Prince Philip: Why was Queen Elizabeth's husband not a king?

Despite being married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than 70 years he was not considered a king.

ALSO READ:

>> A to Z of Britain's Prince Philip: All you need to know

>> Prince Philip dies at 99: A life in pictures

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, had been married to Queen Elizabeth II for over 70 years, before sadly passing away on Friday. However, he was never given the title of ‘King’.

According to The Sun, this was due to a parliamentary law that dictated that succession in the British monarchy doesn’t relate to bloodline, but gender. This means that the spouse of a ruling king or queen is known as a consort.

Strangely, in British royalty a man who marries the queen is known as the prince consort but a woman who marries the king will be the queen consort.

In 1957, the Queen made him an official Prince of the United Kingdom - which she made official in a new letters patent.

When Prince Philip married the queen in 1947, he was also given three other titles, namely the Duke of Edinburgh, the Earl of Merioneth and the Baron Greenwich.

The couple celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary in 2017, marking 70 years of marriage. They had four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, born 1948; Anne, Princess Royal, born 1950; Andrew, Duke of York, born 1960; and Edward, Earl of Wessex, born 1964. They also had eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.