While I absolutely agree there needed to be a transition period to allow people to get used to Camilla having the title of Queen, so calling her "Queen Consort" was understandable and necessary...even though I hated it.
But I did experience some blowback on social media, such as Twitter and Facebook about Buckingham Palace dropping the "Consort" part of her title.
Myself and a few others were trying to clear up a lot of misinformation that people have. Even before the change myself and others, and some publications, would still refer to Camilla as either Her Majesty the Queen or Queen Camilla. Some angry responders would say she is the Queen Consort not "The Queen" That would indicate to me a lot of people were confused about the title of Queen. By referring to Camilla as The Queen people thought that meant she was the same type of Queen Elizabeth II had been.
Even with the announcement that Camilla would now be known just as Queen Camilla it seems there are many people who are still confused about the title of Queen. I would explain the difference between a Queen Consort and a Queen Regnant and that despite their different positions or roles, both types of Queens would be addressed as Her Majesty The Queen or Queen + first name.
There are some who believe that the King is being disrespectful to his mother's wishes by dropping the term Consort because they believe Queen Consort is the title of the Queen Elizabeth II wanted Camilla to have.
I would try to explain to people that Queen Elizabeth II was not creating a new title for Camilla, but was just distinguishing what type of Queen Camilla would be. I would tell them that in the Queen's wishes for Camilla to be known as the Queen Consort she was just distinguishing between the type of Queen she was, a Queen Regnant, and the type of Queen Camilla would be, a Queen Consort. I would also show them documents and articles from the past where other Queen Consorts were simply known as Her Majesty The Queen or Queen + their first name.
Although I really wanted Camilla to be known as Her Majesty the Queen, defending this and explaining this has been a bit exhausting and I did have moments where I'd wish they had stuck with Princess Consort!
Personally I think they have used the period between the Accession and the Coronation as a transition period. For 70 years there was one Queen and we were so used to that. To suddenly start calling Camilla The Queen would have been jarring and a lot of people would have found it insulting to the late Queen. So these months have been about getting people use to calling her Queen with Consort added on. Now we are at the moment where it seems right that she now known as The Queen. Queen Camilla. The announcement of the slight change has caused barely a ripple. So the plan for this transitional period has worked.
http://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/379
Message Thread
« Back to index