Prince Albert - why not King Albert?

[DerekG]

Why was Prince Albert a prince and not a king after marrying Queen Victoria?

[vehelpfulguy]

The husband of our current Queen is not a king either.

[Kiwi the 1st]

Victoria became Queen on the 20th June 1837 & her coronation was on the 28th June 1838. Victoria married Prince Albert, who was her first cousin, on the 10th Feburary 1840. Now the reason Albert never became a king was because Victoria was already Queen. & generally Kings & Queens don't rule at the same time. It's like Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Phillip.

[jno]

it is a little unusual in that 'queen' means both a queen reigning in her own right, and one reigning because she's married to the king; but there are different words for males in these two situations. But the only co-rulers have been William and Mary at the end of the 17th century, I think because William demanded that his wife - the daughter of the ousted king, James - be made a full queen or he wouldn't take the job on. It made what was in effect a revolutionary situation look more legitimate.

[aristotle]

The rule (however illogical and sexist it may be) is that the wife of the king is entitled to the title of Queen but the husband of the Queen is not entitled to be called King.

[Johnmof]

I think it's all tied up with the preservation of blood lines and the fact that succession in Britain is down the male line. To have made Albert King would have made him Head of State rather than Victoria, which would have been unacceptable. Also, if they had remained childless the succession would have gone to his next of kin rather than hers.
The problem doesn't arise when a reigning king takes a wife, as he remains head of state and the succession would go to their children or to his next of kin if there are no children. There would be no question of the monarchy going to an outsider.

[Loosehead]

A king outranks a Queen so you cannot have a King consort, because if you did you could displace a reigning monarch by marraige, simple!

[spudmuffa]

A difficult one. Prince Albert could not be made King Albert, because there was already a King Albert in Europe at the time. And two Kings of the same name was not allowed.
Now the Post Office in its infancy, would certainly have delivered the mail to the wrong person, so it was easier for Albert just to remain as prince Albert and allay any fears of mail getting delivered to the wrong person. Hope this helps.

[Peter Pedant]

The men that Queens marry arent Kings

no matter what the rule is the other way around

There is a Queen of Holland and Klaus isnt King either


Victoria opposed anything more than Prince Consort, presumably because she liked being Queen !

[Peter Pedant]

Phililp n Mary and also william n Mary were different

Mary I Tudor insisted that the treaty of marriage included Philip II (He popped in as a Phillip II) as a King no matter what. The rest of the treaty excluded him as everything else and with no rights of succession should she predecease her.


william and mary - the Bill stipulated that they were K and Q equally and that should one die the other should go on until theirdeath and then to do to their successors - in this case her sister Anne

[jno]

so did England have a King Philip II but no Philip I, Peter? Interesting.

[THECORBYLOON]

What about Peter, Paul and Mary?

[scotchollie]

Peter, Paul and Mary were regrettably disbarred from holding any noble rank after Mungo and Midge (who were business associates of Mary's) were indicted for insider dealing during the great children's tv scams of 1973.

Mary turned Queen's evidence, was pardoned and now lives in a two bedroom flat near Ealing, living on state benefits.

Mungo and Midge eloped and are believed to be living on Fantasy Island somewhere in the Pacific.

Peter and Paul went on to write the internationally acclaimed and best selling King James Bible.

Trust that clears it up.

[THECORBYLOON]

I thought Mungo teamed up wi Jerry (of Peacemakers fame) to record the classic "Bryan Ferry's Cross the Mayor's Here" Could be wrong but.

[scotchollie]

Do you know CorbyLoon, that you may well have something there?

I never thought Mungo and Midge were that well suited and coitus, shall we say, would have been challenging.

If indeed Mungo has teamed up with Jerry, it leaves Tom without a mouse partner, so perhaps Midge could fill the vacancy?

Tom and Midge though... doesn't quite have the same ring to it...