Camilla will become Queen, says Queen Elizabeth
Camilla will be crowned Queen Consort when Charles becomes King, it has been confirmed for the first time.
The Queen assured the Duchess of Cornwall’s future status in a historic Platinum Jubilee statement issued late last night, ending years of uncertainty over the issue.
In her surprise announcement, Her Majesty declared it was her ‘sincere wish’ for her daughter-in-law to be fully acknowledged when Charles succeeds her.
The Queen issued the message, shoring up her support for her heir and his wife, as she today marks a milestone of 70 years on the Throne.
The statement also quashed speculation that the 95-year-old Monarch might abdicate, as she reiterated her Coronation pledge. She told her subjects ‘my life will always be devoted to your service’ – and that she would continue to honour that ‘with all my heart’.
In her message to the nation – signed ‘Your Servant, Elizabeth R’ – the Queen said: ‘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.’
Charles and Camilla were ‘touched and honoured’ by the Queen’s gesture, Clarence House said.
The prince will make his own public declaration on Sunday celebrating his mother’s Jubilee.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘The Prince of Wales will be issuing a statement of congratulation to the Queen on Accession Day. He and the Duchess of Cornwall are touched and honoured by Her Majesty’s words.’
It is the clearest sign yet not just of the Queen’s unswerving support for her daughter-in-law but proof of her enduring affection for the woman who has secured her eldest son’s happiness.
Crucially, the official statement, written in Sandringham, overturns previous Palace guidance that Camilla would only ever be known as ‘Princess Consort’.
Announcing the Prince of Wales’s engagement in February 2005, two months before their wedding in Windsor’s Guildhall, a Palace statement said: ‘It is intended that Mrs Parker Bowles should use the title HRH The Princess Consort when The Prince of Wales accedes to the Throne.’
Princess Diana would have automatically been granted the title Queen Consort had she lived and the couple stayed married. But it was never certain that, as his second wife, Camilla would receive the same title.
The Queen has always been keen to sanction the union and gave a warm speech on Charles and Camilla’s wedding day, telling guests: ‘My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.’