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Princess Viktoria Of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , Duchess of Kent, suggested that she hold the title when her daughter Victoria acceded. Not having been queen herself, she was instead described as the Queen's mother.


RECENT BRITISH QUEEN MOTHERS


The following former queen consorts became queen mothers, though not all chose to use that style.


  • Queen Mary ( 18671953 ) — widow of George V and mother of kings Edward VIII and George VI . When her granddaughter Elizabeth II became monarch in 1952 , Queen Mary became ''Queen Mother Dowager''. However, on the death of her husband in 1936 , she expressed a preference to continue to be referred to as 'Queen Mary'. That style was used to describe her in the Court Circular .



For further discussion, see English Queen Mothers .


OTHER QUEEN MOTHERS


The title 'Queen Mother' has been widely used in monarchies. Among other Queen Mothers were:



EXCEPTIONAL CASES


In rare cases, the king of a nation may be divorced or a widower. If he remarries, and his second wife outlives him, but is not the mother of his successor, it is unclear what title this woman assumes, though Queen Dowager or Dowager Queen might be appropriate, in the circumstances.

Queen Noor Of Jordan for example was King Hussein 's fourth wife, and stepmother of current king Abdullah II . She is still referred to as Queen Noor, although rarely, and then inaccurately, as the "Queen Mother". If anything, she would be the Queen Dowager, although such a title has never been seriously floated.

Similarly, Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur was the third wife of her husband, the monarch, but not the mother of his successor, a son by the king's first wife. She however has been accorded the title of Rajmata, or Queen Mother anyway.


FOOTNOTE


1 on The Late Late Show on RTÉ .) However no such title does or can exist. It would be a biological and constitutional impossibility. She would most likely have remained ''Diana, Princess of Wales'', unless given a new courtesy title, perhaps her son would have simply made her a princess in her own right making her style - HRH The Princess Diana.