There’s a royal title that the Princess of Wales could be next to receive and Queen Camilla will never have it.
The Princess of Wales already has multiple titles and honours, from her Scottish title the Duchess of Rothesay to being a Grand Dame of the Royal Victorian Order. When Prince William ascends to the throne she will take on the most prestigious title of all - Queen Consort. She’ll succeed Queen Camilla in this role, however there’s another title that Kate could receive that won’t have been held by another royal since 2002.
If the Princess of Wales is a widow when Prince George eventually becomes King himself, then Kate will be the first Queen Mother for several generations.
The last Queen Mother - who remains primarily known by this special title to this day - was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the mother of the late Queen Elizabeth. She passed away in 2002 and no royal woman has taken on this title since and no-one will until Kate potentially does in the future.
The title Queen Mother is used to refer to a woman who was not only the widow of the former reigning King but also the mother of the current monarch. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was the widow of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Although Queen Camilla is currently a Queen Consort just like she was, she will be a Dowager Queen or Queen Dowager if she is a widow when Prince William becomes King.
Queen Camilla is Prince William’s stepmother and so Queen Mother wouldn’t be a title used to refer to her. This means that Kate is the next royal who even has the potential to become a Queen Mother one day as the mother of the future King George and wife of the future King William.
Whilst Queen Mother isn’t a title Queen Camilla will hold before her, several of Kate’s most iconic titles were once held by her stepmother-in-law - including her Princess of Wales title. Queen Camilla never called herself Princess of Wales, reportedly as a sign of respect to the late Princess Diana who is still strongly associated with it.
However, when King Charles was Prince of Wales she did technically have this title as his wife. Her Majesty was also once the Duchess of Cornwall and was known as the Duchess of Rothesay whenever she was in Scotland.
The titles Duke of Rothesay and Duke of Cornwall are traditionally held by the heir to the British throne and so when Prince William inherited them, Kate took on the feminine forms of these titles. She is also still Duchess of Cambridge as Prince William kept his Duke of Cambridge title when he became Prince of Wales.
The change in how they are referred to has also meant a significant switch-up for Prince George, Charlotte and Louis. As we can see in the royal line of succession, they are now Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales.
The siblings are said to have used Cambridge as their surname at school before switching to Wales. Kate herself is also said to have used Cambridge as a surname in the years before she became Princess of Wales. A source previously claimed to the Daily Mail that Kate replied “Mrs Cambridge” when asked for a name to reserve a wetsuit in a beachside shop 2012.
Today she is primarily known as Catherine, Princess of Wales and will remain so until she becomes Queen Consort and potentially later Queen Mother in the future.
