Wiki of Westeros

Dragon S02E01 Blood for blood. Fire to fire. House of the Dragon: Season 2 will premiere in June 2024.

READ MORE

Wiki of Westeros
Register
Advertisement
Wiki of Westeros
Joffrey throne season 2

Joffrey I Baratheon, King of the Andals and the First Men from 298 AC to 301 AC.

Joffrey Baratheon: "I am the king! I will punish you..."
Tywin Lannister: "Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king."
— King Joffrey Baratheon and Lord Tywin Lannister[src]

A king[1] is the male ruler of a monarchy or realm. Kings usually inherit their position by birth, though some, like Aegon the Conqueror and Robert Baratheon, become kings through conquest, and others, like Euron Greyjoy and Bran Stark, are elected. A king usually rules until death, abdication or being deposed. A queen[1] is either the consort of a king or a female monarch who rules in her own right.

The children of kings and queens hold the title prince or princess. The title prince or princess may also be used by a monarch, such as the Prince of Dorne when Dorne was an independent kingdom.

Known kingdoms[]

Current kingdoms[]

"Oh, I'm a monster? Perhaps you should speak to me more softly then. Monsters are dangerous... and just now kings are dying like flies."
―Tyrion Lannister to King Joffrey Baratheon.[src]

Defunct kingdoms[]

Queens[]

TPATQ Alicent and Viserys Still

King Viserys I and his queen consort, Alicent Hightower.

There are two main types of queens: a queen consort and a queen regnant.

A queen consort is the wife of the ruling king. She may marry him before or after he becomes king, though if she marries him before, she only becomes the queen when he becomes king. A queen consort can wield various unofficial powers, given that they usually come from wealthy and influential families. A queen consort's main power comes through her influence on her husband, and she does not share his powers or sovereignty.

A queen dowager, or dowager queen, is a widowed queen consort. If one of the queen's issue becomes the ruling monarch, she may sometimes be referred to as the queen mother.

A queen regent is a queen consort or queen dowager who rules on behalf of the incumbent monarch, usually due to that monarch being underage. The queen consort may also be named regent if her husband is absent or otherwise incapacitated.

A queen regnant is a female monarch who rules in her own right, inheriting the throne from the previous monarch or taking it through conquest. Due to the male-preference inheritance system in Westeros (and much of the rest of the world), ruling queens are rare - a daughter will usually be skipped over for her younger brother or another close male relative. Unlike a queen consort, a queen regnant possesses the full powers of a monarch, issuing orders directly.

The monarchy of the Iron Throne, which unified the Seven Kingdoms, existed for three centuries and never had an officially-recognized queen regnant until Cersei Lannister.

After Rhaenyra Targaryen is designated heir to the Iron Throne, her father, King Viserys I Targaryen, states that her husband will become king consort of the Seven Kingdoms upon her ascension.[3] In the novels, Hizdahr zo Loraq used the title king (effectively a king consort or king jure uxoris) when married to Daenerys Targaryen, the ruling queen of Meereen.

Due to the near-extinction of House Targaryen, and the supposed deaths of all other possible male heirs, Daenerys Targaryen laid claim to the Iron Throne as queen regnant as the only surviving issue of King Aerys II Targaryen. She was technically considered to be a "rival claimant", since she had not actively ruled the Seven Kingdoms until her brief ascension following the Battle of King's Landing. However, as the crown of the Seven Kingdoms was itself established by Aegon the Conqueror, and Daenerys was seemingly his only direct legitimate Targaryen blood heir, the Iron Throne was thought to belong to Daenerys following the death of her brother, Viserys. This belief was however false, since Daenerys's paternal nephew, Jon Snow, whose parentage (as the legitimate son of Lyanna Stark and Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the eldest son of King Aerys II, thereby having a stronger claim to the Iron Throne regardless of gender) was disguised with a bastard status for his own protection. While Robert Baratheon was descended of a Targaryen great-grandmother, he held his titles by right of conquest, not by right of blood or law. Upon her ascension, she was technically queen regnant only through right of conquest, since the right of blood would make Jon the king.

Due to the onslaught of Daenerys's actions in the Last War and obvious signs of megalomania, Daenerys was reluctantly assassinated by Jon. Both customs in the right of conquest and blood inheritance were disbanded following the Great Council of 305 AC, whereupon the Westerosi monarchy became elective, with no restrictions on gender or familial inheritance.

References[]

External links[]

Advertisement