During the last five decades, Camilla Parker Bowles has been given many titles: homewrecker, princess consort, queen consort and now finally, Queen Camilla.
The official invitations to King Charles III‘s May 6 coronation at Westminster Abbey were unveiled on Tuesday. Atop the ornate Buckingham Palace invitation, Camilla, 75, was identified for the first time as Queen Camilla.
The card invites prospective attendees to the “Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III & Queen Camilla.”
Camilla’s name and new title were given equal billing space with King Charles’. Though she is currently identified as queen consort, she will be officially crowned Queen Camilla alongside Charles at the coronation.
Camilla met King Charles before he married Princess Diana in 1981. She was believed to be romantically involved with Charles throughout his complicated marriage to Princess Diana, who later died in a car crash in 1997.
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In 2005, Camilla married King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, long before he ascended the throne in 2022. When they wed, Clarence House suggested she be called princess consort — a decision criticized by many staunch Princess Diana fans inside and outside of the U.K.
Shortly before her death, Queen Elizabeth II expressed her “sincere wish” that Camilla be declared queen consort when Charles became king. A royal source told the BBC it made sense for Camilla to use the queen consort marker in the initial part of her reign as a way of distinguishing her from the late Queen Elizabeth. The coronation is the “appropriate time” to make the change to Queen Camilla, the source said.
The coronation invitation was sent to 2,000 guests, as per The Associated Press.
The actual invitation is bordered with English flora and fauna, a clear nod to King Charles’ environmental and conservationist efforts. At the bottom of the invitation is The Green Man, “an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign,” the palace said.
Both King Charles’ and Camilla’s coat of arms are featured on the invitation.
The design, created by heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator Andrew Jamieson, will be printed on a recycled card with gold foil detailing.
It is not yet clear if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will attend the coronation. The attendance of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also unconfirmed.
U.S. President Joe Biden will not be in attendance, as per the White House. Instead, First Lady Jill Biden will represent the U.S. at King Charles’ coronation.
The palace on Tuesday also announced that nine-year-old Prince George, the king’s eldest grandson, who is second in line to the throne, would be one of four pages of honour attending the monarch during the service. Camilla will also have four pages, her three grandsons and her great nephew.
The eight young pages are either family friends or close relatives of Charles and Camilla and will carry the robes of prominent figures during the day.
— With files from The Associated Press
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