Queen Elizabeth II backs plan to one day have Camilla known as consort

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II, in a message marking the 70th anniversary of her reign, supported the idea that her son’s wife should be known as “Queen Consort” when Prince Charles succeeds her to the throne.

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The 95-year-old monarch, who ascended the throne in the United Kingdom in 1952, expressed a “sincere wish” during her Platinum Jubilee message that Camilla, 74, be known as the “Queen Consort” someday, the BBC reported.

‘’When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” the monarch wrote. “And it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”

A Clarence House spokesperson said the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were “touched and honored,” the BBC reported.

When Charles, 73, married Camilla in 2005, the couple announced she would someday be known as “Princess Consort,” CNN reported. It was seen as a nod toward the couple’s recognition of sensitivities around a title that would have been conferred on Charles’ first wife, the late Princess Diana, CNN reported.

Many Britons believe that Camilla’s relationship with Charles led to the royal couple’s divorce.

“This is the most extraordinary message. The queen is ensuring the transition, when it comes, to her son as king is as seamless and trouble-free as possible,” former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt told the Press Association. “She’s future-proofing an institution she’s served for 70 years. And for Camilla, the journey from being the third person in a marriage to queen-in-waiting is complete.”

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“Queen Consort” refers to the spouse of a ruling king, according to the BBC.

The queen also paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last year after decades of serving as her consort, according to The Associated Press. She also praised her mother’s role as consort to her father, George VI.

“I am fortunate to have had the steadfast and loving support of my family. I was blessed that, in Prince Philip, I had a partner willing to carry out the role of consort and unselfishly make the sacrifices that go with it,″ she wrote. “It is a role I saw my own mother perform during my father’s reign.”

The queen signed her message “Your servant Elizabeth R.”

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Photos: Queen Elizabeth II through the years 1936: Princess Elizabeth sitting on a garden seat with two corgi dogs at her home on 145 Piccadilly, London, in July 1936. (Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)

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