Queen Camilla was crowned alongside King Charles,
but what would happen to her if he passed away? The British government has a plan for that.
For many, the details of how royalty works in the 21st century can seem pretty obscure — it's
rooted, after all, in a bunch of archaic rules and ancient traditions that most people don't
have to deal with. For example, Queen Camilla — King Charles III's second wife, crowned in
May 2023 — was officially granted the honorific "queen consort" by the late Queen Elizabeth II,
Charles' mother, shortly before Elizabeth died. In her statement announcing the move,
the queen said it was her "sincere wish" Camilla would have the title.
The queen's words aside, at Camilla's crowning ceremony alongside King Charles, Camilla became
Queen Camilla. And notably, at the time of Charles and Camilla's marriage in 2005, Camilla
expressed her wish to be simply the "princess consort," the first of her kind in history.
Regardless of what Camilla wished to be called, as the wife of the king, she'd still be queen.
But as even the casual royal observer is likely well aware, the whole royal system
works on lineage. In other words, kings and queens typically pass on the throne to their eldest-born
child, not their wife or husband. The same can be said for Camilla: Should Charles die first,
Camilla's title might change, but the line of succession would otherwise remain intact.
Both King Charles and Queen Camilla were in their mid-70s when they took the throne,
making Charles the oldest monarch at the time he became king. At the time of his coronation,
Charles was 74 years old, so a short reign is a real possibility, according to USA Today.
If Charles dies first, Camilla, who is 75, would most likely become queen dowager,
according to Cosmopolitan. A queen dowager is effectively a widowed queen,
who maintains much the same place of honor as she's always had while otherwise stepping
aside for the next queen in the line of succession. In Queen Camilla's case,
the next queen would be Prince Wiliam's wife Princess Catherine.
One other type of queen Camilla will likely never be is queen regent. A regent of any
kind takes over for a monarch at their request. Henry VIII's first wife Catherine of Aragon,
for example, was queen regent while Henry was away at war. Today,
should the king need a replacement, they turn instead to counselors of state.
Should her husband die, Camilla might choose to eschew the "queen
dowager" title entirely and revert to "queen consort," instead. Some
queen consorts have done so in the past. In the event of Charles' death, Camilla
might also elect to become queen mother, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
In the game of thrones that the British monarchy can sometimes be, there's no possible scenario
where Camilla could become queen regent, like Queen Elizabeth II. That title is
reserved for the true eldest-born daughter of the king or queen in the direct line of
succession. On the decision to drop "consort" from Camilla's title, a senior royal aide told CNN,
"It made sense to refer to her Majesty as the queen consort in the early months of
His Majesty's reign, to distinguish from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 'Queen Camilla' is
the appropriate title to set against 'King Charles' on the invitation.The coronation
is an appropriate time to start using 'Queen Camilla' in an official capacity.
All former queen consorts have been known as queen plus their first name."
"Oh, ah, he we go! Here they come!"
As one royal insider put it, though,
it's ultimately Charles' and Camilla's choice. They said in an interview,
"His Majesty has always seen it as a matter of honor. He is king so,
therefore, it follows that his wife should be queen. [...] It's entirely up to them
whether to choose to be called that, but it's still fundamentally their right to do so."
Here's to hoping King Charles has a long and happy reign, but if he dies first,
Queen Camilla can rest assured the British government has a top-secret plan in place to
handle the transition. The plan, in fact, already has a name: "Operation Menai Bridge," similar
to the plan for when Queen Elizabeth died, which was called "Operation London Bridge."