Crossword Genius

Country never without king or queen (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

norway

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'country' is the definition.
(I know that Norway is a country)

'never without king or queen' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'never' could be 'no' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'no' is present in the answer.
'king' could be 'r' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin) and 'r' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'way' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for norway that I've seen before include "Scandinavian nation" , "Scandinavian country" , "Country of fjords" , "Oslo is its capital" , "Any row in this strange country?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app