Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II with her husband Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh on a eight-day tour of Canada in June 2010. The trip was to mark the annual Canada Day. Image via AFP Photographer: Chris Jackson-Pool

Camilla’s ‘Queen’ title: Why was Prince Phillip never King?

Here’s why King Charles’ wife Camilla is now called the Queen but Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II was never titled King.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II with her husband Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh on a eight-day tour of Canada in June 2010. The trip was to mark the annual Canada Day. Image via AFP Photographer: Chris Jackson-Pool

King Charles’ wife Camilla is now called “Queen Camilla” but Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Phillip was never called King — here’s why.

ALSO READ: Queen Camilla: Difference between Queen and Queen Consort

KING CHARLES’ WIFE NOW CALLED ‘QUEEN CAMILLA’

King Charles wife Camilla was crowned Queen with Queen Mary’s Crown during his coronation held at as held at at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May. This marked the first time in recent history that a new crown wasn’t made specifically for this occasion — according to BBC. According to the palace, Camilla chose to wear Queen Mary’s crown “in the interests of sustainability and efficiency”, but she made some minor changes and additions.

Camilla was previously referred to as Queen Consort but now her title is Queen. This was a title destined for King Charles’ first wife Princess Diana, who tragically died in a car crash on 31 August 1997. When the then-Prince Charles married Camilla in 2005, it was announced that she would be titled Princess Consort when Charles became King.

Before her death in September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II announced that Camilla will be taking on the Queen Consort title when Charles became King.

ALSO READ: RIP Queen Elizabeth II: Prince William is heir to the throne

WHY WAS PRINCE PHILLIP NOT GIVEN THE ‘KING’ TITLE? 

Many are confused about why Camilla took the title of Queen Consort but Prince Phillip was never King. According to Insider, the reason Phillip was never King was most likely because King outranks Queen.

Prince Philip was only the fifth consort to a reigning Queen in British royal history. The last instance was in 1857 when Prince Albert was named prince consort by Queen Victoria. This was 17 years after they tied the knot in 1840.

Camilla
Here’s why Camilla is Queen Consort but Prince Philip wasn’t King. Images via AFP.

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