Camilla doesn’t want queen title, Charles says

LONDON – Camilla Parker Bowles does not want the title of queen after Prince Charles becomes king, his office said Tuesday.

Charles and his bride-to-be, sensitive to strong public opinion against her ever being queen, had said she would take the title of Princess Consort if he becomes king. They will be married in a civil ceremony April 8.

Paddy Harverson, communications secretary for Charles’ office, Clarence House, said the government’s legal advice that she would be queen if he became king did not prevent her from choosing a different title.

Replying to a question from a lawmaker, Constitutional Affairs Minister Christopher Leslie said in a statement that the marriage of Charles and Parker Bowles would not be “morganatic” – in which the spouse of inferior status has no claim to the status of the other.

“This is absolutely unequivocal that she automatically becomes queen when he becomes king,” said Andrew Mackinlay, the lawmaker who raised the question. The reply was issued Thursday, but was not noticed by the news media until Monday.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs confirmed that interpretation, saying that legislation would be required to deny the title of queen to the king’s wife.

Several newspapers in Britain on Tuesday carried headlines reading “Camilla will be Queen if Charles is King,” and “Camilla will be Queen.”