Forget ‘queen consort.’ It’s now just ‘Queen Camilla’ for King Charles III’s wife
LONDON — King Charles III’s wife has been officially identified as Queen Camilla for the first time, with Buckingham Palace using the title on invitations for the monarch’s May 6 coronation.
Camilla, who until now has been described as queen consort, is given equal billing on the ornate medieval-style invitations that will be sent to more than 2,000 guests. The design was unveiled Tuesday.
The new title is another step in the remarkable transformation of a woman once derided as a homewrecker because of her role in the breakdown of Charles’ marriage to the late Princess Diana. Camilla will be crowned queen alongside her husband at Westminster Abbey.
Charles and Camilla met long before the then-prince of Wales married Diana in 1981, and their relationship continued throughout the tumultuous marriage. That made Camilla an object of scorn among Diana’s many fans, who rallied around the princess as her marriage collapsed.
But Camilla has won over much of the British public with her warmth and down-to-earth humor since she married Charles in a civil ceremony in 2005. The late Queen Elizabeth II early last year issued a statement saying she hoped Camilla would be known as “queen consort” when Charles became king.
The palace released a few more details about the coronation Tuesday, announcing that 9-year-old Prince George, the king’s eldest grandson, who is second in line to the throne, would be one of four pages of honor attending the monarch during the service. Camilla will also have four pages.
Queen Elizabeth took a big step into the modern era by acknowledging that her son’s wife, Camilla, should be the queen consort.
The eight young pages are either family friends or close relatives of the king and queen and will carry the robes of prominent figures during the day.
The coronation invitations feature the ancient British motif of the “Green Man,” in a nod to Charles’ record of supporting conservation and environmental protection.
The Green Man is “an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign,” Buckingham Palace said. “The shape of the Green Man, crowned in natural foliage, is formed of leaves of oak, ivy and hawthorn, and the emblematic flowers of the United Kingdom.”
The design, created by heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator Andrew Jamieson, will be printed on a recycled card with gold foil detailing.
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