Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 70th year of reign this Sunday, February 6, and has, for this historic milestone, reserved a big surprise for her subjects, expressing the wish that Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla, will become queen consort when he becomes King. In a message written on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee, a milestone that no British monarch had ever reached before her, the Queen expressed her “sincere wish“that Camilla Parker Bowles”be known as queen consortwhen Prince Charles, 73, takes the throne.
Until now, she had never pronounced on the subject, object for years of interminableare controversies. Charles and Camilla said to each other according to a spokesperson “touched and honored by the words” of the Queen, who also underlined the “fair work” of the Duchess of Cornwall. Camilla, 74, now appreciated by the British, has become an essential cog in the monarchy, with many commitments.
AFP recalls that the term “consort” applies to the husband or wife of a reigning monarch. Theoretically, therefore, Camilla was to become queen, but her title was the subject of endless controversy after her 2005 marriage to Prince Charles, with some arguing that she should instead be known as a “princess” consort, due to the sensitivity of the subject after the death of Princess Diana.
Camilla, divorced, has long been seen as the one who broke the fairy tale marriage of Prince Charles, of which she was the mistress, with Diana. Even last year, less than half of Britons wanted her to be crowned queen. The queen therefore closed the debate on Saturday.
Elizabeth II has largely withdrawn from public life since suffering health problems in October. Two appearances before her Platinum Jubilee on Sunday showed her frail and walking slowly. On Saturday, she received at a reception in Sandringham members of the local community and associations, as well as a woman who helped create the British classic “coronation chicken” for the coronation banquet in 1953.
On Monday, a 42-gun salute will be fired in the center of the capital. Four days of festivities, happily awaited by the British, are planned for the beginning of June. They will begin with “Trooping the Colour”, the parade which officially celebrates its anniversary each year. A big concert is also planned as well as a historical reconstruction of the 70 years of reign of a queen who crossed, imperturbable, times and crises, and thousands of popular lunches. It is not known at this time whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be present for the festivities.
The big absentee from the party will obviously be Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of the Queen, who died on April 9, 2021.