After a long, controversial journey, Camilla Parker-Bowles will become Queen (Consort).
While celebrating her 70 years of being the Queen of England, Elizabeth II (whose full title is Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith) dropped a bombshell that had tongues wagging.
She issued a statement declaring that when her heir, Prince Charles (the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall) becomes monarch, his wife; Camilla Parker-Bowles will become queen consort.
“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,” said the Queen.
This is groundbreaking news because if you know your Royal Family History (or are an avid watcher of The Crown), the path to get here was a long and arduous one, full of controversy: Prince Charles was married to the very popular Diana Spencer. It was a marriage of duty. Parker-Bowles was married to someone else. Both couples had their children, but their love for each other never died. They had an affair.
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A condensed version of this drama is that the Prince and Princess of Wales get a divorce and so do the Parker-Bowles’ because Prince Charles and his one true love can’t stay away from each other. Diana famously said, “There are three of us in this marriage.” Diana dies in a car crash. In 2005, Charles and Camilla finally wed, but Camilla was not named the Princess of Wales.
Since then, Camilla seems to have won over the public through hard work, but opinions about her tend to ebb and flow. After a few consistent years of goodwill, season 4 of The Crown, covering the 80s, dropped: if season 3 had viewers sympathizing with the real-life versions of Charles and Camilla after their Netflix “doppelgangers” (I say doppelgangers with plenty of ironies because Josh O’Conner is much too good looking to be Prince Charles) were torn asunder due to familial expectations, season 4 introduced Diana into the narrative and then everyone remembered how much they hated Camilla (season 5 is coming soon so spoiler alert: things will get worse).
The title “Queen Consort” comes with a caveat. This will make Camilla a Queen, but not The Queen. Officially, her main duty will be to provide support for the future King Charles, but she will not have her formal position or set tasks and responsibilities. Perhaps officially declaring her The Queen was too much for even Queen Elizabeth II, so this is the compromise arrived at.
It remains undecided whether Charles, in his capacity as King, will move to make the title official and drop the “consort.” He has the opinions of his two sons to think about, one of whom is currently not his biggest fan. Only time will tell. Staunch royalists, particularly the Diana fans, remain unhappy about the decision.
