Why Camilla Parker Bowles Is Queen Consort Instead of Simply Queen
Camilla Parker Bowles was announced as the new queen consort in King Charles III’s first speech as sovereign. She received her new title and dropped her previous one — the Duchess of Cornwall — and is officially the most-senior female member of the royal family. But why is she the queen consort instead of simply queen?
King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles dated in the early 1970s
Charles and Camilla first met back in the early 1970s, not long after he had his investiture as Prince of Wales. The pair briefly dated, but he left the United Kingdom to serve in the Royal Navy. And while he was away she married Andrew Parker Bowles.
In 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer and she became the Princess of Wales. They quickly welcomed two children, William and Harry. But by the late 1980s, their marriage was essentially over, and Charles was having an affair with Camilla.
As Diana famously said in her 1995 interview with Panorama, there were three people in her marriage — Charles, Diana, and Camilla — and it was “a bit crowded.”
Charles and Diana split in 1992 and divorced in 1996. After Diana was tragically killed in a Paris car crash in August 1997 — and Camilla divorced Parker Bowles — Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship.
Their relationship was ‘non-negotiable’
Charles and Camilla’s public image in the 1990s and early 2000s was not a good one. Many simply saw her as the other woman in Charles’ marriage to Diana. But once they were both divorced, Charles and Camilla were determined to be together no matter what anyone thought.
“There are some people who are going to consider Camilla the ‘other woman’ forever,” Cele Otnes, author of Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture, told NBC.
She started accompanying Charles on a number of official engagements, and by 2002 she was starting to gain acceptance from the royal family. The late Queen Elizabeth II invited Camilla to her Golden Jubilee celebration.
According to a Time article from that same year, Charles declared that his relationship with Camilla was non-negotiable. The world had changed since King Edward VIII had abdicated in 1936 because he wanted to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson. And, the Church of England had relaxed their position on remarriage when the ex-spouse is still alive.
Camilla Parker Bowles chose not to use the Princess of Wales title
Charles and Camilla announced their engagement in February 2005. They married on April 9, 2005, in a civil ceremony at the town hall at Windsor Guildhall.
When she became the wife of the heir, Camilla received the titles of Princess of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. However, because of Diana’s lingering popularity and out of respect for the late princess, Camilla chose not to use the title.
As the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla slowly rehabilitated her image and became increasingly popular, thanks to her “discretion, down-to-earth personality and loyalty to her husband,” per the AP News.
Queen Elizabeth had an opinion about the title
For years, palace officials said that when Charles acceded to the throne, Camilla “intended” to be known as the princess consort instead of the traditional queen consort. However, there was no precedent for that title and it was only a suggestion from royal officials. A similar title of Prince Consort was used once, by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert from 1837 to 1901.
In 2010, NBC asked Charles about Camilla’s title when he became the monarch. They asked him if Camilla would become “the Queen of England,” and he hesitated when he replied.
“That’s, well…We’ll see, won’t we? That could be,” Charles said.
The answer to that question was finally revealed in February of this year, when Queen Elizabeth issued a statement noting it was her “most sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort.”
That endorsement was proof that the royal family accepted Camilla and she was a respected senior member of The Firm.
Why is Camilla Parker Bowles the queen consort instead of simply queen?
It was Queen Elizabeth who declared Camilla’s queen consort title when Charles became sovereign. But why is her title not simply Queen Camilla? The answer is that she married into the royal family.
As the wife of the sovereign, she is styled as Queen Camilla and can be addressed that way. But, her title is officially Camilla, Queen Consort, and she has no sovereign powers. The title of queen is reserved for the actual sovereign, like the late Queen Elizabeth.
The last queen consort in the United Kingdom was the Queen Mother, who held the title when her husband, King George VI, was sovereign.
What are her duties as Queen Consort?
In his first public address, King Charles officially bestowed the title of queen consort to Camilla. And he said that he had complete faith in her ability to fulfill her duties.
“I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much,” Charles said of his wife.
In her new role, Camilla will accompany the king to official engagements and she will be addressed as “Her Royal Highness.” According to NBC, the queen consort also serves as a counselor of state along with four other royals in the line of succession: Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Princess Beatrice.
As a counselor of state, Camilla can temporarily carry out some duties on behalf of the monarch if he is ill or traveling abroad. According to the royal family’s official website, those responsibilities can include signing routine documents, attending Privy Council meetings, and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the United Kingdom.
Nobody could do it better than Camilla Parker Bowles, says a longtime friend
Queen Camilla’s friend of more than 40 years — the High Sheriff of Wiltshire, Lady Lansdowne — told the BBC that Camilla was “born to” be the queen consort. That’s because Camilla will be a “huge support” to her husband and she “completely understands” her role.
“She will take advice very well but I think she will naturally know the right thing to do,” Lady Lansdowne said. “I don’t think anyone could do it [Queen Consort] better than she is.”
The queen consort’s longtime friend also noted that Charles and Camilla are a good team, and they work very well together.
