| Part of a series on |
| Imperial, royal, noble, gentry and chivalric ranks in Europe |
|---|
.svg) |
| Part of the Politics series |
| Monarchy |
|---|
.svg) |
 Politics portal |
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch.[a] The term has been used in English since the early 1560s.[1] It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of similar yet distinct monarchical concepts in non-European cultures around the world. The rank does not go to all mothers of monarchs though. A mother of a ruling monarch may only be referred to as queen mother if she was a queen consort as opposed to a princess consort.
"The Queen Mother" usually, in English, refers to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (queen consort, 1936–1952; queen mother, 1952–2002), who was the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and one of the few people to use the term as an official style. However, it is also used as an official title in Thailand where Sirikit, the mother of the present king, is officially styled "The Queen Mother".[2]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Queen mother". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Announcement of the royal title Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother" (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 136 (15b). 2019-05-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 5, 2019.