History Main / RulingCouple

* In a minor case, UsefulNotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} and UsefulNotes/{{Hillary|Rodham Clinton}} Clinton during Bill's presidency. Bill advertised the fact that the couple will be working together during the presidency as a "two-for-the-price-of-one" deal, and Hillary, as first lady, publicly involved herself in policy decisions in a manner never seen before or since, notably chairing a task force to devise a new health care plan (other first ladies tend to stick to philanthropy and nonpartisan causes like healthy eating or improving education). This was ''not'' universally viewed positively; see the page quote for a case of it being parodied for comedic purposes.

Most rulers have [[HotConsort spouses]] and many have [[TheMistress mistresses]] (or [[SpearCounterpart "misters"]]) as well. However, often only one of the couple exercises rule and the other is merely to decorate the palace, provide heirs, seal alliances and entertain the king/queen.

A ruling couple, on the other hand, are equal or [[TheConsigliere near equal]] partners, and may even be HappilyMarried. Rather than one ruling and [[StayInTheKitchen one staying in the palace]] they jointly rule. The rulers will rely on each other as trusted counselors and they will be TheGoodKing and TheHighQueen in one. Perhaps they will show this by receiving audiences on two thrones. Perhaps the consort will have a regular seat in the royal council and a vote. Perhaps even the two of them will discuss deep and labyrinthine affairs of state [[TalkingInBed during matrimonial activities]]. And likely they will be addressed as partners and written down as such in the chronicles. If historians refer only to the reign of Alice or the reign of Bob then this trope might be averted. If however historians regularly refer to the reign of "Alice and Bob" then it is a ruling couple.

* [[spoiler: [[IChooseToStay Milo]] and [[TheHighQueen Kida]]]] become [[GiveGeeksaChance the new King and Queen]] of Atlantis at the end of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire]] after [[spoiler: [[Creator/LeonardNimoy King Kashekim]], Kida's father dies from internal bleeding after being fatally injured by Rourke.]]

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' portrays King Renly Baratheon and Queen Margaery Tyrell (who got very little focus in the books) as an example of this. Margaery is Renly's [[TheBeard Beard]] since his real lover is her brother Loras, but she's also his ambitious LadyMacbeth (jointly with Loras--a Ruling OneTrueThreesome, perhaps? Actress Natalie Dormer has described them as a trinity, and Renly is seen TalkingInBed with Loras about matters of state), his [[TheGoodChancellor counsellor]], his [[SlaveToPR spin doctor]] and his guarantee of support from her wealthy and powerful family. (Renly himself is rightfully the SpareToTheThrone, and needs all the legitimate power he can get.) When we see them holding an informal court, they're sitting on two equally prominent thrones. Renly even incorporates the Tyrell colors into his sigil. [[spoiler:We never get to see what they would have been like as true rulers due to Renly's death, but as of season three, Margaery is busy getting her hooks into her new fiancée, King Joffrey. When Joffrey himself is killed via poisoning, she's married off to his younger brother Tommen, and they are on the road to being something close to this, at least until her death.]]

->'''Bob Dole:''' [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton Bill]], I thought perhaps it would be best if we could talk in private. It would be appreciated.\\

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse King Mickey]] and [[WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse Queen Minnie]] are the HappilyMarried rulers of Disney Castle, and interacts with characters implies an equivalent power dynamic between them. Within the series, though, Mickey primarily serves as a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Royal Who Actually Does Something]], traveling the multiverse fighting bad guys, while the more administrative aspects are done by Minnie. (This makes sense since this franchise uses ''Mickey Donald Goofy: The Three Musketeers'' as backstory, making Minnie the one with RoyalBlood.)

* In ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP Season 1'', there's King Joel of Mezalea and Queen Lizzie of the Ocean Empire, in a rare, twisted form of the trope. While Joey refers to their marriage in-universe as "the union between two empires" while officiating it, both monarchs ruled their respective lands in their own rights from before marriage, and continue to do so afterward.

