- Camilla, Queen Consort will be referred to as Queen Camilla after the coronation.
- The king's coronation invitation and a palace source have confirmed the title change.
Camilla, Queen Consort, is due to drop the "consort" part of her title and will be referred to as Queen Camilla following the coronation, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
King Charles III 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.
Speaking to The Guardian, 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 II," 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 told The Guardian.
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, Insider previously reported. As the palace source said, most consorts have dropped the "consort" part of the title in recent years. For example, Queen Elizabeth II's mother was known as Queen Elizabeth and her title was changed to the Queen Mother when Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Camilla was originally supposed to be titled Princess Consort
Camilla became queen consort upon the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of her husband, Charles, on September 8, 2022.
The late Queen Elizabeth announced her wish for Camilla to be given the title during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in February 2022.
"When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service," the late monarch wrote in a statement.
However, the word "queen" was originally not planned to be part of Camilla's title. Queen Elizabeth's endorsement of Camilla contradicted a previous statement made by the royal household in 2005 that said Camilla's title would change to "princess consort" when Charles became king, according to People.
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield previously told Insider that Queen Elizabeth II announced the title change to encourage the public to support the couple, who were associated with controversy in the past. Charles and Camilla were criticized in the press for having an affair in the 1980s while Charles was married to the late Princess Diana. Public scrutiny of their relationship reignited in 2020 when their affair was portrayed in the fourth season of Netflix's historical drama series "The Crown."
"I fear there would have been a real and ugly debate had the Queen not addressed this," Schofield, founder of the royal blog, To Di For Daily, previously told Insider. "They are cutting the debate off before it even begins, which is a brilliant strategy," she added.
Schofield added that ensuring Camilla is titled queen, not princess, shows that the future king is "not less than" and therefore ensures "the future of the monarchy."