The Lords Cardinal is a term infrequently used in reference to the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, particularly in Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #208-209. The exact meaning of the term in relation to the Inner Circle is unclear. Some suggestions make it seem as if the Lords Cardinal are specifically the Inner Circle's "royalty" -- the Black and White Kings and Queens who rule the Hellfire Club. Other uses, however, have also included the Bishops and Rooks, making it basically interchangeable with the "Inner Circle" itself.
