Queens Regnant

<p >A&nbsp;<b>queen regnant</b>&nbsp;(plural: queens regnant) is a female&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch" title="Monarch" >monarch</a>&nbsp;who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_consort" title="Queen consort" >queen consort</a>, who is the wife of a reigning king. An&nbsp;<b>empress regnant</b>&nbsp;is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire" title="Empire" >empire</a>.

A queen regnant possesses and exercises sovereign powers. The husband of a queen regnant does not usually share his wife's rank, title or sovereignty. A queen consort shares her husband's rank and titles, but does not share the sovereignty of her husband.

A&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_dowager" title="Queen dowager" >queen dowager</a>&nbsp;is the widow of a king who reigned in his own right. A&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_mother" title="Queen mother" >queen mother</a>&nbsp;is a queen dowager who is also the mother of a reigning sovereign.</p>