by - Camilla, the Queen Consort will be styled Queen Camilla after the coronation.
- The invitation to the king’s coronation and a palace source confirmed the title change.
- A Palace source told the Guardian that Camilla would drop the ‘consort’ part of her title.
Queen consort Camilla is expected to drop the “wife” part of her title and will be styled Queen Camilla after the coronation, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
King Charles III and Camilla are due to be officially crowned at a coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6. In the invitation to the ceremony, which was released as part of a press release on Tuesday, Camilla is referred to as Queen Camilla.
Speaking to The Guardian, a Buckingham Palace source said the new title would be used officially after the coronation.
“It made sense to designate Her Majesty as Queen Consort in the early months of Her Majesty’s reign, to distinguish her from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the palace source said.
“‘Queen Camilla’ is the appropriate title to contrast with the ‘King Charles’ on the invitation. The coronation is an appropriate time to begin using ‘Queen Camilla’ in an official capacity. All former Queens consorts have been known by the ‘Queen’ name plus their first name,” they added.
The royal website will be updated after the coronation to reflect the title change, the palace told the Guardian.
The title queen usually refers to the reigning monarch, while queen consort is the formal title of a monarch’s wife or companion, Insider previously reported. As the palace source said, most consorts have dropped the “consort” part of the title in recent years. For example, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother was known as Queen Elizabeth and her title was changed to Queen Mother when Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Camilla was originally intended to be titled Princess Consort
Camilla became queen consort on the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of her husband, Charles, on September 8, 2022.
The late Queen Elizabeth announced her wish for Camilla to receive the title during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in February 2022.
“When, in due time, my son Charles becomes king, I know that you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support you have given me; and I sincerely hope that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known. as queen consort as she continues her own loyal service,” the late monarch wrote in a statement.
However, the word “queen” was not originally intended to be part of Camilla’s title. Camilla’s endorsement by Queen Elizabeth contradicted a previous statement made by the royal household in 2005 that Camilla’s title would change to “princess consort” when Charles becomes king, according to People.
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield previously told Insider that Queen Elizabeth II announced the title change to encourage the public to support the couple, who have been associated with controversy in the past. Charles and Camilla were criticized in the press for having an affair in the 1980s when Charles was married to the late Princess Diana. Public scrutiny of their relationship resumed in 2020 when their affair was featured in the fourth season of Netflix’s historical drama series “The Crown.”
“I fear there would have been a real, ugly debate had the Queen not addressed this issue,” Schofield, founder of the royal blog, To Di For Daily, previously told Insider. “They cut off the debate before it even starts, which is a brilliant strategy,” she added.
Schofield added that ensuring Camilla is titled queen, not princess, shows the future king is “no less than” and therefore secures “the future of the monarchy”.
