Camilla to be called Queen as ‘Consort’ will be dropped from her title
The title Queen Camilla will be used for the first time by Buckingham Palace on the Coronation invitation, as it emerged that “Consort” will be officially dropped after next month’s ceremony.
Camilla has been referred to as Queen Consort by the Palace since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September.
However, royal aides revealed that Queen Camilla was now considered an “appropriate title” to set against King Charles.
The May 6 coronation is considered an ideal time to make the transition and to start using the title in an official capacity.
Over a period of more than five decades, Camilla's relationship with Charles has evolved from romantic involvement, to mistress and finally to His Majesty’s wife - a role that will be cemented when she is given equal billing at the biggest royal event in 70 years.
When she married the then Prince of Wales in 2005, it was widely assumed she would never be called Queen.
The term Queen Consort was first floated in February 2022, when Queen Elizabeth II used a Platinum Jubilee message to the nation to announce her “sincere wish” that Camilla use the title when her son became King.
The intervention was considered a critical show of support, ensuring a seamless transition when she died seven months later.
However, palace aides insisted that the late Queen made that statement in opposition to the title of Princess Consort, which had also been floated as an option.
There was no longer-term “masterplan” to transition to Queen Camilla, one source said.
“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,” they said.
“‘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’ in an official capacity. All former Queen Consorts have been known as ‘Queen’ plus their first name.”
Camilla, 75, has already changed the name of her online book club, which is now an independent charity, to The Queens Reading Room.
New title 'a reflection of King’s devotion'
Queen Consort was considered by some to be too “cumbersome” and the palace is understood to view Queen Camilla as a simpler title, to be introduced when the time was right.
More than anything, it will be considered a reflection of the King’s devotion and loyalty to the woman he has described as the “love of my life”.
Meanwhile, the palace released a new portrait of the King and Queen taken by Hugo Burnand, who took the couple’s official wedding pictures in 2005.
The photograph was taken in the blue drawing room at Buckingham Palace, the first formal portrait of the couple taken since the accession.
The couple are wearing matching blue outfits, Camilla in a Fiona Clare dress with a diamond clasp pearl necklace.
It is not yet known where the portrait will be used or if it will be the image offered as part of the Government's £8 million initiative to provide a free, framed portrait to schools, councils, courts, police and fire stations.
Mr Burnand, 59, also took the official portraits at the Prince and Princess of Wales’s wedding in 2011, when he is said to have used jelly beans to bribe the young pageboys and bridesmaids to sit still.
