If I am not mistaken, modern English language has a large influence from Old French through the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066 and subsequent Norman monarchs.
However, the modern words used in reference to male and female rulers in a monarchy are king and queen, derived from Old English cyning and cwen respectively.
But if the new rulers brought with them their language, why aren't monarchs today called something derived from roi and reine, or something along those lines?
Is it something the new rulers chose, maybe to bring themselves closer to their new subjects? Or did the population keep calling the new rulers cyning and cwen, regardless of the language the rulers brought with them, and it simply stuck? Or is it something completely different?
Best Answer
Even if "William the Conqueror" thought himself Guillaume, roi d'Angleterre, most of his English subjects would have no idea what a roi d'Angleterre was, much less a Guillaume. No doubt William wanted to be known as just the next king, not the founder of a new order. But I think that was not the reason "king" remained in English.
The English terms "earl", "sheriff" and "knight" were retained by the Norman rulers to promote continuity. French terms were used for concepts not previously part of English government such as "marquess". (Some concepts were mixed, like "duke". Some French terms were alternatives to English terms, like "count".)
It would be obvious here that the Normans were more interested in exploiting the English apple cart than upsetting it. They actually did both, but not by attempting to turn England into Normandy. Even if William were King of England and Duke of Normandy, England and Normandy remained separate concerns.
It cannot be surprising that "king" and "queen" remained in English given the Norman attitude.