Editing Prince consort (section)

== Usage in Europe ==

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, the title ''Prince Consort'' is unique to [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], although the term applies as a description to other British princes consort. The title was awarded to him in 1857 by his wife, [[Queen Victoria]]. Before Prince Albert, there had only been five English, Scottish or British male consorts, being the husbands of [[Mary I of England]], [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]], and [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], the last of whom was married three times during her long reign. The remaining queens regnant before Victoria sidestepped the question of the proper title for a male consort, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] having never married, and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]]'s husband [[William III of England|William III]] having been explicitly made king in his own right.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-03 |title=Who Has Held the Queen Consort Title Throughout History? |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/g42860996/queen-consort-title-history-united-kingdom/ |access-date=2023-06-09 |website=Town & Country |language=en-US}}</ref> 

[[File:Prince Albert 405130.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Portrait of Prince Albert]]'' by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter]]. [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] was awarded the title ''Prince Consort'' in 1857 by his wife, [[Queen Victoria]].]]
The titles of the five pre-Victorian male consorts varied widely. [[Philip II of Spain|Philip of Spain]], the husband of Mary I of England, was declared king ''[[jure uxoris]]'' and given powers equal to his wife while she reigned, but Queen Anne's husband [[Prince George of Denmark]] received no British titles other than the Dukedom of Cumberland (his princely title being Danish). Meanwhile, the titles of the three husbands of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], was never fully resolved. At least one ([[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]]), was declared king consort, and both he and his predecessor [[Francis II of France]] sought recognition as king ''jure uxoris'' (under a proffered theory of the "[[Crown Matrimonial]] of Scotland"), but the title and powers of the consort were a constant issue during Mary's reign and remained unresolved when Mary was captured and executed.<ref>Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 184.</ref><ref name="Daniel2">Daniel, William S. (Edinburgh, 1852), ''History of The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood'', p. 67.</ref>

The only male consort since Prince Albert's death, [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], the consort of [[Elizabeth II]], was made a [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|peer of the United Kingdom]] in advance of his marriage to then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. After Elizabeth's accession in 1952, there was debate in royal circles and among senior politicians (both in Britain and in other [[Commonwealth Realm]]s, particularly [[Canada]]) about her husband's proper title. Some leaders, including the prime minister of the day, [[Winston Churchill]], suggested reviving Prince Albert's title of ''Prince Consort''. Others put forward other styles, including "Prince of the Realm" and "Prince of the Commonwealth" (the latter of which was suggested by [[John Diefenbaker]], at the time a member of the Canadian Opposition front bench). In 1957, Elizabeth created Philip a [[British prince|prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]], the same title borne by sons of the sovereign.<ref name=Bousfield>{{cite book |last=Bousfield |first=Arthur |author2=Toffoli, Gary |title=Fifty Years the Queen |publisher=Dundurn Press |year=2002 |location=Toronto |page=12 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w8l5reK7NjoC |isbn = 1-55002-360-8 }}</ref><ref name="veldephilip">{{cite web |last = Velde |first = François |title = Title of Prince: HRH Philip Duke of Edinburgh |work = Royal styles and titles: Files from the UK National Archives |url = http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/LCO_6_3677.htm |access-date = 3 November 2022}}</ref>

The distinction between the positions of prince consort and king is important in the British patriarchal hierarchical system. Within this hierarchy, the king holds a higher position in the British social hierarchy than any other, and so more power is attributed to him. When the monarch is female, such as [[Queen Victoria]], who ascended to the throne in 1837, power is attributed to the queen, for she holds the highest position in the absence of a king.<ref>Klein, P. (2017). Kings & Queens. Library Journal, 142(8), 37-39.</ref> Unlike a queen consort, a prince consort is not crowned and anointed alongside his wife at her coronation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Consort to Her Majesty The Queen |url=https://www.royal.uk/consort-her-majesty-queen |website=Royal.uk}}</ref>

=== Other countries ===
[[Jacques I, Prince of Monaco|Jacques I]] became the prince consort of [[Monaco]] in 1731 after his wife, [[Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco|Louise Hippolyte]], became the sovereign princess.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-03|title=Prince Jacques I of Monaco: Prior Owner of Matignon, the French Prime Minister’s Residence in Paris|url=https://www.hellomonaco.com/news/latest-news/prince-jacques-i-of-monaco-prior-owner-of-matignon-the-french-prime-minister-s-residence-in-paris/|access-date=2022-01-14|website=HelloMonaco|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2005, [[Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark|Prince Henrik]], the husband of [[Margrethe II of Denmark]], was awarded the title. He had requested the title of "king consort" and style of ''His Majesty'' but was denied.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sorensen |first=Martin Selsoe |date=2018-02-16 |title=Final Resting Place for Danish Prince Who Yearned to Be King: Not Beside the Queen |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/world/europe/prince-henrik-denmark.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2016, he announced that upon his retirement, he would revert to the title of prince that he had received upon their marriage in 1967.<ref>{{cite web|language=da|url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE2997852/dronningen-i-sin-nytaarstale-prins-henrik-gaar-paa-pension/ |title=Dronningen i sin nytårstale: Prins Henrik går på pension |website=Politiken.dk |date=31 December 2015 |access-date=2017-01-29}}</ref><ref name=xinhuanet>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/15/c_135279487.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419190248/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/15/c_135279487.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 19, 2016 |title=Denmark's Prince Henrik renounces title as Prince Consort|website= Xinhuanet, China-Europe|date=15 April 2016 |access-date=2017-09-06}}</ref>