Royal cypher Royal cypher In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. Where such a cypher is used by an emperor or empress, it is called an "imperial cypher". In the system used by various Commonwealth realms, the title is abbreviated as "R" for "rex" or "regina" (Latin for "king" and "queen"). Previously, "I" stood for "imperator" or "imperatrix" (Latin words for "emperor" and "empress") of India. The cypher is displayed on some government buildings, impressed
Queen dowager simultaneously a former queen consort and the mother of the current monarch. Therefore, every queen mother is by definition also a queen dowager. However, not all queens dowager are queens mother; they may have a relation other than mother to the reigning monarch, such as aunt or grandmother. For example, Mary, Queen of Scots, was queen dowager of France after the death of her husband Francis II, to whom she bore no children. Similarly, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was queen dowager after her husband William IV was succeeded by his niece Victoria. Not every mother of a reigning monarch is a