The British throne is closer than ever for Prince William — but what'll happen
to Princess Catherine once he reaches it? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
The royal family shuffled a mighty deck of cards when Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th,
2022. Upon Elizabeth's death, Prince Charles immediately became King Charles III,
though he was officially crowned at a later date. Meanwhile, Charles's second wife,
Camilla Parker-Bowles, adopted the title queen consort.
You probably know the rest: Prince William is now Prince of Wales, while his wife, Catherine
Middleton, became Princess of Wales — making her the first person to hold that title since Princess
Diana died in 1997. In his first speech as the new monarch, Charles said of Catherine's new role:
"Our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know,
continue to inspire and lead our national conversation."
In his mid-70s at the time of his coronation, Charles was the oldest monarch ever to take the
British throne. This means William may not have as long to wait for his own crowning ceremony.
When that day comes, what will William's ascension to the throne mean for Kate? Well,
given the rules and customs of British royalty, Kate will almost certainly become
the queen — which kind of queen she'll be, however, is a slightly trickier question.
Since she is married to Prince William, Catherine is on track to become queen when King Charles
dies. However, she'll never be queen regnant: That's somebody who inherits the crown in their
own right and reigns over a realm regardless of their marital status. Instead, she'll likely
become queen consort, which is essentially the wife of a king. Queen Elizabeth II's husband,
Prince Phillip, was a prince consort and not a king consort; this is because royal
tradition dictates that, when a man marries a queen, he does not receive the title of king.
King Charles III's wife, Queen Camilla, is also a queen consort. If Charles dies first,
Camilla will likely become known as the queen dowager — which is a royal
term for a widowed queen. Catherine will subsequently take over her royal duties.
What do these duties entail? According to the royal family, a prince or queen consort
is supposed to provide companionship and moral and practical support to the monarch. Notably,
they don't hold a formal role in the function or structure of the British government.
Nevertheless, Catherine could become involved in the running of the state in some small way,
such as attending certain official meetings and playing some part in British diplomacy — in fact,
Camilla has been doing exactly this. She might also step in for
the future King William should he be incapacitated in some way,
though British law makes that an unlikely occurrence in the modern age.
You can also expect Queen Catherine to be crowned alongside her husband,
as most often happens with queen consorts. The same can't be said for prince consorts,
though, who aren't typically crowned alongside the sovereign — for example,
Prince Philip's role in the 1953 coronation mostly involved swearing allegiance to his new queen.
Prince William and Catherine were in their early 40s when Charles and Camilla were crowned,
so there's a good chance they'll take the throne at a much younger age than
Charles and Camilla did. Prince George follows William in the line of succession,
and if Catherine is still alive when he becomes king then she will likely become the queen mother.
Her official title in this capacity would likely be Her Majesty Queen Catherine, the Queen Mother.
The last queen mother was William's great-grandmother and Queen Elizabeth
II's mother, also named Queen Elizabeth. She was queen consort to King George VI,
Queen Elizabeth's father; the pair were married for nearly 29 years
before George's death in 1953. The last queen mother maintained a presence in
royal culture as the decades drew on. She died in 2002, at 101 years old.