In a gender swap of an overused fairy tale reference (our apologies), this year’s Mardi Gras Parade will see a Horned Frog — a TCU Horned Frog, at that — reign as Queen on Feb. 17.

Named the 2026 Queen of Carnival by the Rex Organization, Kelsey Grace French, 21, is a New Orleans native who attended Isidore Newman School — alma mater of the Super Bowl quarterbacking Manning brothers — and is currently studying finance at TCU.

French — quite the ideal name for a monarch of this parade — is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and the daughter of William French, a Rex lieutenant and historian of the organization, and the granddaughter of a former Rex Queen who reigned in 1959. That same year, French’s grandfather also served as King.

“The Rex organization truly has such a strong history in the city of New Orleans, and I’m so excited that I get to be a part of that,” French told New Orleans’ FOX 8 in an interview published yesterday.

In addition to her studies at TCU, French, who looks to have a career in the financial sector, has already spent time studying at the London School of Economics and American University in Paris, as well as time working as an investment banking analyst in New York City. 

Considering the royal announcement is on the front pages of multiple Big Easy media outlets, we naturally surmise French’s ascension to Queen of Carnival to be one that far outweighs most court statuses in the United States — the Rose Parade’s Queen of the Roses likely being the only one that exceeds the Rex Queen in national prominence. Both the King and Queen of Carnival preside over the entire Mardi Gras celebration — not just a single float.

According to Tulane University’s deep dive into the archaeology of Mardi Gras, the day-time public parade will coincide with a formal, invitation-only ball that same evening, where the official presentation of Rex, his Queen, and eight maids and eight dukes, will occur. During her interview with FOX 8, French revealed her ball gown will include nods to the 2026 parade’s theme — Rebirth and Renewal — and her grandmother.

“There are lilies and butterflies all over [the gown],” French says. “The lilies are actually lilies that we grow at our farm in Mississippi that I grow with my grandmother.”

According to tradition, though the Queen is selected during the spring of the previous year — French found out after being read a poem by the organization’s president at a dinner in her honor — her identity is normally kept secret until Lundi Gras, which is the Monday preceding Fat Tuesday’s Mardi Gras. This year, French’s announcement came on Valentine’s Day.

The Rex Organization, also referred to as Krewe of the Rex, is an all-male organization that has staged more parades than any other in New Orleans. The King, also referred to as just “Rex,” is one of the city’s highest honors and is usually awarded to a local civic- and philanthropic-minded leader. His Queen, meanwhile, is typically a debutante from the current season with multi-generational roots within the organization.

February 15, 2026

7:22 PM