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Constitutional experts were astonished Buckingham Palace did not seek Boris Johnson’s approval before making the announcement.
Downing Street was “made aware” the 95-year-old monarch would use her Platinum Jubilee message to make her daughter-in-law a Queen-in-waiting.
The move came after 17 years of saying Camilla would be “Princess Consort” – in deference to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales – when Charles became King.
Royal and No 10 sources confirmed the PM played no part in approving the decision.
Courtiers previously claimed a future government would need to consider the question.
The Duchess of Cornwall expressed her gratitude to the Queen yesterday in her first public remarks on the subject. She told a guest at a community kitchen in west London: “I feel very honoured, very honoured and very touched.”
Palace officials argued last night the Royal Family only needed government approval if it were asking for a change in the law to ensure Camilla did not become Queen.
Constitutional experts, however, expressed surprise.
Dr Bob Morris of University College London said: “We thought they would need to at least square it off with the Government.”
Experts said the Government should have been involved due to doubts over whether public opinion supported the idea.
And they brought up the validity of Charles and Camilla’s civil marriage in 2005.
A UCL Constitution Unit statement said: “The argument runs as follows: because the Marriage Acts from 1753 have explicitly excepted royal marriages from their provisions, the only valid marriage a member of the Royal Family could contract…was a religious marriage in the Church of England.”
The team pointed out the question was dismissed in 2005 but argued it might still be challenged at a future date.
They added: “The Lord Chancellor in 2005 defended the validity of the Prince’s civil marriage, as did the Registrar General.
“But if Camilla became Queen, it might provoke further legal challenges.”
Dr Morris said the Royal Family and its advisers had waged a brilliant PR campaign to win more support for Camilla.
The announcement, they added, was chosen as the best time to strike, with the Queen marking 70 years on the throne and Mr Johnson’s Government in a weak position to raise questions. In 2005, Clarence House officials suggested they would need to discuss the controversy with a future Government.
And sources then insisted Camilla had no desire to be Queen and wanted to be known as Princess Consort.
Privately, though, royal sources from day one admitted Charles wanted Camilla to be his Queen. With the public no longer violently opposed to the idea, it is thought unlikely any major political parties would challenge the Queen’s decision.
The future Queen yesterday visited Nourish Hub, a community kitchen, in Notting Hill, where she helped prepare a rice-based Iranian dish called loobia polo.
Camilla also appeared at Paddington Haven, a sexual assault referral centre in west London, and the Thames Valley Partnership in Aylesbury, another charity helping abuse survivors.
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WAS it a mistake? An act of defiance? Or merely a reassuring gesture of support for her son, the future king?
Whichever it was, the Queen, at 95, has landed herself in a bit of hot water with constitutional experts who say she’s exceeded her authority.
It’s technically not for her to decide that Camilla should be crowned alongside Prince Charles when the time comes, they say, or that Camilla should be styled Queen Consort.
That’s a decision for the government of the day.
Certainly Her Majesty’s statement caught long-time royal experts by surprise when it was issued earlier this week. Most had assumed that an edict on Camilla’s title wouldn’t be released until after Charles became king. Public opinion at the time would play a large part in that final decision. Well, public opinion has spoken. Express readers, in the most recent poll, gave the thumbs-up to the idea of Queen Camilla, though not all were yet convinced: 51 per cent gave her the nod while 47 per cent remained against.
Most people acknowledge the successful work she’s put into her job as Duchess of Cornwall since her 2005 marriage. And, equally, doubts still remain on her being crowned queen.
But does the monarch have the right to lay down the law about something which can only occur after her death? Constitutionalists say no.
Further, some have severe doubts about Camilla’s legal qualifications to become queen.
Though she’s lawfully wed to Prince Charles, the Royal Marriages Act states a future king must marry in the Church of England for his wife, constitutionally, to become queen.
Charles and Camilla’s Windsor wedding, 17 years ago, was at a register office, not in church. That’s a difficulty which has yet to be resolved.
The Queen, in her Platinum Jubilee year, can do no wrong. And if she decides Camilla should be crowned, then Camilla WILL be crowned.
And why not? Even if it does mean bending the rules a bit.
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