Themiclesian nobility

Sovereign's senior relations

Empress Dowager

There are several titles used for the legal and biological mothers and grandmothers of the emperor, depending on the circumstances of the succession and relationship of the incumbent with the predecessor. Themiclesian law regards each succeeding emperor as an offspring of the precedessor's consort—the empress, and an empress who survives into the following reign is given the title Empress Dowager (帝太后, tis t'ais-goh), regardless of her relationship with the incumbent. This title is synonymous to Queen Dowager (帝后, tis-goh) before the pretention of imperial title by the Meng Dynasty. If the incoming emperor's biological mother is not the late emperor's consort, then there is a secondary title to honour the former, which is also written as Empress Dowager (皇太后, gwang-t'ais-goh) in Tyrannian. Where there is only a single Empress Dowager, the distinction is usually not made.