Nobleman and former queen holding one in the past (7)
I believe the answer is:
earlier
'in the past' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nobleman and former queen holding one' is the wordplay.
'nobleman' becomes 'earl' (member of the nobility).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'former queen' becomes 'ER' (Elizabeth Regina, ie Queen Elizabeth).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'earl'+'er'='earler'
'earler' going around 'i' is 'EARLIER'.
(Other definitions for earlier that I've seen before include "Older" , "Nearer the beginning" , "Former" , "of a bygone age?" , "Further back in time" .)