Camilla Parker Bowles Drops Consort Title, Known as Queen on Newly Released Coronation Invite
The invitation for King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles‘ coronation is officially released. The ornate invite reflects a new change to Camilla’s title. While officially queen consort, Camilla will be known as the queen. This title change is a marked difference from the past seven months when Camilla was called queen consort.
Does Camilla Parker Bowles’ title change to queen change her position in the monarchy?
Camilla Parker Bowles is the first consort to sit alongside a reigning king since Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. However, the roles of a queen and queen consort are very different.
A queen, or queen regnant, is a monarch with the same rank as a king, who reigns over a kingdom and has sovereign, military, and political powers. A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king.
A consort holds the female equivalent of her husband’s title. She does not share the king’s sovereignty or political and military powers. Therefore, Queen Consort Camilla is there to support King Charles III. However, she cannot perform any of his duties.
Per Express, a consort does not share the monarch’s political or military powers unless required to act as regent. In any event, Camilla’s change of control could only happen if King Charles III were incapacitated for an extended period. Nor will her new title allow her to rank higher or on par with her husband.
The coronation invite refers to Camilla as queen
The official invitation for the Coronation of The King and The Queen Consort has been revealed.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 5, 2023
Designed by Andrew Jamieson, the invitation features the Green Man, an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign.
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Camilla is referred to as Queen Camilla in a newly released coronation invitation. The official invite reads, “The coronation of their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla by Command of the king. The Earl Marshal is directed to invite [place for invitee’s name] to be present at the Abbey Church of Westminster on the 6th day of May 2023.”
A royal source told Express the name change “made sense” for one reason. “It made sense to refer to Her Majesty as the Queen Consort in the early months of His Majesty’s reign, to distinguish from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
“‘Queen Camilla’ is the appropriate title to set against ‘King Charles’ on the invitation. The coronation is an appropriate time to start using ‘Queen Camilla’ officially. All former Queen Consorts have been known as ‘Queen’ plus their first name,” the source claimed.
Camilla Parker Bowles’ title change goes against Queen Elizabeth’s wishes
Queen Elizabeth wished that Camilla be known as queen consort after her death. In a statement marking her 70th year on the throne, Elizabeth made her feelings known about King Charles III’s second wife.
Per NBC, the late queen stated, “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. It is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her loyal service.”
However, a signal of an impending change came in February 2023. Camilla’s charity was rebranded as the “Queen’s Reading Room” rather than the “Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room.”
King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles will be crowned together on May 6, 2022. The official Westminister Abbey ceremony will be followed by three days of festivities honoring the couple’s new roles in the monarchy.
