A
queen consort is the wife of a reigning
king (or an
empress consort in the case of an
emperor). In
Brunei, the wife of the
Sultan is known as a
Raja Isteri with prefix
Pengiran Anak, equivalent with queen consort in English, as were the consorts of
tsars when
Bulgaria was still a monarchy. A queen consort usually shares her husband's social
rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical
titles, but historically, she does not share the king's political and military powers. A
queen regnant is a queen in her own right with all the powers of a monarch, who (usually) has become queen by inheriting the throne upon the death of the previous monarch.