Before tea is announced, conclude queen is phoney (9)
I believe the answer is:
pretender
'phoney' is the definition.
(I know that phoney can be written as pretender)
'before tea is announced conclude queen' is the wordplay.
'before' becomes 'pre' (prefix meaning 'before').
'is announced' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'conclude' becomes 'end' (I've seen this before).
'queen' becomes 'ER' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'tea' sounds like 't'.
'pre'+'t'+'end'+'er'='PRETENDER'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for pretender that I've seen before include "One who claims a title or position" , "One claiming a title" , "Claimant, like Bonnie Prince Charlie" , "Claimant to a throne, usually without just title" , "fake" .)