Queen Camilla was crowned alongside King Charles, but what would happen to her if he passed away? The British government has a plan for that.
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00:00Queen Camilla was crowned alongside King Charles, but what would happen to her if he passed
00:05away?
00:06The British government has a plan for that.
00:08For many, the details of how royalty works in the 21st century can seem pretty obscure.
00:13It's rooted, after all, in a bunch of archaic rules and ancient traditions that most people
00:18don't have to deal with.
00:19For example, Queen Camilla, King Charles III's second wife, crowned in May 2023, was officially
00:25granted the honorific Queen Consort by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles' mother,
00:30shortly before Elizabeth died.
00:32In her statement announcing the move, the Queen said it was her sincere wish Camilla
00:37would have the title.
00:38The Queen's words aside, at Camilla's crowning ceremony alongside King Charles, Camilla became
00:44Queen Camilla.
00:45And notably, at the time of Charles and Camilla's marriage in 2005, Camilla expressed her wish
00:50to be simply the Princess Consort, the first of her kind in history.
00:54Regardless of what Camilla wished to be called, as the wife of the king, she'd still be queen.
01:00But as even the casual royal observer is likely well aware, the whole royal system works on
01:05lineage.
01:06In other words, kings and queens typically pass on the throne to their eldest-born child,
01:11not their wife or husband.
01:12The same can be said for Camilla.
01:15Should Charles die first, Camilla's title might change, but the line of succession would
01:19otherwise remain intact.
01:21King Charles and Queen Camilla were in their mid-70s when they took the throne, making
01:25Charles the oldest monarch at the time he became king.
01:28At the time of his coronation, Charles was 74 years old, so a short reign is a real possibility
01:34according to USA Today.
01:36If Charles dies first, Camilla, who is 75, would most likely become Queen Dowager according
01:42to Cosmopolitan.
01:43A Queen Dowager is effectively a widowed queen who maintains much the same place of honor
01:48as she's always had while otherwise stepping aside for the next queen in the line of succession.
01:53In Queen Camilla's case, the next queen would be Prince William's wife, Princess Catherine.
01:59One other type of Queen Camilla will likely never be is Queen Regent.
02:03A regent of any kind takes over for a monarch at their request.
02:07Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for example, was Queen Regent while Henry
02:12was away at war.
02:13Today, should the king need a replacement, they turn instead to councillors of state.
02:19Should her husband die, Camilla might choose to eschew the Queen Dowager title entirely
02:23and revert to queen consort instead.
02:26Some queen consorts have done so in the past.
02:29In the event of Charles' death, Camilla might also elect to become Queen Mother according
02:33to the Royal Collection Trust.
02:35In the game of thrones that the British monarchy can sometimes be, there's no possible scenario
02:40where Camilla could become Queen Regent like Queen Elizabeth II.
02:44That title is reserved for the true eldest-born daughter of the king or queen in the direct
02:48line of succession.
02:49On the decision to drop consort from Camilla's title, a senior royal aide told CNN,
02:54"...it made sense to refer to Her Majesty as the Queen Consort in the early months of
02:59His Majesty's reign, to distinguish from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."
03:04Queen Camilla is the appropriate title to set against King Charles on the invitation.
03:09The coronation is an appropriate time to start using Queen Camilla in an official capacity.
03:14All former queen consorts have been known as Queen, plus their first name.
03:18As one royal insider put it, though, it's ultimately Charles and Camilla's choice.
03:25They said in an interview,
03:27"...His Majesty has always seen it as a matter of honour.
03:31He is king, so therefore, it follows that his wife should be queen.
03:35It's entirely up to them whether to choose to be called that, but it's still fundamentally
03:40their right to do so."
03:42Here's to hoping King Charles has a long and happy reign.
03:45But if he dies first, Queen Camilla can rest assured the British government has a top-secret
03:50plan in place to handle the transition.
03:52The plan, in fact, already has a name — Operation Manai Bridge, similar to the plan for when
03:58Queen Elizabeth died, which was called Operation London Bridge.
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