Merneith was undoubtedly a queen regent; she ruled when her son Den was too young to rule. However, some Egyptologists have suggested that she was actually a pharaoh and the first queen regnant to rule. If not, the earlier queen Neithhotep would have been the first queen regent/regnant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneith
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneith