Vampire Court

It's not usually an actual court that circles around royalty, but Vampires usually have a court that forms the baseline of organizational structure. The other choice was a pack, and most of them refuse to do something so similar to the werewolves.

Occasional Royalty

Calling it a court isn't the most inaccurate thing in the world, but it can be. Depends on whether or not they have a royal in charge, or if it's a democratically elected council.

They do have a king or a queen sometimes. It usually depends on how many born versus bitten vamps are in the area. Vampire royalty tends to come from those who have excessive influence over the other vampires, which is something that usually comes from having the control granted by the bite. It's a singular position, and not usually one that passes to another generation once the ruler dies.

It's a Job

Whether it's one person or a group of people in charge, vampires do like to have an authority figure. Usually so that if something goes wrong, they can point the finger at the person in charge.

Vampires being fairly independent people, with a number of checks and balances that keep them from harming each other. The court largely exists to regulate their interactions with other species. Less so humans, where the proscriptions are usually to either not get caught or else simply not interact at all. More other supernatural entities. Dealing with the Fae in particular can cause a lot of headaches for everyone involved.

The court must therefore have enough authority to call the other vampires to heel, or else be strong enough to handle the consequences of any infractions against the others.