One of the most ridiculous “royal stories” of the past decade was all of the hand-wringing and lies about Queen Camilla’s title. When then-Camilla Parker Bowles married Prince Charles in 2005, Charles’s team swore up and down that Camilla would only go by the Duchess of Cornwall (and never the Princess of Wales) and that when Charles became king, Camilla would be known as Princess Consort. This was all done “out of respect” for Diana’s memory, and because Camilla was never popular or well-liked or respected by the British public. Charles’s office then spent years campaigning for Camilla to eventually be known as Queen Consort. That got a boost in 2022, when Charles and QEII made a deal which involved QEII “signing off” on “Queen Consort Camilla” in a written statement. I still believe that the statement was written by Charles’s office, and that Charles basically manipulated and threatened his mother into “signing off” on it.
Skip ahead and just months after QEII died, the new king sent out notices to the media that they should only refer to Camilla as “Queen Camilla” and never “the Queen Consort.” Charles got what he always wanted and he spent decades lying, harassing, manipulating and bargaining to get it. Camilla got what she always wanted too – let’s not pretend that this was all Charles. Camilla was dying to lord it over everyone and finally “win.” Well, the Times has a new, overwrought story about what happened behind the scenes between QEII’s death and the coronation to ensure Queen Camilla’s reign.
Of all the conundrums facing Buckingham Palace in the months before last year’s coronation, there was one that particularly divided opinion: should they — could they — drop the word “consort” from Camilla’s title? Far from being a fait accompli, The Times understands that there were differing views within the royal household on the matter.
Now, as the King and Queen approach the first anniversary of their coronation on May 6, courtiers have reflected on how Camilla was eventually crowned and presented to the world.
They say that in the weeks after the death of Elizabeth II, the plan was that Camilla would be known as Queen Consort to differentiate between the recently deceased monarch and the new King’s wife. As the months passed, however, and the coronation drew closer, some within Camilla’s office voiced their concern that it was a case of “now or never”.
While sources insist that the Queen herself was “relaxed either way”, there were those who started to gently lobby for the word “consort” to be dropped. Their argument was threefold: it was cumbersome, unnecessary and could set an unintended precedent for future consorts. For example, would it mean that the Princess of Wales would only ever be known as Queen Consort when the Prince of Wales became king?
It is understood that the Queen’s aides met with some resistance. In the King’s office, there was a certain amount of trepidation. How would the public react? And when would be the right time to make the change? A game of courtier chess would be required to strategise how any such change would play out. A royal source said: “There was never a fixed timeline for when or if this would happen and there were certainly differing views among courtiers within the household. Above all the Queen was relaxed either way and felt it would happen organically.”
At first it made sense to use the term consort to differentiate between the past and present Queens. Yet as time went on, rumblings began within part of the household that there could no longer be any confusion. As such, they argued, the word “consort” was no longer required. The overriding questions, sources said, were “how had the public interpreted the late Queen’s message on the topic” and “how would they react”.
LOL, there’s even more at the Times piece about how carefully and cautiously Charles’s office and Camilla’s office approached this bum-rushed final game to force the British public to “accept” Queen Camilla. Please, Camilla cared. She was the one pushing for it to happen as soon as possible. She and Charles didn’t care about any “confusion,” as they regularly referred to her as “the Queen” in press releases and schedules just weeks after QEII died. The Times’s royal sources also claim that the British press led the effort to drop “consort” from her title, without mentioning that the press only did so on Buckingham Palace’s guidance and instruction. Anyway, Camilla has always been the master manipulator and she won. She’s the Queen Side-Chick.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.