Why is Queen Elizabeth's husband not the king?

Question

What determines if the spouse of a monarch gets the title king or queen?

Answer 1

Monarchy follows its own rules, and the British monarchy is no exception. On a hunt for royal trivia, we sought out Yahoo!'s Elizabeth II category. There we found a FAQ page about Britain's current queen.
Created by the Queen Elizabeth II Library in Newfoundland, Canada, the page answers a lot of questions about the library's namesake. A common query centers on Queen Elizabeth II's husband, asking "Why is Prince Philip not King Philip?" Here's the answer:


In the British monarchy, the husband of a female monarch does not have any recognized special status, rank, or privileges. In actual fact Prince Philip does play a major role in royal affairs, but this is not recognized in terms of his title. Interestingly enough, the wife of a male monarch (e.g. the Queen Mother was the wife of King George VI) takes on her husband's rank and style upon marrying, becoming Queen.
The official British Monarchy web site offers more details about the royal spouse. Prince Philip is the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and was born Prince of Greece and Denmark. Upon his marriage to then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Philip was given the title "Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich," and was made a Knight of the Garter. (He became a British citizen around this time and renounced his Greek and Danish titles). Elizabeth II was coronated in 1953, and in 1957, she granted Philip the title "Prince of the United Kingdom."

So, though his current princely title is a gift from his wife, he was really a prince from birth. But only his son, Prince Charles, has a shot at becoming king.

Answer 2

Her Majesty is Queen Regnant ... Reigning Queen.

When there is a King, then usually the King has a Queen Consort.

The Line of Succession follows the descendants of a Monarch.

King George VI did not have any sons.
He had two daughters.
The elder daughter became Sovereign.
She became a Queen Regnant.

Prince Philip also is a descendant of Queen Victoria, but not a descendant of the late King George VI

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>What determines if the spouse of a monarch
>gets the title king or queen?

If the Monarch is a King, then usually his spouse gets the title of Queen -- technically Queen Consort.

If the Monarch is a Queen [i.e., a Queen Regnant; a Reigning Queen], then her spouse may be a Duke, or a Prince, or in the case of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert was given the title Prince Consort. Most anything other than King.

Answer 3

Because he isn't the king. He is in the line of succession, but, well down the list - in the 50's somewhere. So, the Queen and 50 odd other people would need to die for him to become king. In most places, including the UK, a woman can use a courtesy form of the man's name and title, but, it doesn't work the other way round. Thus Miss Sally Jones can use the name Mrs John Smith after she marries. In the same way Miss Sally Jones can become Princess John if she marries a prince. But, if the Queen married a commoner, he would be a simple Mister. In fact, Phillip gave up his foreign titles to marry Elizabeth, and was given the Dukedom by King George. Elizabeth created him a Prince of the UK 10 years after their marriage. If these two things were not done, he would be a Mister to this day.

Answer 4

The spouse of a queen does not get the title of King because in our sexist tradition, someone decided that kings outrank queens.

There are two types of queen; queen regnant (like Elizabeth II...this is why she signs things "Elizabeth, R." The R stands for Regina, a King's R would mean Rex.) and queen consort (like Elizabeth II's late mother, when she was married to the then-monarch).

Answer 5

Actually Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is titled. His family was the descedants of the king and queen of Greece. He gave his titles up to marry Elizabeth. So the previous answers are half right. But as for Elizabeth it's in her blood line.

Answer 6

Because he is not descendent of the house of Windsor, Tutor and so on. She is the descendent. The same with her Mother. She was Elizabeth, but not Queen Elizabeth the I. Her husband was the direct descendent. The first Queen Elizabeth, was the Virgin Queen, in the 15 hundreds.

Answer 7

Bloodline determines the monarchy.
The queen has it.
Her husband does not.

Answer 8

If a woman has a higher rank than her husband, she keeps her rank, but he doesn't rise to it. A woman rises to her husband's rank.

Answer 9

Her father was king not his and she was oldest with no male family members eligible

Answer 10

He is a king hes tha Garlic King! that means he sniffs gas
thats what a garlic is...