Royal titles and roles?

[Whatthechicken]

Sorry if this seems insensitive having just had the coronation, but I’m just interested and I’m sure this has already been thought about. If King Charles was to pass away before Camilla, what would Camilla’s title/ role become? I know before we had ‘the Queen Mother’, I’m just curious and not very knowledgeable about Royal titles and protocols.

I don’t know for certain, but possibly Dowager Queen?

she would be known as queen camilla.
the queen mother title was dreamt up because it was the only time a previous consort had the same name as the queen regnant.
to avoid any possible confusion.
queen alexandra and queen mary were still around after their husbands died.
they did much charity work, esp fundraising patronages for hospitals etc.

There have been a few threads on this.

She would be dowager queen rather than queen consort.

But she would still be called HM Queen Camilla (unless the new queen was also a Camilla in which case she would have to be Dowager Queen - she could not be Queen Mother for although she is indeed Queen, she in not the Mother of the next monarch)

Just had to look up Dowager as I’d never heard that term, really interesting - doesn’t sound very though nice does it? Queen mother sounded comforting and wise. I can’t imagine the press referring to her as Dowager Queen.

She would just be called Queen Camilla.

Downton Abbey had a dowager duchess.

There isn't a clearly defined role - they have traditionally stepped back a bit, but carried on with the causes that mattered to them, maybe in a more low-key way so as not to upstage the new Queen. And turned up to major events and family occasions to show support. Beyond that, it depended on the age and inclination of the individual.

The Queen Mother was relatively young so did a lot. Queen Mary apparently did her best to chip in given the whole abdication issue, but was happy to retire to the country during the war. Alexandra was quite elderly (by the standards of the day) and spent her last 15 years or so largely in retirement, especially after her sister (Dowager Empress of Russia) was exiled and lost most of her family in the Russian Revolution. They got a house together in Denmark (their childhood home) and spent many months of the year together there.

Before that you are back at Queen Adelaide, wife of Queen Victoria's uncle in the 1840s 😂 I think she retired from public life?

The title Queen Mother was first used in the 1560s

It's simply an alternative to dowager queen, which can be used if the dowager queen is also the mother of the next monarch. Queen Elizabeth (nee Bowes-Lyon) chose between those two titles, as she needed a version that was different from that used by her daughter Queen Elizabeth (ER II). When the first names are not the same, then no change is needed

So in the famous "Three Queens" photo, they were HM Queen Mary, HM Queen Elizabeth the (dowager) Queen Mother, and HM Queen Elizabeth

Was it? It can't have been England, as QE1's mother was the long dead Anne Boleyn. Not trying to pick a fight, am genuinely interested in these sorts of details?

Scotland? Mary of Scots?

She would remain 'Queen Camilla.' 'Queen Mother' was only used for Queen Elizabeth (mother of Elizabeth II) to avoid confusion, because there were two Queens Elizabeth.

I’m sorry if I’m repeating a thread, I’m in uncharted territory on this board, but this is really educational, you guys really know your stuff. I remember doing history at school and being really interested in Henry VIII and the politics of it all, maybe I should have kept my interest up. Thanks everyone!

'Dowager' just means any widow holding her late husband's title or property.

A Queen mother isn’t just the mother of a queen, she is the mother of a reigning sovereign. The ‘Queen’ refers to her, not her child. If the term was used in England in the 1560s, it was probably referring to Catherine de Medici, who was the widow of the French King Henri II and mother of the succeeding kings Francois II (first husband of Mary Queen of Scots), Charles IX and Henri III. She was also the mother of the Duke of Anjou, who courted Elizabeth I -despite the fact that she was 22 years older than him - so his mother would probably have often been referred to in England. Although she was also referred to in less flattering terms - Sir Philip Sidney called her “the Jezebel of our age” in a letter to Queen Elizabeth.

Also the term might have been used to refer to Mary of Guise, the mother of Mary Queen of Scots, who was regent for her daughter from 1554 to 1560, as Mary was under age and also being brought up in France (where she married Francois II and was Queen of France from 1559-1560.)

She would still be Queen Camilla.

I suspect she would happily retire into private life if widowed.

I think the date is a typo @mixedrecycling
As far as I know Queen Elizabeth (Bowes Lyon) chose the title Queen Mother. It's not a formal title. She was still Queen Elizabeth just as her mil was still Queen Mary. It was only because of the shared name Elizabeth that they needed a distinction. Hence The Queen Mother.
Camilla would still be Queen Camilla if Charles died.

That makes more sense!