Camilla Officially Takes on the Title of Queen
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Update: On September 8, 2022, the royal family confirmed Camilla will use the title Queen Consort in a statement following Queen Elizabeth's death. It reads in part: The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.
In April 2023, when the royal family revealed King Charles's coronation invitation, they seemingly confirmed that Camilla will go by Queen Camilla moving forward. In recent months, she was primarily referred to as the Queen Consort.
Original:
To an outsider, it seems cut and dry. When Prince Charles becomes King, his wife, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, will become Queen. Because the wife of the King is the Queen, right?
Well, not always.
In the UK the legacy of Princess Diana—and the fact that Charles and Camilla’s affair became public—make things far more complicated. Before Charles and Camilla's wedding in 2005, it was announced that Camilla would be known as Princess Consort, not Queen, if and when Charles ascends to the throne. This title had previously been laid out on the Prince of Wales's website.
“Will the Duchess become Queen when The Prince becomes King?" read the frequently asked questions section of the site, according to the Telegraph.
“As was explained at the time of their wedding in April 2005, it is intended that The Duchess will be known as HRH The Princess Consort when The Prince of Wales Accedes to The Throne.”
A few years ago, Clarence House quietly removed this question and answer from the FAQs, inciting rumors that the Duchess of Cornwall might indeed take the Queen title; however, a few other questions were reportedly removed as well, and a spokesperson from the Palace told the Telegraph, “Our Frequently Asked Questions are updated regularly. This is one question that Clarence House has not been asked by the public for some time, which is why it no longer features.”
While Camilla's popularity has increased in recent years, according to the Sunday Times, as of August of 2017, "two thirds of Britons did not think she should be queen, and only 19 percent thought she was fit for the role."
Even Camilla's son is unsure whether his mother will become Queen. "I honestly don't know if Mum will be called queen," Tom Parker-Bowles, told The Times. "That hasn't been decided. There are a lot of interesting Sky documentaries about that I'm sure, but I honestly don't know if that's true."
But Prince Charles hasn’t ruled the title of Queen out for his wife. In 2010, Brian Williams asked Prince Charles if Camilla would become "Queen of England, if and when you become the monarch.” Charles replied “That’s, well … We’ll see won’t we? That could be.”
And in 2022, Queen Elizabeth weighed in on the matter, using her Platinum Jubilee message to say that Camilla should be called Queen. "And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service," she wrote.
Read the Queen's full message here.
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