She started from the bottom -- as a wench in the gift shop.

On Thursday, Erin Zapcic officially became Dona Maria Isabella, the first queen in the history of Lyndhurst's Medieval Times to crash through the royal glass ceiling.

In the 28 years that a ruler has presided over the Bergen County castle -- a landmark known for "dinner and tournament" set in medieval Spain -- the head of state has always been a man, until now. That's right. Time's up, King Carlos.

At the dinner theater's castles, wenches -- despite the negative connotation of the word, the term is still used internally by staff -- have long doled out roasted chicken to children on school field trips and poured ale to customers merry-making in the stands. Female falconers have presented majestic birds that soar over the audience. Women, too, have numbered among the horse trainers in the royal stables. But no woman had ever occupied the throne until October, when a new queen-centered storyline debuted at the company's Dallas castle.

Zapcic, 34, is one of five actresses set to play Queen Isabella in Lyndhurst. Each of the women used to stand at the king's side as the show's princess. Now that the king is completely out of the picture, 2018 is all about reclaiming their time.

Erin Zapcic plays Queen Dona Maria Isabella at Medieval Times in Lyndhurst. She's the first queen in the 28-year history of the castle. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

"We establish early on that she doesn't need a man to help her make these decisions," Zapcic says, sitting on her throne at the head of the castle's sanded arena, wearing wine-colored lipstick, a bauble-pocked crown and a shiny red-and-gold gown with draped sleeves.

Medieval Times debuted its first castle in Benidorm, Spain in 1977, then brought its Middle Ages theater to the United States, opening a castle in Kissimmee, Florida in 1983. The Lyndhurst location, one of nine in the U.S. and Canada, opened in 1990. Its crenelations visible from Route 3, the New Jersey castle is the third to get the queen script.

In a world that's no stranger to queens both real and imagined, it shouldn't have taken nearly three decades for one to find her way to northern New Jersey, Zapcic says.

The switch from a king to a queen, of course, comes at an auspicious time for the attraction, just days after actresses wore black at the Golden Globes to protest sexual harassment and assault and gender inequality, when Oprah Winfrey delivered a monumental speech that promised "a new day is on the horizon" for women and girls (and quickly got people talking about a hypothetical campaign for president).

Queen Isabella may raise her cup and toast to chivalry, but one would be forgiven for thinking it's finally dead and gone after several months of sexual misconduct allegations sparked by reports of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's long history of alleged harassment and assault. Weinstein's downfall was swift, resounding throughout Hollywood to topple powerful men in other industries, but Lyndhurst's queen did not assume the throne by usurping the king.

Zapcic makes her grand entrance as the queen. She used to play Princess Catalina. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

No, this was a peaceful transition of power -- Isabella simply inherited the throne from her father, who "died in his sleep."

Even though Medieval Times started plotting the change in leadership well before the #MeToo era and Weinstein allegations took hold -- work began on the script 18 months ago -- Zapcic, who joined the show six months after first starting work in Lyndhurst, appreciates the chance to step out as a powerful female character. Being a queen, she says, makes her feel like more of a role model than being a princess. She thinks of all of the girls she greets before each show.

"They just kind of stop and stare and run over and throw their arms around you," she says.

Brianna Colon, 8, visited from Middletown, New York on Thursday, stopping for a photo with the new queen.

"I was really like royalty when I was with her and I felt very special," she said. "Queens are more better than kings."

In the new storyline, Queen Isabella hosts her first tournament. To summon the assertive spirit required of the crown, Zapcic often channels a certain "Game of Thrones" character known for her immunity to fire and penchant for coveting the Iron Throne.

"There are moments throughout the show that I call my Daenerys moments," she says, referring to Daenerys Targaryen, the HBO series' Mother of Dragons.

Zapcic, backstage at the show, says she feels like more of a role model as queen, for both girls and boys. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

"She's not as cruel as her father, but she can be, if you test her," says Lord Cedric, chancellor to the queen, played by Alexander Nunes, 28, of Lyndhurst.

Another character "Game of Thrones" has but Medieval Times doesn't (yet): a female knight. So all of the new queens, who have been training for two months, have had to learn to ride horses to make their big introduction in the ring. Zapcic enters the spotlight with Jalisco, a gray dappled Andalusian.

The official party line is that Medieval Times acted on feedback from customers to make way for a queen.

"It was actually the president of the company who said to me, 'What about a queen?'" says Leigh Cordner, the show's creative director. "Our old model, I think we had exhausted all the possibilities of it."

"There's this really sincere and kind of poignant and almost heroic reception by the little girls in the audience," he says. "Maybe I accidentally wrote a role model. If this show came out five years ago it wouldn't have the same cultural impact that it's having now."

Vicky Pagan, 27, of Haledon, has been to the castle three times already, but visited with her daughter Calliope, 2, specifically to see the new queen.

"It's saying she can do whatever she wants," Pagan said. "It's exciting to see."

If Medieval Times can get a queen, maybe we could finally see a female president, said Riyakumari Jain, 16, a student at North Bergen High School -- yes, in her lifetime, she said.

To restructure the monarchy (but not the caste system), the Lyndhurst castle kept it in the family, asking existing princesses if they'd be interested in the queen role. The differences between the two parts are significant, and the princess did not evolve -- the queen is an entirely different character. In the previous script, Princess Catalina didn't get to make her own decisions. When a lord in the north says he wants to marry her, only the king has the final say.

"She was strong in her own right but the final refusal came from the king," Cordner says. The new shift in power yields other significant benefits for the women who play the character.

"We went from a nonspeaking female role onstage to one that had a third of the dialogue," Cordner says. "It's a journey we were making but now we've arrived."

For tickets and more information, visit medievaltimes.com/plan-your-trip/lyndhurst-nj

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.