Reign Ends — Here Comes the Son!

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the oldest reigning Dutch monarch, announced her abdication yesterday...-     [Guardian 29/01/2013, p 14] Oh yes? How many reigning monarchs do they have, then? — sent in by Sam Howison

This conflates two conflicting ideas. The oldest reigning Dutch monarch implies that there are at least two other reigning Dutch monarchs. But there is only ever at most one reigning monarch. This is underlined by the meaning of the word monarch (from the Greek sole and rule). The word the in the phrase the Dutch monarch correctly asserts this singularity.

But the adjectival phrase oldest reigning invites —  through the word oldest — comparison with at least two other reigning monarchs in respect of age. It does this by adding further elements to a set which we have just shown may be occupied — by definition — by, at most, a single member. That is the jarring grind in the gears of the sentence. Some feel at once and intuitively, and others — not at all!

Reigning has the effect here of making the tense present. After all, all monarchs that are monarchs (as opposed to ones who were once monarchs) are by definition reigning monarchs. All those that were once and no longer are monarchs were once reigning monarchs but no longer are.

So much for what is wrong. But can it be set right? If it can, how can it be done? How should one tease apart these two conflicting strands? The following, though not inspired, is at least free from internal contradiction:

"Queen Beatrix, who has ruled longer than any other Dutch monarch, announced her abdication yesterday..."