Emperor Empress
Why “Queen” and not “Empress”?
I’ve never understood this. The monarch of Austria-Hungary was an Emperor, the monarch of small Japan was an Emperor, plus many others. But in the British Empire, the monarch was still referred to as “Queen/King” in common parlance. (I know they had a secondary title of “Empress/Emperor of India”.) Why, especially when 25% of the world was part of the Empire, didn’t the royal family use the title of “Emperor/Empress”? I used to think it required a grant from the vatican, (which wouldn’t happen in an Anglican country), but that doesn’t explain Japan and other much smaller monarchies having Emperors while the huge British Empire and subsequent Commonwealth has “merely” a Queen.
I think the history, wide-ranging influence and huge landmass of the Commonwealth more than justifies an “Empress”.
The Queen is the Queen of each of those individual countries. Her role as Queen of Canada, for example, is different from, and on a level equal to, her role as Queen of the United Kingdom. There is no empire. Canada, Australia, Jamaica and dozens of others are not in any sense dependent on the UK. The Commonwealth is a group of nations with a common history. Its membership is elective and you need not recognise the Queen as your sovereign to be a member of it. The Queen has a strictly ceremonial role as ‘figurehead’ of the Commonwealth, but again, that’s not imperial in any useful sense of the word.
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