Can The Other Woman Become Queen?

Charles wants the highest title for his wife, Camilla

- By Jack Royston

What do you call the wife of a king? Careful, it’s a trick question. Elizabeth, the mother of the current queen and wife of the last king of Great Britain, George VI, was the queen while her husband was alive, although technically her title was “queen consort,” to signify that she wasn’t actually the monarch. So when her grandson becomes King Charles III, his wife will be Queen Camilla, right?

Not necessarily. Royal names and titles are complicated; Charles might even choose to reign under a different name, since he has four of them: Charles, Philip, Arthur and George. The rules can be tweaked for reasons of state, or, nowadays, public relations. Charles is the Prince of Wales; on their marriage, his first wife Diana became Princess of Wales. But when he married Camilla, she took on the lesser title of Duchess of Cornwall. Charles is the Duke of Cornwall, among his other titles; he has 11 altogether, including two other dukedoms and several assorted earldoms and baronetcies.