With the use of the word “queen” this prostitute attributes royalty to herself. Note that the word “as” is not in the Greek, which means she is not comparing herself to royalty but actually claiming to be royalty. The word “sit” conveys the notion of enthronement, supremacy, having dominion over (see Psalm 2:4; Psalm 110:1; Revelation 5:13). The fact that she sat on the beast (Revelation 17:3) expressed her dominion over it (and its heads and horns). Her words are an echo of Babylon’s arrogance as expressed in Isaiah 47:7–8.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’