On September 8th, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom passed away. Her legacy leaves behind a 70-year reign, the longest British monarch ever. The people of England, along with the rest of the world, has been mourning her death. She had 15 different Prime Ministers serve alongside her, the first being Winston Churchill. The Queen lived to be 96 years old and genuinely saw some of the most important historical events known to man. She lived through incredibly monumental moments from post-World War II to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Following her death, the Queen’s eldest son, Charles, took the throne as King. Although his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwell, will not be recognized as the new Queen, but instead, Queen Consort. This was a wish of Queen Elizabeth II, and Charles obeyed her demands. The history between this couple is extremely complex which is probably why Queen Elizabeth desired Camilla just to be a consort. When Charles was a young man, looking for a bride, he was infatuated with Camilla but knew he could not marry her because she was a commoner. It was expected of him to marry a princess or a member of the aristocracy. Charles went off to naval service in the early 70s and came home heart broken to discover that Camilla had married another man, Andrew Parker Bowles. As he went on to search for a bride, who would one day become Queen, Charles became obsessed with Diana Spencer, a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in the country. She was 13 years younger than him and they did not spent much time together before getting married. They had two boys, William and Harry. Their marriage quickly spiraled down hill as Charles continuously had an affair with Camilla. It became extremely public as Diana expressed in an interview that there was a third member of their marriage. In 1992, the couple separated and ultimately divorced in 1996. Diana always blamed Camilla as the root cause of the tragic divorce. The British people were heartbroken and quickly villainized Camilla while supporting and empathizing with Diana. The Princess kept her title from the divorce settlement. Her journey became even more heart wrenching when she was tragically killed from a car accident in Paris in 1997. She was attempting to flee from paparazzi who would not leave her alone. Souls across the globe were shattered to lose their Princess Diana.
Camilla and Charles continued on with their relationship and ultimately married in 2005. The Queen so strongly disproved this that she did not attend her eldest son and the future King’s second wedding. It was her wish that Camilla was to never be Queen. Elizabeth believed that Camilla did not deserve the same title that she carried for seven decades. Camilla is not the mother of Charles’ children nor his first wife.
The Queen’s wishes were obeyed. Following her death, when Charles was crowned King, Camilla was titled “Queen Consort.” Which is defined as a spouse of a reigning monarch. The next real Queen we see will most likely be Princess Kate. Most of the public has been referring to Camilla as the new Queen, which infuriates loyal royal family followers and fans. So the next time you refer to her, make sure to call her Queen Consort.
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