The Queen's Camilla Announcement

As you doubtless know by now, the Queen issued a letter yesterday to mark her 70 years on the throne. In it, she reflected on her many years of service and the support she had received throughout from Philip. She caused quite a stir, however, by using the letter to request Camilla be Queen when Charles ascends the throne:

I am not shocked at all by this development. I am surprised that the Queen made this announcement, in that I was not expecting the Queen to issue this letter with this content, but the move to make Camilla Queen was expected. All things considered, it makes sense to me that the Queen chose to weigh in on the coming debate herself.

When Camilla married Charles in 2005, public emotions were still high at the time over the death of Diana. I am sure emotions are strong about Diana in many quarters still. Because Diana was such a prominent Princess of Wales, Charles and Camilla very wisely determined it was best to style Camilla with her secondary title, Duchess of Cornwall, despite the fact she is legally the Princess of Wales. At the time of their engagement, the Palace also announced that Camilla would be Princess Consort when the time came, not Queen Consort.

But for some time it has been clear that the Palace has been working to rehabilitate Camilla’s image and test the waters on crowning her Queen when Charles is King. This has been an obvious and open secret for many years now. Charles’ desire to have his wife his Queen is common knowledge, and royal reports have, on more than several occasions, noted how various actions by the Palace were trial balloons to gauge public opinion.

The question before the Queen and Charles has really been a “political” one, in the sense that it turns entirely upon the mood of the British people. Camilla will be queen by operation of law. Parliament would need to pass legislation for Camilla to be Princess Consort rather than Queen Consort.

In fact, royal reporter Richard Palmer was reminding us all yesterday that Charles’ private secretary assured the public in 2005 (when C&C got engaged) that the Palace would support legislation to ensure that Camilla would be Princess Consort and not Queen. But Richard also admitted that the press has known the hope was different from the start. He shared a picture of the front page of the Daily Express from 2005 showing a headline about the Palace’s plan to make Camilla Queen regardless of the public statements.

In the last 17 years, the Palace has not supported or encouraged a move to pass legislation, which is perhaps the primary hat-tip that there was no desire to follow through on the pledge. In 2018, the Palace removed a statement from the royal website that said Camilla would be consort not queen. The Telegraph (among others) reported on it. Here is the example from the article. The portion of the royal website highlighted by the Telegraph was the part the Palace removed.

Full Telegraph article here.

I suppose what I am saying is, it has been suspected from the start that there would be a move to make Camilla Queen. The intervening years have confirmed that suspicion—from the inaction on legislation, to the reputable reports of Charles’ own opinion on the matter, to the various actions by the Palace that were clearly testing the waters on public opinion. The question has not been if the royals would move for “Queen Camilla,” the question has been when and how they would do it.

Although I am surprised the Queen has used the start of her Platinum Jubilee to make this statement, it underscores how much she believes Camilla should be Queen, and her deep desire for there to be a smooth transition when the time comes for Charles to be King. So much of the Queen’s life has been dedicated to the institution of the monarchy. She has guided it and maintained it through a breathtaking period of change for the world, a time when the monarchy could have so easily been swept into the dustbin of history. We aren’t through the tumultuous times yet, though, and the Queen knows that the fewer issues with Charles’ accession the better.

I am frankly very pleased the Queen made this statement. I understand the thoughts and feelings many have about Camilla’s history, but the past is the past. To me, any lingering issues are a family matter. Diana is long dead, and Charles and Camilla have been happily married for many years. I think she has been an asset to the monarchy and to Charles. She seems down-to-earth and normal—a sharp contrast and important balance to quirky Charles—and she seems to work hard and play her role admirably. In many ways, I think Kate has styled herself on Camilla as much as anyone else. I have come to like Camilla quite a bit; and I think she has grown in the British public’s estimation. For myself, I think she should be Queen. Elizabeth II’s very formal request will carry quite a bit of weight.

One of the sobering elements of the letter, to me, was how frankly it addressed the Queen’s own impending death. By confronting the question of Camilla’s position so straightforwardly, she is obviously addressing a time when she will be gone. I read that there has been a sense of “tying up loose ends” from the Queen since the Duke of Edinburgh died. And as I mentioned, the peaceful transition to the next generation is clearly one of the ends she does not want to leave hanging.

In any event, my celebration sponge cake is out of the oven. Today kicks off the Platinum Jubilee year, and I am quite excited to see what wonderful royal engagements it will bring. As you know, William and Kate will undertake a trip overseas to mark the Jubilee, and an early report suggests they will be heading to the Caribbean, including Belize!

To Queen Elizabeth II. Long may she reign…