Empress dowager

Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) (Chinese and Japanese: 皇太后; pinyin: húangtàihòu; rōmaji: Kōtaigō; Korean pronunciation: Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Hoàng Thái Hậu) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese emperor.

The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of grand empress dowager. Numerous empress dowagers held regency during the reign of underage emperors. Many of the most prominent empress dowagers also extended their control for long periods after the emperor was old enough to govern. This was a source of political turmoil according to the traditional view of Chinese history.

The title dowager empress was given to the wife of a deceased emperor of Russia or Holy Roman emperor.

Eleonora Gonzaga was empress dowager from 1657-1686.

Although never referred to as a dowager, Empress Matilda was controversially the Holy Roman Empress and continued to be referred to as "empress" long after her husband's death.

Queen-Empress Victoria was widowed in 1861, before her accession as Queen-Empress of India. Her son, her grandson and her great-grandson all died before their wives, and their widows were known as empresses dowager in this Indian context. Had George VI, the last Emperor of India, died before the independence of India was proclaimed in 1947, his widow would have been known as the dowager empress of India. However, George VI did not die until 1952, some years after India's formal independence and the renunciation of the title Emperor of India by the British monarch (which took place formally in 1948).

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