* UsefulNotes/{{Tsar|Tsar Autocrats}} UsefulNotes/NicholasII and Alexandra Feodorovna from the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian Empire]], at least after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI broke out. After he took personal command of the army and went to the front, she ruled in [[UsefulNotes/SaintPetersburg Petrograd]] in his stead. It didn't work out so well, because both were incompetent - Nicholas as a military leader (though half-competent as a peacetime monarch, we should give him at least some credit), Alexandra in everything in general.

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has three options:
*** The first is between the widowed Queen Anora and [[spoiler: her brother-in-law Alistair]], though both have to be persuaded to agree to such a marriage and the latter has to be hardened to fully embrace becoming king.
*** The next is for a Female Human Noble Warden, who can marry [[spoiler: Alistair]] and become his HotConsort. It's lampshaded in the second game that she is clearly the one wearing the trousers in the relationship, with the people of Ferelden absolutely adoring her and the other countries becoming downright ''terrified'' of how much of a badass their Queen is. [[AmazonChaser Her husband also kind of worships the ground she walks on]], and when he refers to her as "the old ball and chain" it's said with obvious affection.
---->[[spoiler: '''Alistair''']]: Just because she killed an ''Archdemon'', she doesn't scare me!
---->'''Teagan''': You keep ''telling'' yourself that, Your Majesty...

* [[sefulNotes/AncientGreece Spartans]] had a subversion of this. They had two kings and on top of that a whole busload of other institutions to rule. Most of the time, though, one king tended to get the upper hand, even though theoretically speaking both were equal. Another important point is that neither of the Spartan kings had any direct authority over domestic affairs; their ''only'' role was as a war leader and ceremonial religious figure (both of which were of course a huge deal in [[BloodKnight warlike]] and deeply religious Sparta); their only domestic political authority came from their ''ex officio'' positions in the ''gerousia'' (the Spartan Senate or Council of Elders). Actual lawmaking power was vested in the ephors (more-or-less elective magistrates),[[note]]More or less, because the way they were chosen was a little weird; they were chosen at random from among candidates elected by the citizens. While weird to modern sensibilities--and to some contemporaries ([[AncientRome Romans]] found it delightfully odd)--it was a fairly common arrangement among the ancient Greek republics (Athenians used a similar system for some offices, saying they liked to give the gods the final say in such matters).[[/note]] the popular assembly,[[note]]That is, the assembly of all adult male Spartan citizens[[/note]] and the ''gerousia''. However, for complicated reasons Spartan women were often so rich they could buy votes in the assembly and ''gerousia'' (to say nothing of being able to bribe ephors), meaning that if a Spartan king married the right heiress he and his wife could have absolute control over the state's domestic and foreign affairs.

* In a minor case, UsefulNotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} and UsefulNotes/{{Hillary|Rodham Clinton}} Clinton during Bill's presidency. Bill advertised the fact that the couple will be working together during the presidency as a "two-for-the-price-of-one" deal, and Hillary, as first lady, publicly involved herself in policy decisions in a manner never seen before or since, notably chairing a task force to devise a new health care plan (other first ladies tend to stick to philanthropy and nonpartisan causes like healthy eating or education for all). This was ''not'' universally viewed positively; see the page quote for a case of it being parodied for comedic purposes.

