<P> "The Queen Mother" usually refers to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, 1900--2002 (queen, 1936--1952; queen mother, 1952--2002), who was the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, and held the status of queen mother for 50 years . </P> <P> A widowed queen consort, or dowager queen, has an important royal position (regardless whether or not she is the mother of the reigning sovereign) but does not normally have any rights to succeed a king as monarch on his death unless she happens to be next in line to the throne (one possibility would be if the King and Queen were also cousins and childless, the King had no other siblings, and she in her other position as his cousin was also his heiress presumptive). </P> <P> A new reigning king would have (at accession or eventually) a wife who would be the new queen consort; and, of course, a queen regnant would also be called' queen' . More to the point, there may be more than one queen dowager at any given time . </P> <P> The title "queen mother" evolved to distinguish a queen dowager from all other queens when she is also the mother of the reigning sovereign . Thus, upon the death of her husband, King George V, Queen Mary became queen mother, retaining the status throughout the reigns of her sons, Edward VIII and George VI . </P>

What is the title of a kings wife