Last Update: March 03, 2023, 12:45 PM IST
Britain’s Camilla, Queen Consort (R) and Britain’s King Charles III (L) share a joke at a reception at Clarence House in London, on February 23, 2023. (AFP)
Palace officials have said for years that Camilla “intended” to be known as ‘Princess Consort’ – rather than the traditional ‘Queen Consort’
A British royal writer has claimed that King Charles wanted his wife Camilla to be recognized as Queen and not Queen Consort.
According to a Hindustan Times report, it was Queen Elizabeth’s “sincere desire” that Charles’s wife should be known as “Queen Consort” when her son was his successor.
However, Queen Consort Camilla is set to receive a title change following the coronation of King Charles III in May, multiple reports say.
“For the past 18 years, I have been telling people that Camilla will be Queen … as Charles promised when he persuaded Queen Elizabeth to allow him to marry his longtime mistress in 2005, Not ‘Queen Consort’, which is a title that never actually existed,” said Christopher Anderson, author of “The King: The Life of Charles III”.
“The King’s wife is his wife, of course, but she, too, is simply the Queen. It amazes me how naive both the British press and the public are on this issue,” Anderson said.
A report in the Daily Mail said that Camilla is likely to be called Queen rather than Queen Consort.
Anderson continued, “Charles never intended to fulfill his promise to the British people, who have always held a special place in their hearts for the woman he felt so deeply loved – Princess Diana.”
Before her death last year, Queen Elizabeth celebrated the 70th anniversary of her reign with Camilla’s support. She also expressed her “sincere desire” that Charles’s wife should be known as “Queen Consort” when her son was his successor.
While the wife of a king is traditionally crowned queen, the question of which title Camilla would have when Charles becomes king has been a thorny one for many years.
Palace officials said for years that Camilla intended to be known as “Princess Consort” – rather than the traditional “Queen Consort” – when Charles acceded to the throne.
This was due to sensitivities about her status as his second wife – and a wave of mourning swept across Britain following the death of his ex-wife, Princess Diana, in a car accident in 1997.
Christopher Anderson said, “I reveal in my book that Charles relentlessly attacked the late queen for 17 years, pleading with her to support Camilla as queen, not just as wife.”
He added, “At the end of her life that is exactly what the Queen did, quite reluctantly I was told, and it was a blow to Diana’s sons.”
The royal writer said Princes William and Harry believed Charles would honor his vows because of his respect for Diana.
After all, it was Charles’ affair with Camilla that caused Diana so much pain, ended their parents’ marriage, and set in motion the chain of events that ultimately led to Diana’s death. And Camilla got everything she always wanted,” Christopher Anderson alleged.
When Camilla and Charles married in a low-key civil ceremony in 2005, she was actually the new Princess of Wales – bearing Diana’s title – but she styled herself the Duchess of Cornwall instead.
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