Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, who has been waiting for more than five decades, is expected to become king one day.
Charles will be named king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, either abdicates the throne or can no longer serve.
Upon ascending the throne, Charles’s wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is expecting to be crowned queen, well, not exactly.
For a long list of reasons, Camilla Parker Bowles might never get the title Queen Consort.
Out of respect for Charles’s first wife, Princess Diana, and not to create drama in the kingdom, the new title princess consort was created just for Camilla.
However, according to a lengthy piece written by constitutional experts, another confusing reason was given as to why Camilla and Charles might be facing a legal crisis when he becomes king — the couple who wed in a civil ceremony might discover that their union is not valid.
The experts had this explanation: “Under common law, the spouse of a King automatically becomes Queen. But there are two possible reasons why Camilla might not assume the title. The first is the argument voiced by the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail Online that Camilla cannot become Queen because her 2005 civil marriage to Prince Charles was not valid.”
They went on to defend their theory by saying: “The argument runs as follows: because the Marriage Acts from 1753 have explicitly excepted royal marriages from their provisions, the only valid marriage which a member of the royal family could contract in England was a religious marriage in the Church of England.”
If Charles decides to go against all the odds and bestow the Queen title, it will create PR and legal problems for the royals.
The scholars shared: “The Lord Chancellor in 2005 defended the validity of the Prince’s civil marriage, as did the Registrar General. But if Camilla became Queen, it might provoke further legal challenges.”
Camilla’s title change will be complicated and messy because of the fact that for many years, the British public had an unfavorable opinion of her.
The group went on to reveal: “The second possible reason is public opinion. In deference to public opinion, Camilla has not assumed the title Princess of Wales. Prince Charles will no doubt have regard to public opinion at the time of his accession, in deciding whether Camilla should become Queen, and he may also want to seek the advice of the government of the day. The fallback position is that Camilla would become Princess Consort as announced at the time of their marriage.”
Prince Charles will have to jump many obstacles if he wants Camilla to become queen.
