Now that she was crowned alongside her husband, King Carlos III’s wife is officially known as Queen Camila.
While it sounds more official than “Queen Consort,” the change in titles makes virtually no difference in the role of the 75-year-old king.
Queen consorts do not officially share the sovereign’s powers, nor does removing the “consort” portion of the title change this. Nonetheless, the title marks a milestone in Camilla’s decade-long journey to redeem her image, from someone once vilified as the other woman in Charles’ first marriage to Princess Diana, to a queen of high standing who is widely accepted by the British public becomes.
The question of what title Camila would have when Carlos became king has long been a matter of debate, as her status as Carlos’s second wife was sensitive.
Camila and her first husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles, divorced in 1995, shortly after Carlos gave an explosive television interview in which he admitted his relationship with her. Carlos and Diana divorced the following year. In 1997, grief swept the world when Diana died in a car accident. Camila and Carlos waited until 2005 to get married in a private and discreet civil ceremony.
For a long time it was unclear whether Camila would one day become queen.
Queen Elizabeth II settled matters last year when she gave Camila her blessing to be known as Queen Consort. The confirmation was widely seen as a formal sign that the royal family had finally accepted Camila as a respected senior member.
Last month, Camilla was referred to as “Queen Camilla” for the first time in the official invitations to Buckingham Palace’s coronation. At the time, British media reported that palace officials believed it was an opportune time to unveil the title as several months had passed since Elizabeth’s death in September.
The youngest queen consort in British history was George VI’s wife, Queen Elizabeth, known as “The Queen” and later as the Queen Mother.