* The Spartans had a subversion of this. They had two kings and on top of that a whole busload of other institutions to rule. Most of the time, though, one king tended to get the upper hand, even though theoretically speaking both were equal. Another important point is that neither of the Spartan kings had any direct authority over domestic affairs; their ''only'' role was as a war leader and ceremonial religious figure (both of which were of course a huge deal in [[BloodKnight warlike]] and deeply religious Sparta); their only domestic political authority came from their ''ex officio'' positions in the ''gerousia'' (the Spartan Senate or Council of Elders). Actual lawmaking power was vested in the ephors (more-or-less elective magistrates),[[note]]More or less, because the way they were chosen was a little weird; they were chosen at random from among candidates elected by the citizens. While weird to modern sensibilities--and to some contemporaries (the Romans found it delightfully odd)--it was a fairly common arrangement among the ancient Greek republics (the Athenians used a similar system for some offices, saying they liked to give the gods the final say in such matters).[[/note]] the popular assembly,[[note]]That is, the assembly of all adult male Spartan citizens[[/note]] and the ''gerousia''. However, for complicated reasons Spartan women were often so rich they could buy votes in the assembly and ''gerousia'' (to say nothing of being able to bribe ephors), meaning that if a Spartan king married the right heiress he and his wife could have absolute control over the state's domestic and foreign affairs.
* {{UsefulNotes/Augustus}} and his third wife, Livia, from the Roman Empire. After his death, she and her son Tiberius, Augustus' successor, shared power for a few years.
* Emperor Claudius, Livia's grandson, had this sort of relationship with his third wife, Messalina, and his fourth wife, Agrippina... They didn't end well.
* UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII co-ruled Egypt with her first and second husbands, [[RoyallyScrewedUp who were]] [[BrotherSisterIncest also her brothers]], though she was clearly the one in charge. Later she and Mark Antony were more or less ruling their combined empire together, though it's ambiguous if they ever formally married, and officially she was ruling Egypt with her son, Caesarion.

* Justinian and his wife Theodora co-led the [[UsefulNotes/TheByzantineEmpire Roman Empire]]. This had some interesting effects (particularly given their religious disagreements, by which standard she was technically a [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics heretic]]...), but his regime only survived the Nika revolt by virtue of her fortitude, so... all is forgiven, we guess? As well, during the Black Death, an outbreak of plague in 542 CE, Justinian fell into a coma and Theodora firmly controlled the empire during her husband´s incapacity.
* In general, queens in Medieval Europe, even if they were officially just a consort, had a good deal of power and, accordingly, duties to fulfill. [[http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/queens-in-the-middle-ages.html Among these duties]] were acting as an advisor, organizing festivities, and in some cases making financial or legal decisions or serving as regent (should the reigning monarch be indisposed or away). And if the queen herself is the one holding the title, her husband (rarely called the "king" if he wasn't the one in charge) served similar roles.
* Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine... at least until she and their sons rebelled against Henry.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain]] (you know, the ones from 1492, Columbus sailing the ocean blue, turning on the Emir of Grenada because God told them to, those guys). Isabella was an effective queen regnant of Castile in her own right, and marrying Ferdinand of Aragon united their two kingdoms into one Spain.

* During the Tang Dynasty, Tang Gaozong and his second empress, UsefulNotes/WuZetian, ruler together power during his reign. She specially exercised great power in the later half when he was marred by ill health. While traditional Chinese historians had rated Tang Gaozang weak and ineffectual, modern evaluations of his and Wu Zetian's reigns were more positive, with many attributing the couple as setting foundations for the prosperity of their grandson Xuanzong's early reign.
* Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxelana, who was an important advisor to him after being freed from his harem and becoming the first Haseki Sultan (aka "chief wife" to the Ottoman ruler).

* Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna from the Russian Empire, at least after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI broke out. After he took personal command of the army and went to the front, she ruled in Petrograd in his stead. It didn't work out so well, because both were incompetent - Nicholas as a military leader (though half-competent as a peacetime monarch, we should give him at least some credit), Alexandra in everything in general.

* In a minor case, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton during Bill's presidency. Bill advertised the fact that the couple will be working together during the presidency as a "two-for-the-price-of-one" deal, and Hillary, as first lady, publicly involved herself in policy decisions in a manner never seen before or since, notably chairing a task force to devise a new health care plan. (Other first ladies tend to stick to philanthropy and nonpartisan causes like healthy eating.) This was ''not'' universally viewed positively; see the page quote for a case of it being parodied for comedic purposes.

