The Coronation events have been, as far as the King is concerned, very much a joint affair. Queen Camilla was centre stage throughout. During the service itself he ensured that she would be anointed as Queen, as his grandmother and great-grandmother were; that ceremony, unlike his, was in public view. Buckingham Palace has intimated that after the Coronation Camilla should be known as “the Queen” rather than the Queen Consort; the late Queen had said that it was her sincere wish that Camilla should be known as Queen Consort. And at the time of their wedding, the public was told that she would never have the title.
Does it matter? Certainly most people won’t be exercised about it. And Camilla has shown an extraordinary devotion to the King and is regarded by most people who have met the couple as being the easier of the two to get on with. She is assiduous in her charity work and has been exemplary as a promoter of children’s reading. She is, in the opinion of most people who meet her, a nice, down-to-earth woman, but very shrewd with it.
And yet Catholics may well feel a certain reserve about the King’s insistence on the status accorded to the woman he loves. The reason is of course that the relationship between the King and his wife was carried on before their respective marriages to other people and during their marriages. Princess Diana minded, very much, and said so in public. At the time of her death, Camilla’s status was problematic. But as a result of a public relations campaign of almost unprecedented persistence, her standing now could hardly be higher.
In other words the Queen Consort’s position owes much to a relationship which was conducted for years outside marriage. Her former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, is on good terms with his former wife; it has not prevented commentators, apparently prompted by allies of the King – last week’s Sunday Times is a case in point – briefing against the Brigadier. There is a serious point here. Kings have not necessarily been exemplary in their personal morals; quite the contrary. After all the King’s ’s great-great-grandfather, Edward VII had a relationship with Camilla’s great-great grandmother, Alice Keppel. But it would have been unthinkable for King Edward to have married Mrs Keppel.
The status of the Queen Consort can be seen as validating a relationship which once caused pain to their respective spouses. On the other hand, the support of the woman he loves, which was denied Edward VIII, will enable the King to carry out his public duties well. The support of the crowds for the couple during the Coronation weekend suggests that the public recognises and understands this even if the status of Camilla has, in a way, sanctioned extra marital liaisons.
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