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Welcome to Platinum Jubilee Szn!
To kick off the celebrations marking her 70th year on the job, Queen Elizabeth II issued a royal proclamation. (Trumpeting heralds woefully absent, alas.) The open letter, released on the eve of the anniversary of her “accession” to the throne, which is also the anniversary of her beloved father’s death, is about as poignant as royal communications get.
She talks about the “extraordinary progress” she’s witnessed, her gratitude for Prince Philip, and how “humbled” she is by the “loyalty and affection” the public still shows her, all these years later. But it’s a line tucked into the end of the fifth paragraph that’s making headlines. In it, the Queen expresses her “sincere wish” that “when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.” Cue the shockwaves!
The arc of Camilla’s role in this family—from being the “wicked woman” whom the Queen refused to even meet for years, to being the person she’s publicly endorsing to follow in her footsteps—is truly extraordinary. As anyone who has watched The Crown well knows, Camilla Parker-Bowles’s entry into the Royal Family was a little bit more complicated than most. Charles, of course, was first married to Princess Diana, with whom he had his sons, William and Harry, but he carried on an affair with Camilla throughout the disastrous marriage. That ended in a very public, very messy divorce in which both parties’ infidelity was splashed across the tabloids. (If only we could forget Tampongate, which involved a leaked recording of a bugged phone conversation where Charles told Camilla he wished he could be reincarnated as a tampon so he could live inside her.)
Diana’s tragic death, and subsequent elevation to quasi-martyr status, did not help the public perception of Charles and Camilla’s ongoing relationship, which is why they waited until 2005 to marry, and his new wife never took up the title of Princess of Wales, inextricably tied to a woman who couldn’t stand her, and whose legacy cast a long shadow.
All of this helps to contextualize why the Queen announcing that she wants Camilla to be queen consort, complete with the shebang of a coronation and crown, is a big deal. For many years, it’s been speculated that because of the Diana situation, Camilla would settle for some sort of lesser title like “Princess Consort,” which is actually what Charles said would happen when they got married nearly 20 years ago.
For the Queen to make a point of correcting that now is fascinating—and ever so slightly suss. Like, good for Camilla, but why are we doing this now? Let’s get into a few theories.
This is a popular theory, and it makes sense: The Queen is nearly 96, and she’s had some health struggles lately. (In fact, she’s still on “light duties” after a hospital stay last fall.) While she’s never indicated that she plans to retire early—and actually reaffirms her commitment to her role in this same letter—many are speculating that the Queen is planning to step down, and she’s laying the groundwork for that now, which includes warming us all up to the idea of Camilla being Her Majesty instead of her. Notably, she also says she hopes we’ll extend the same support we’ve shown her to Charles when he becomes king “in the fullness of time,” which is a gloriously vague measure we should all start using for our deadlines.
While the closest she gets to mentioning Prince Andrew is a generic reference to her family, many are speculating that the Queen’s (alleged) favourite son is at the heart of this letter, in that the Camilla “bombshell” has been thrown out as a smokescreen to distract from the Duke of York’s ongoing scandals. (The latest development there? He’s set to give evidence under oath next month in preliminary proceedings for the civil sexual assault case brought against him by a woman who alleges she was forced to have sex with him when she was a teenager, in association with his friends Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.) The Queen recently publicly stripped Andrew of his military honours and took away his “royal highness” title to make it very clear he’s facing these serious allegations as a private citizen. It’s thought she did so in her capacity as the Firm’s “CEO”—in effect, a business reputation-management decision—but as his mother, it’s likely her feelings are much more complicated.
According to The Sun, Prince Charles is deeply concerned that Harry’s forthcoming memoir (out this fall!) will be an “excoriating takedown” of Camilla. In fact, the tabloid reports he’s asked his other son, William, to “go in and bat for Camilla” and “go on record and stick up” for her if Harry launches a written attack against his step-mother. If this is true—and it very likely isn’t—what’s to say that Charles hasn’t made the same request of his mother, and she’s complied with bells on? It would make it very clear where the Queen’s loyalty lies: with her son, and with the smooth continuation of the monarchy. That could be seen as a slap in Harry’s face, although not an unexpected one from team Never Complain, Never Explain.
Ok, so what if the Queen is playing some devilishly brilliant chess here? Let’s say she’s well aware the monarchy is in crisis, and that a Charles kingship may well be the thing that ends the dynasty, but that Will and Kate might just be able to save it if they take over the crown instead. She knows that the cult of Diana remains strong, and Camilla as queen could be deeply unpopular. What if she’s making this announcement (and throwing Camilla to the wolves a bit) to trigger a backlash that ultimately means Charles, already well past retirement age, decides he’d rather just go focus on his garden at Highgrove and steps aside in favour of the immensely popular Will and Kate? An important part of this plan: The real-life news that Will and Kate fully support Camilla as queen, as evidenced by their official Insta account liking a post with the Queen’s letter, which means they can appear blameless when this bloodless coup takes place. On a scale of 0 to utterly unhinged, this one’s a 9.5, but hey, stranger things have happened.
The simplest explanation is usually the likeliest, and this is probably it: The Queen just wants to thank Camilla for her “loyal service” and make sure that everyone is very clear on her wishes for the next generation of royals. But there’s nothing straightforward about the twists and turns of Camilla’s public image rehabilitation, from royal mistress to cuddly grandmother who champions reading and advocates for domestic violence survivors. It’s truly a modern fairy tale, and the closest thing to a happily ever after.
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