It is a “question for the future” whether Camilla should be referred to as the Queen or as Queen Consort, the spokesperson for King Charles has said.
Camilla, formerly Duchess of Cornwall, assumed the title of Queen Consort as the spouse of Charles, who became King upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
As the wife of the King, Camilla is technically Her Majesty The Queen and entitled to be known as “The Queen”, but briefings and statements from Buckingham Palace have referred to her as “Queen Consort”.
A spokesman for the King did not rule out a shift when asked whether Camilla would forever be known as Queen Consort, or whether she could become known simply as the Queen.
“The King and Queen Consort are focused on getting through those next 10 days,” the spokesman said.
“I think those who saw the Queen Consort yesterday movingly meeting people outside Buckingham Palace know how moved she is at the moment and that’s her focus so that will be a question for the future.”
Most people in the UK will be very used to the title of the Queen being used exclusively by the monarch, after the 70-year long reign of Elizabeth II – who, as the heir of King George VI, was ‘Queen Regnant’ – the sovereign herself.
By contrast, the female spouse of a King is a ‘Queen Consort’ – denoting that her title comes through marriage, rather than being empowered in her own right.
Historically both Queen Regnants and Queen Consorts have often simply been known as ‘The Queen’.
Before the death of her husband George VI in 1952, the nation’s last female consort – known to most as the Queen Mother – was known simply as Queen Elizabeth.
Different rules applied to the most recent royal consort, Prince Philip, as he was a man, and the title of ‘King’ is never used for the spouse of a monarch.
Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said royal officials were being cautious.
“Despite all of the progress so far, royal officials – perhaps mindful of the Diana legacy – continue to be cautious about the precise nature of Camilla’s new status,” he said.
“They prefer to focus on the fact she’s the consort of a king.
“The reality is that Camilla is a Queen and Queen Camilla will be crowned at her husband’s coronation.”
Camilla, 75, will be crowned at Charles’s side at his coronation, just as the last Queen Consort, the Queen Mother, was.
She is expected to wear the Queen Mother’s 1937 coronation crown.
No date has been set for the coronation, but Elizabeth II’s ceremony was 16 months after her accession.
When Charles and Camilla married in 2005, it was thought that she would never be permitted to assume the title of Queen, and would instead be known as Princess Consort when Charles became King – owing in large part to public distaste over their affair during Charles’s marriage to Princess Diana.
But an intervention by the Queen earlier this year made clear that this was no longer the case.
She said: “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.”
Camilla later said she felt “very honoured and very touched” by the public seal of approval.
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