* William III and Mary II reigned as co-monarchs over England, Scotland, and Ireland as a compromise - Mary had the better claim as the oldest eligible child of James II, but William was also her cousin and next line for the throne after Mary and her sister Anne, and he already had considerable power in the Netherlands in his own right, while also being more popular with those who didn't want to see a woman on the throne. Also, the pair had kind of shown up at the head of a (mostly) Dutch army, and while they (mostly) didn’t need to use that army, everyone knew where their power to execute their coup came from. (Hint: It was the Dutch guy.) Mary herself also refused to reign as sole sovereign, because she felt it would be unfair to her husband.

* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': King Richard III and Queen Anne; she's his TheConsigliere even before they're crowned. Their joint coronation, the first for English royalty in 176 years, is emblematic of their powerful union, and their victorious MeaningfulLook during the ceremony exudes their pride at accomplishing this goal. While there are noblemen who help Richard run his kingdom, he confers with Anne on political matters more often than with his highest-ranked courtiers, and he's also more likely to heed her counsel. Relatively speaking, Richard treats Anne more like his equal than the lords who serve him (and the Duke of Buckingham even complains to Lord Stanley that they're only expected to obey Richard, who doesn't welcome their contributions).

* A ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' fan-made reboot has Sonic and Amy share power over the rulership of Mobius. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, it is said that King Jules and Queen Aleena also ruled the planet together after they were married.

** {{Invoked|Trope}} by Belgarion of Riva when he [[RightfulKingReturns claims his royal title]]. Ancient treaty [[ArrangedMarriage requires him to marry]] the Tolnedran princess Ce'Nedra, to Ce'Nedra's absolute disgust at being reduced to a political pawn. When he accepts her proposal, he publicly declares that they will rule jointly with equal authority, a gesture of respect that lays the foundation for a more genuine relationship and [[HappilyMarried happy marriage]], though it also upsets a xenophobic fashion who sees Ce'Nedra as an interloping outsider.

** {{Invoked|Trope}} by Belgarion of Riva when he [[RightfulKingReturns claims his royal title]]. Ancient treaty [[ArrangedMarriage requires him to marry]] the Tolnedran princess Ce'Nedra, to Ce'Nedra's absolute disgust at being reduced to a political pawn. When he accepts her proposal, he publicly declares that they will rule jointly with equal authority, a gesture of respect that lays the foundation for a more genuine relationship and [[HappilyMarried happy marriage]].

Most rulers have [[HotConsort spouses]] and many have [[TheMistress mistresses]] (or [[SpearCounterpart "misters"]], historically ''cicisbeos'') as well. However, often only one of the couple exercises rule and the other is merely to decorate the palace, provide heirs, seal alliances and entertain the king/queen.

* A ''WesternAnimation/Sonic Underground'' fan-made reboot has Sonic and Amy share power over the rulership of Mobius. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, it is said that King Jules and Queen Aleena also ruled the planet together after they were married.

* A Sonic Underground fan-made reboot has Sonic and Amy share power over the rulership of Mobius. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, it is said that King Jules and Queen Aleena also ruled the planet together after they were married.

A Sonic Underground fan-made reboot has Sonic and Amy share power over the rulership of Mobius. Before Dr. Robotnik's takeover, it is said that King Jules and Queen Aleena also ruled the planet together after they were married.

* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, Hades and Persephone are generally depicted as sharing equal power as King and Queen of the Underworld.

* ''LightNovel/RecordOfGrancrestWar'' ends with the protagonists becoming one. [[SimpleMindedWisdom Theo]] holds the Grancrest and handles most social matters, Siluca advises him on politics and aristocratic etiquette. Both of them know they wouldn't have gotten anywhere near where they are without each other's help. [[note]]Siluca had a good deal more power than Theo- at least at the story's outset- but Mages cannot use a crest of any kind, so they cannot be a regnant monarch.[[/note]]

* [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain]] (you know, the ones from 1492, Columbus sailing the ocean blue, turning on the Emir of Grenada because God told them to, those guys). [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Isabella was an effective queen regnant of Castile in her own right]], and marrying Ferdinand of Aragon united their two kingdoms into one Spain.