Prior to Camilla’s coronation, the royal family revised her position title on its website.
She will henceforth be referred to as the “Queen,” dropping the “Queen Consort” moniker.
On her way to being crowned at Westminster Abbey in a historic ceremony is Camilla, who served as the Duchess of Cornwall when Charles was the Prince of Wales.
It was the late Queen Elizabeth II’s “sincere wish” that Camilla would be Charles‘ queen consort when he became king, she said at her Platinum Jubilee.
Camilla’s future title was previously unclear, as she was not called a princess due to Charles’s divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997.
Experts at the time branded Elizabeth’s message ‘extraordinary’ and said it showed her determination to ‘future-proof’ a monarchy spent 70 years serving.
Despite her title of ‘Queen’, Camilla will never be a reigning queen like Elizabeth II was.
Camilla is not a monarch and is instead a queen consort, which is the name given to a wife of a king.
They have no ruling power as they are not blood relatives, and their role is merely to provide support to the monarch.
The queen consort title is given to wives of ruling kings, but in this country the husbands of ruling queens are known as prince consorts rather than kings.
This is because the title of queen is generally considered to be lower in rank than king, which can only ever refer to a reigning monarch. But ‘queen’ can refer either to either a female monarch, or the wife of the king.
Coronation of King Charles III latest
Therefore Prince Philip was known as prince consort so he didn’t outrank her position as queen. He is so far the longest-serving royal consort in history.
As a result of this, Camilla will be mostly known as just Queen Camilla from now onwards, in the same way as Philip was known simply as Prince Philip.
She was previously carefully referred to as Queen Consort Camilla, likely out of respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II and also a nod to the legacy of Diana.
Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt previously said it was all ‘semantics’.
He said: ‘Despite all of the progress so far, royal officials – perhaps mindful of the Diana legacy – continue to be cautious about the precise nature of Camilla’s new status.
‘They prefer to focus on the fact she’s the consort of a king. The reality is that… Queen Camilla will be crowned at her husband’s coronation.’