King Charles’ coronation invitation confirms Camilla’s title will change to ‘Queen’

Camilla, Queen Consort, is due to drop the “consort” part of her title and will be referred to as Queen Camilla following the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

Charles and Camilla are due to be officially crowned at a coronation ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on May 6. In the invitation for the ceremony, which was released as part of a press release on Tuesday, Camilla is referred to as Queen Camilla.

A Buckingham Palace source said the new title will be used on an official basis after the coronation. “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,” the palace source said.

“‘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,” they added.

The royal website will be updated after the coronation to reflect the title change, the palace said.

The title of Queen typically refers to the reigning monarch, while Queen Consort is the official title for the wife or companion of a monarch. As the palace source said, most consorts have dropped the “consort” part of the title in recent years. For example, Queen Elizabeth’s mother was known as Queen Elizabeth and her title was changed to the queen Mother when Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952.