The Proper Titles of the Winx Club Monarchs

No, this isn’t an Aisha/Nex post, but it includes them. You’ll see why in a moment (if you don’t already).

I recently watched a Youtube video that explained why Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Phillip, is called “prince” instead of “king”. Elizabeth II is of British royal blood, but a queen regnant (reigning queen) can’t pass her title to her husband because he would outrank her. So Phillip became a prince consort instead.

What’s a prince consort? He’s the husband of the queen regnant, but the stuff I read disagreed on whether he must be royalty himself. (Phillip was prince of Greece and Denmark.)

I’ll just trust Dictionary.com. A prince consort is “a prince who is the husband of a reigning female sovereign”. So here are the basics of British monarch titles (from what I understand):

• If the king is of royal blood, he and his wife become “king” and “queen consort” (even if she’s not royalty herself).
• If the queen is of royal blood, and her husband is a prince, they become “queen” and “prince consort”.
• If the queen is of royal blood, and her husband is already a king, they become “queen” and “king consort”.
• If the queen is of royal blood, and her husband isn’t a prince or king, I don’t think he gets a title. ?

So the wife is called “queen” no matter what. But the husband’s title depends on whether he’s the one who’s of royal descent or on his social status before the marriage.

Of course, most storytellers don’t follow those rules. Fantasy series are full of king/queen couples where the queen is of royal blood. To be fair, though, “king and queen” sounds better than “queen and prince”, especially since we think of a prince as a queen’s son. The awkward misinterpretations write themselves. ?

This got me thinking: did Winx Club get the royal titles right?

Domino and Solaria

Let’s start with Bloom’s birth parents, King Oritel and Queen Marion. Which one is Domino royalty? We don’t know for sure, but we might have a way to find out.

In “Professor Avalon’s Secret” (Winx season 2, episode 9), Avalon showed Bloom her family tree. My first reaction: it makes no sense. Either some parents are unknown, or Domino has midichlorian babies.

Anyway, Marion’s roots (the right side) look mostly normal. (She has a sibling? Why haven’t we met them yet?) But something jumped out at me about Oritel (left side): his parents were related to each other!

The patriarch and matriarch of his family had two kids. We’ll call them Uno and Dos. It looks like Uno’s grandchild married Dos’s child and had Oritel.

Let’s not think too hard about it.

Intermarriage used to be common among royals (and still happens to this day), so it might be a hint that Oritel is of Domino royal blood. If he is, then he and Marion have the right titles: “king” and “queen (consort)”.

What about Stella’s parents, King Radius and Queen Luna? This one is obvious.

We know that a lot of Winx characters — most of the Winx, for example — have names related to their powers or where they’re from. “Luna” is Latin for “moon”, so why the heck would she be a descendant of the sun kingdom?

See? Name meanings matter.

Radius must be of Solarian royal blood. (His name can mean “ray of light” in Latin.) So he and Luna are also “king” and “queen (consort)” (in function, anyway). Yay! Rainbow got another one right!

The Andros Royal Families

Now to our third Winx princess: Aisha. This is tricky because her family is…unusual. As of the Nick dub of Winx season three, they’re related to the mermaid royal family.

In Winx season five, Aisha called the mer monarchs, King Neptune and Queen Ligea, her uncle and aunt. If she’s just one generation apart from them, that means one of them is the sibling of one of her parents, King Teredor and Queen Niobe. It also means somebody switched species at some point.

Well, okay then.

We’ll assume it was Teredor or Niobe. Which one was it? Let’s look at them closely:

Honestly, Niobe looks like she could be Neptune’s sister. They both have blue eyes and a light brown complexion (though Neptune is paler). That would make Teredor the prince of the land kingdom.

But with that skin tone, that eye color, and her reddish-brown hair, she looks like most of the land-dwelling Andros natives we’ve met. (Yes, we’ve seen exceptions. I’m generalizing.) Teredor, on the other hand, has darker skin, raven-black hair, and yellow-green eyes. Those features (especially the eye color) match the merfolk better than the land folk.

But he doesn’t look anything like Neptune or Ligea. ?

You know what? Let’s go with the first guess: Niobe is Neptune’s sister, a former mermaid princess who married a human prince. Aw, it’s the Winx Club version of The Little Mermaid!

If that’s true, then Rainbow got their titles right, too: King Teredor and Queen (Consort) Niobe.

Looking Ahead: The Royal Winx Couples

What about the Winx princesses and their boyfriends? What will their titles be when they get married?

Aisha and Stella are of royal blood, but Nex and Brandon aren’t. (Sorry, Brandon. Working for a prince doesn’t make you one.) Does that mean he and Nex wouldn’t get titles? Like I said, I’m not sure. ?

Bloom and Sky are a special case. Since they’re both royalty, their future titles depend on which kingdom they rule. Looks like it’ll be Eraklyon now, since Daphne and Thoren have Domino covered.

That means Bloom and Sky will be King Sky and Queen (Consort) Bloom. Yep, they’re the only Winx couple who will rightfully bear the titles of “king” and “queen”. But if they had ruled Domino instead (like we thought they would), they would have been Queen Bloom and Prince Consort Sky.

But let’s be honest: Rainbow won’t care. Why should they? Even some real-life royals hate these rules. So we’ll end up with Queen Stella and King Brandon, Queen Bloom and King Sky, and Queen Aisha and King Nex.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

Can you think of a fantasy series where the writer(s) stuck to these confusing rules? Let me know in the comments!