As part of the invitations to the coronation of King Charles III, which is due in about a month. and his wife Camilla, the palace now officially refers to the latter as “Queen Camilla”.
The palace released a floral invitation card with the appropriate title in the evening, which will be sent to the more than 2,000 invited guests. The royal family also shared a new portrait of the couple in the Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, which shows them both smiling and intimately arm in arm. Charles (74) and Camilla celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, the 75-year-old had been referred to as the royal consort, i.e. “Queen Consort”, in official palace communications. A few months before her death, Charles’ mother Elizabeth II had expressly stipulated that Camilla would also be crowned queen and bear the title.
A royal insider source told the British news agency PA that “Queen Consort” had been used in recent months to make a clear distinction from Elizabeth II, anchored as “Queen” in people’s minds. “The coronation is now an appropriate occasion to officially use the title ‘Queen Camilla’. All previous royal wives were known by the title ‘Queen’ and their first name,” the unnamed source was quoted as saying.
The couple’s coronation is to take place on May 6th in Westminster Abbey in the presence of numerous international guests, flanked by large street parties.