre opens on the south coast | website=Bay Post-Moruya Examiner | date=February 24, 2023 | url=https://www.batemansbaypost.com.au/story/8097757/youth-residential-rehabilitation-centre-opens-on-the-south-coast/ | access-date=May 12, 2023}}{{cite web | title=Battle of Britain commemorated – The Valley Profile | website=The Valley Profile – 100% local community news for the Hauraki Plains, Paeroa and Thames | date=September 13, 2022 | url=https://www.valleyprofile.co.nz/2022/09/13/battle-of-britain-commemorated/ | access-date=May 12, 2023}} In certain polytheistic religions such as Hinduism, female analogues to the main deities have often been described as consorts.Lynn Foulston, Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs & Practices (2019), p. 54.