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Opinion

Why Camilla must become our Queen

<![CDATA[It's a subject that divides people across the country and indeed, around the world. Should the Duchess of Cornwall become Queen when Prince Charles accedes to the throne? Some argue she cannot, others that she must – I'm going to explain in this article exactly why I believe Camilla must become Queen.
It was a defining moment in the progression of the British Monarchy. The day in 2005 that the future king of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms married a divorcée. The last time such a thing had happened, in 1936, the King had to renounce his right to the throne. But times have moved on, haven't they?
Clarence House, at the time of the 2005 wedding, made it known that Camilla – upon her husband's accession to the throne – would be known as HRH The Princess Consort, a title which has never been used in Britain before and was contrived in order to try and quell negative public feeling towards her when she was first introduced to the public eye.
It is now nine years on from this, and much has happened in between then and now. We’ve got to know Camilla for who she is, not what we think she’s done.
At least, I thought we had. Whilst support is increasingly moving in her favour; there are still many whose feelings of contempt towards the Duchess of Cornwall have led them to the conclusion that she should not be queen.
From my point of view, I find the argument people cite against her becoming Queen typically consistent of shallow observations about her past and in some exceptional cases, comments on appearance, but nothing that amounts to a sustainable reason in modern times why this woman shouldn’t be our Queen.
In fact, her many virtues are far more significant than the superficial arguments offered by the opposition to her becoming Queen. For one, she genuinely cares about what she’s doing – picking causes that matter to her and taking a genuine interest in them as well as drawing public attention to them in the process. She is also incredibly assured of her behaviour in public, she has never put a foot wrong as a member of the Royal Family and across the globe has been an excellent ambassador for the UK along with her husband.
I’m not avoiding the obvious here, I am acutely aware of the argument borne by outraged Diana fans and certain close-minded individuals but isn’t it time to move on? Don’t get me wrong: what happened with Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales was tragic but none of us can know exactly what went on in their marriage and to apportion all blame on Camilla seems unreasonable, and for what purpose? Are we trying to punish her?
To me, the idea of this kind of judgement of Camilla is absurd. Personal matters should surely be immaterial to whether or not she should be our Queen.
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To deny Camilla the title of Queen could also set a dangerous precedent. To become personally selective with titles brings the whole system of monarchy into question. Giving republicans any ammunition like that would not be in any way desirable.
For me, the bottom line is that to deny Camilla the title of Queen would be the ultimate snub to all that she has done. In my view, she has successfully challenged public perception of her and carved out a unique role for herself in the face of the frankly unreasonable prejudices carried by some towards her over her past.
It is through her commitment to her role that I feel she has even earn the right, if that’s how to put it, to be our Queen.
Ultimately, the process of trying to change the legal title of the wife of a king would be an ugly one, and not one any self-respecting politician would willingly go through. It would essentially involve a full political debate before passing an act of parliament and as well as being a possible questionable use of parliamentary time and creating a whole host of problems in the Commonwealth realms – as well as seeming personally invidious towards Camilla.
My concluding thoughts must be that I for one fully support a Queen Camilla. Quite simply because anything else just wouldn’t be right.
Contribute your thoughts on the Queen Camilla debate in the comments box below.
photo credit: shaunamey and UK Parliament via photopin cc]]>

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