Herb stood before queen (8)
I believe the answer is:
rosemary
'herb' is the definition.
(I know that rosemary is a type of herb)
'stood before queen' is the wordplay.
'stood' becomes 'rose' (rose up).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'queen' becomes 'mary' (Mary I or Mary II).
'rose'+'mary'='ROSEMARY'
(Other definitions for rosemary that I've seen before include "Plant" , "Grey-green herb" , "Fragrant evergreen shrub and herb" , "Name of girl or herb" , "that could be useful in the kitchen" .)