Royal Consort

Back when Swynfaredia had patriarchal succession, they had a king and queen fairly similar most human realms.  The king was in charge but the queen wielded a lot of influence in her own right.   Since the Second Swynfaredian Civil War, strictly patriarchal succession was abolished.  The crown (and all other hereditary titles) pass to the eldest magically capable of heir regardless of sex.   Since the crown of Swynfaredia became unisex, the crown's romantic partner lost a lot of status.  Instead of the King and Queen, there is a King and Consort, or a Queen and Consort.   The Consort has very little formal power.  They are usually selected purely for their lineage and not for their magical merit or competence as a leader.  They certainly aren't normally chosen for their romantic compatibility with the monarch.  They are essentially royal stud horses and brood mares.   Sometimes, through dumb luck the Consort is sometimes highly skilled and/or develops true rapoirte with their mate.  In this case, the monarch may very well delegate real responsibilities to her mate but this is rare.  This hasn't happened for some time, but the current Queen's grandmother had appointed her first Consort as the The Dragon's Breath before he died in combat.  There is still some speculation on whether this death was an accident or if the Queen (or one of her rivals) arranged this.     There is no official Consort position in the lower ranks of the feudal hierarchy but some dukes or duchesses treat their spouse as a brood mare or stud horse instead of a true partner.  Below the ducal level, this attitude won't last.  Courts are too small and understaffed for a noble to afford to be able sideline his/her spouse from power.