Queen Elizabeth II wants Camilla to be Queen Consort when Charles is King

Queen Elizabeth II has said that she wants Prince Charles’s wife Camilla to be known as Queen Consort when he becomes King, in a significant intervention that shapes the future of the monarchy and firms up the place of the Duchess of Cornwall in the royal family. Queen Consort refers to the spouse of a ruling king.

The 95-year-old Queen used her Platinum Jubilee message on Saturday, marking the 70th anniversary of her reign, to back Camilla, a divorcee who married Charles in 2005.

“I would like to express my thanks to you all for your support. I remain eternally grateful for, and humbled by, the loyalty and affection that you continue to give me,” the Queen said in her message. “And 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,” she said.

According to a BBC report, a Clarence House spokesman said the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were “touched and honoured” by the message.

There has been a different practice for male consorts of a monarch, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip or Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who became Prince Consort rather than King.

The usual precedent would have been for Camilla, now 74, to automatically become Queen when Charles was King, but because of uncertainty about public opinion it had been suggested that might not be the case, the BBC reported.

Charles was earlier married to hugely popular Princess Diana. They divorced in 1996, a year before she died in a car crash in Paris. When Camilla married the Prince of Wales in 2005, it was made clear by Clarence House that she would carry the title of HRH The Princess Consort, The Guardian newspaper reported.

It has long been speculated that this was a title of convenience at a time when the duchess was seen to be less popular in the polls, due to her relationship with Charles even when he was married to Diana. Charles is understood to have long harboured a firm desire his wife should carry the title of Queen Consort, and be thus crowned and anointed, when he becomes King, the report said.