Queen Elizabeth II said in a message to the nation on Saturday, on the eve of her platinum jubilee, that Camilla, wife of her son Charles, should be queen consort when the prince succeeds her to the throne.
The 95-year-old sovereign expressed her “sincere wish” that “Camilla be made Queen consort” when Charles is king, in a message on the eve of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
Until now it was believed that Camilla, 74, the second wife of Prince Charles, 73, would only be a princess consort.
The statement indicates that the Queen is planning for the future after her death and that she holds Camilla, who married Prince Charles in a civil ceremony in 2005, in high regard.
In December, the Queen had promoted Camilla to the Order of the Garter, the highest of the British orders of chivalry, an honor which no other spouse of her children has been entitled to.