The sobriquet grandmother of Europe has been given to various women, primarily female sovereigns who are the ascendant of many members of European nobility and royalty, as well as women who made important contributions to Europe.
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1729 to 1737, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 to 1765. He became the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, and Tuscany through his marriage to his second cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles VI. Francis was the last non-Habsburg monarch of the Empire. The couple were the founders of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, and their marriage produced sixteen children.
Ingrid of Sweden was Queen of Denmark from 20 April 1947 to 14 January 1972 as the wife of King Frederik IX.
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally share the king's political and military powers, unless on occasion acting as regent.
A queen dowager or dowager queen is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear from the two words from which it is composed: queen indicates someone who served as queen consort, while dowager indicates a woman who continues to hold the title from her deceased husband. A queen mother is a former queen consort, often a dowager queen, who is the mother of the reigning monarch.
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom she attended. Although she may either have received a retainer or may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a secretary, courtier, or companion to her mistress than a servant.
A queen regnant is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns suo jure over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning king; or a queen regent, who is the guardian of a child monarch and rules pro tempore in the child's stead or instead of her husband who is absent from the realm, be it de jure in sharing power or de facto in ruling alone. A queen regnant is sometimes called a woman king. A princess, duchess, or grand duchess regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over a principality or (grand) duchy; an empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over an empire.
Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
There were three Imperial Orders of the Mexican Empire, which were Orders of chivalry created to reward Heads of state and prominent people during the two periods of the Mexican Empire—the Imperial Order of Guadalupe, the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle, and the Imperial Order of Saint Charles.
Margaret of Prussia was the youngest child of Frederick III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal. She was also the younger sister of Emperor Wilhelm II and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, the elected King of Finland, making her the would-be Queen of Finland had he not decided to renounce the throne on 14 December 1918. In 1926, they assumed the titles of Landgrave and Landgravine of Hesse. The couple had six sons and lost three of them in wartime, two during the First and one during the Second World War.
The father-in-law of Europe is a sobriquet which has been used to refer to two European monarchs of the late 19th and early 20th century: Christian IX of Denmark and Nicholas I of Montenegro, both on account of their children's marriages to foreign princes and princesses. The fact that each was a monarch of moderate or modest power allowed them to marry some of their many children to heirs of greater fortunes across the continent.
Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, was by birth a Princess of Baden from the House of Zähringen and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine. Her descendants include King Charles III of the United Kingdom, King Felipe VI of Spain, and other members of European royalty.
Princess Margaret of Denmark was a Danish princess by birth and a princess of Bourbon-Parma as the wife of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma. She was the youngest grandchild of Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise.
Archduchess Maria Clementina Franziska Josepha of Austria was Princess of Salerno by marriage to the Sicilian prince Leopold, Prince of Salerno. She was born an archduchess of Austria as the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily.
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, was a reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, one of the ruling Thuringian dukes of the House of Wettin. As progenitor of a line of Coburg princes who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, ascended the thrones of several European realms, he is a patrilineal ancestor of the royal houses of Belgium and Bulgaria, as well as of several queens consort and the empress consort of Mexico in the 1860s.
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was the first Empress of Austria and last Holy Roman Empress as the spouse of Francis II. She was born a Princess of Naples as the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Queen Maria Carolina.
Maria Clementina of Austria was an Austrian archduchess and the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. In 1797 she married her double first cousin Prince Francis, Duke of Calabria, heir to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. She was modest, well educated and kind, becoming popular in her adoptive country. Afflicted with frail health, she died of tuberculosis, age twenty four. Her only surviving child was Princess Caroline, Duchess of Berry.
The royal descendants of Queen Victoriaand of King Christian IX, monarchs of the United Kingdom and Denmark, respectively, have become members of multiple European royal families. This was partially achieved by the marriage of Victoria's progeny with Christian's. By the time of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Victoria was known as the "grandmother of Europe". Also, Christian IX was nicknamed the "father-in-law of Europe".
Queen Victoria, the British monarch from 1837 to 1901, and Prince Albert had 9 children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren. Victoria was called the "grandmother of Europe".
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. 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.
Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, Lady de Silva is an English businessperson specialising in etiquette and decorum courses. She is a member of the extended former Yugoslavian royal family.
