King

A king is the male ruler of a monarchy or realm. Kings usually inherit their position by birth, though some, like Aegon the Conqueror and Robert Baratheon, become kings through conquest, and others, like Euron Greyjoy and Bran Stark, are elected. A king usually rules until death, abdication or being deposed. A queen is either the consort of a king or a female monarch who rules in her own right.
The children of kings and queens hold the title prince or princess. The title prince or princess may also be used by a monarch, such as the Prince of Dorne when Dorne was an independent kingdom.
==Known kingdoms==
===Current kingdoms===
* The Six Kingdoms, ruled by the Kings of the Andals and the First Men of various houses chosen by a Great Council as part of an elective monarchy."The Iron Throne" Previously ruled by House Lannister, before that House Baratheon, and before that House Targaryen. Current monarch is Bran I the Broken.
* The Kingdom of the North, ruled by the Kings in the North (also called Kings of Winter) of House Stark. Current monarch is Sansa Stark.
===Defunct kingdoms===
* The Bronze Kingdom, ruled by the Bronze Kings of House Royce. Last monarch was Robar II Royce.
* The First Men, led by the First King.
* Andalos, led by a king. Last known monarch was Hugor of the Hill.
* Astapor, ruled by the Kings of Astapor. Last known monarch was Cleon.
* The Kingdom of the Iron Islands, ruled by the Kings of the Iron Islands. Last ancient monarch was Harren Hoare, last monarch of the restored kingdom was Yara Greyjoy.
* The Kingdom of Mountain and Vale, ruled by the Kings of the Mountain and the Vale of House Arryn, and before that, the Mountain Kings. Last monarch was Ronnel Arryn.
* The Kingdom of the Reach, ruled by the Kings of the Reach of House Gardener. Last monarch was Mern IX Gardener
* The Kingdom of Rivers and Hills, ruled by the Kings of the Rivers and Hills of House Mudd and House Justman.
* The Kingdom of the Rock, ruled by the Kings of the Rock of House Lannister. Last monarch was Loren I Lannister.
* Qarth, ruled by the Kings of Qarth. Last monarch was Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
* The Free Folk, occasionally led by the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Last monarch was Mance Rayder.
* The Night's Watch, briefly ruled by the Night's King.
* The Red Kingdom, ruled by the Red Kings of House Bolton. Last monarch was Rogar Bolton.
* The Kingdom of the Stormlands, ruled by the Storm Kings of House Durrandon. Last monarch was Argilac Durrandon, though his daughter Argella informally ruled as Storm Queen after him.
* Meereen, ruled by Daenerys Targaryen, the Queen of Meereen.
* The Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers, ruled by the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers of House Hoare. Last monarch was Harren Hoare.
==Queens==
There are two main types of queens: a queen consort and a queen regnant.
A queen consort is the wife of the ruling king. She may marry him before or after he becomes king, though if she marries him before, she only becomes the queen when he becomes king. A queen consort can wield various unofficial powers, given that they usually come from wealthy and influential families. A queen consort's main power comes through her influence on her husband, and she does not share his powers or sovereignty.
A queen dowager, or dowager queen, is a widowed queen consort. If one of the queen's issue becomes the ruling monarch, she may sometimes be referred to as the queen mother.
A queen regent is a queen consort or queen dowager who rules on behalf of the incumbent monarch, usually due to that monarch being underage. The queen consort may also be named regent if her husband is absent or otherwise incapacitated.
A queen regnant is a female monarch who rules in her own right, inheriting the throne from the previous monarch or taking it through conquest. Due to the male-preference inheritance system in Westeros (and much of the rest of the world), ruling queens are rare - a daughter will usually be skipped over for her younger brother or another close male relative. Unlike a queen consort, a queen regnant possesses the full powers of a monarch, issuing orders directly.
The monarchy of the Iron Throne, which unified the Seven Kingdoms, existed for three centuries and never had an officially-recognized queen regnant until Cersei Lannister.
After Rhaenyra Targaryen is designated heir to the Iron Throne, her father, King Viserys I Targaryen, states that her husband will become king consort of the Seven Kingdoms upon her ascension.Second of His Name In the novels, Hizdahr zo Loraq used the title king (effectively a king consort or king jure uxoris) when married to Daenerys Targaryen, the ruling queen of Meereen.
Due to the near-extinction of House Targaryen, and the supposed deaths of all other possible male heirs, Daenerys Targaryen laid claim to the Iron Throne as queen regnant as the only surviving issue of King Aerys II Targaryen. She was technically considered to be a "rival claimant", since she had not actively ruled the Seven Kingdoms until her brief ascension following the Battle of King's Landing. However, as the crown of the Seven Kingdoms was itself established by Aegon the Conqueror, and Daenerys was seemingly his only direct legitimate Targaryen blood heir, the Iron Throne was thought to belong to Daenerys following the death of her brother, Viserys. This belief was however false, since Daenerys's paternal nephew, Jon Snow, whose parentage (as the legitimate son of Lyanna Stark and Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the eldest son of King Aerys II, thereby having a stronger claim to the Iron Throne regardless of gender) was disguised with a bastard status for his own protection. While Robert Baratheon was descended of a Targaryen great-grandmother, he held his titles by right of conquest, not by right of blood or law. Upon her ascension, she was technically queen regnant only through right of conquest, since the right of blood would make Jon the king.
Due to the onslaught of Daenerys's actions in the Last War and obvious signs of megalomania, Daenerys was reluctantly assassinated by Jon. Both customs in the right of conquest and blood inheritance were disbanded following the Great Council of 305 AC, whereupon the Westerosi monarchy became elective, with no restrictions on gender or familial inheritance.
==References==
==External links==
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