The Great Royal Wife is often seen depicted beside the king, and was next to him in the hierarchy. Among the names of ancient queens which are quite lengthy, a few are mentioned below.

The most famous of these is none other than the Queen Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt. She inherited the throne at the age of 18 when her father died. She married her brother like many other Egyptian queens and took the charge of the show to lead the nation on her own.

One of the most interesting facts about Cleopatra is that she was the first ruler of her dynasty, consisting of the Ptolemy family, to actually be able to speak the Egyptian language, along with eight others.

She was known to be extremely intelligent and cunning. Her end came when the supporters of her brother and husband realised she was too independent and had to be dethroned. She was then exiled to Syria.