Random question about Catherine / George / William

[MJFEB2026]

If Prince William died before he is made king what would Catherine’s title be when son George becomes king?

She'd be known as the Queen Mother surely? Just as QE2's mum was.

But she’s not mother of a queen?

She wouldn’t have been Queen if William died before becoming King so can’t be the Queen Mother (ie a Queen who is the Mother of the current Monarch).

Dowager Princess of Wales is my guess.

She would be The Princess of Wales until she died-unless George had a san who married and then she would be Catherine, Princess of Wales.
There is precedent for this.
Frederick Prince of Wales, son of George ll died before his father.
His wife remained Princess of Wales during the continuing reign of her FIL and then of her son who became George lll.

I'm pretty sure I read at one point that Queen Victoria's mother asked to be made HM Queen Mother when Victoria succeeded to the throne to reflect that she would have been Queen if her husband had lived. Victoria very firmly said no and her mother stayed as the Dowager Duchess of Kent until she died.

Queen Victorias mother was The Duchess of Kent until she died as since she didn’t have a son to inherit the title there was no other duchess and no new Duke of Kent.
Princess Marina of Greece married Prince George Duke of Kent ( a new reincarnation of the title) in the 1930s.
He died in a plane crash in 1942. Her eldest son Edward became the Duke of Kent while he was still a child. . Marina was still HRH The Duchess of Kent. When ‘Eddie’ married Katherine Worsley in 1962 (?) Marina to her dislike became HRH Marina Duchess of Kent. She didn’t like this so the Queen agreed that she could be HRH Princess Marina
Duchess of Kent. This was fair enough since when she married she was an HRH and a Princess in her own right. Marina died in 1968.
The Duchess of Gloucester (Alice nee Montague Douglas Scott) who was married to the the Queens Uncle Henry (Harry) lost her husband in 1974.
QEll made Alice a Princess so she too could be known at the same level as the late Marina and in recognition of the decades of work she had given to the RF.
So she became HRH Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester until she died in 2002 .
I don’t think Marina would have been pleased about this at all as her title was her own and her pedigree/lineage was impeccable. She was a cousin to
Prince Philip. She also thought Alice and Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) common. I suppose they were to her. (“Those Scottish girls”.)
My point is very long winded that we don’t tend to use dowager ever when the title is a royal one. We know they are dowager -we just don’t say so. It’s never in their used title, whatever their title was . Queen consorts simply change from The Queen to Queen NAME.
HTH

That’s fascinating, @DaisyDooley, thank you.

So does that mean Camilla will be titled Queen Camilla, if she outlives Charles?

Yes as she is already queen Camilla.

I thought she’d be the Queen Dowager?

Yes, she would still be HRH The Princess of Wales. Her son, King George VII, could choose to give her a new title, I suppose..... maybe HRH Princess Catherine?

Queen Mother does not mean "mother of the queen (or king)".
The last Queen Mother was only called that because she shared a given name with her daughter, the Monarch. Otherwise she would just have continued to be called Queen Elizabeth (as she was always known in the Household).
Queen Mary continued to be Queen Mary as a widow.
So Queen Camilla will remain Queen Camilla, if she outlives the King.

I always thought the queen mother 'title' was only used because there were 2 Queen Elizabeths once QEII came to the throne.
Queen Mary wasn't known as the King mother. Just Queen Mary. Camilla woukd continue to be Queen Camilla on Charles's death.
Catherine would keep whatever title she had at the time of William's death.

If Queen Mary had had "mother" in her title, it would have been Queen Mother, not King Mother.

If Camilla survives Charles, she will be a queen dowager, but she will be known as Queen Camilla. Assuming William becomes King, Catherine would be The Queen as Camilla is now The Queen.

QEll made Alice a Princess so she too could be known at the same level as the late Marina and in recognition of the decades of work she had given to the RF. So she became HRH Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester until she died in 2002.

QEII did not make Alice a princess of the UK, but she did allow her to use the title and style. The only new HRH/Prince/Princess the late Queen created was when she made Philip, Duke of Edinburgh a prince of the UK in 1957.

Yes she will be Queen Camilla - she will not be THE Queen anymore, as that would be Catherine who will be The Queen as she is married to William.
Although Queen Alexandra was THE Queen during her husbands reign (1901-1910] she was not called the Queen Mother when her son George (Georgie) became King, She was simply Queen Alexandra, same with George’s wife Mary.

Obviously Camilla can never be The Queen Mother as her son Tom Parker Bowles not be King!
I sometimes wonder what will happen to Camilla’s personal jewellry that she has been gifted/given by the King. There would be very little point leaving it to her own children apart from smaller pieces of- simply insuring it would be astronomical.
Also, there will be death duties to pay on her estate of anything she leaves to her children - I wonder if there will be a fire sale auction of the type that Sarah & David the children of Princess Margaret had to have to pay death duties.
Sorry - bit off thread this!

If Queen Mary had had "mother" in her title, it would have been Queen Mother, not King Mother.
Of course @RitaIncognita I hadn’t thought that through 😄

In 1952 Britain had 3 Queens for just over a year
Queen Mary - (George V)
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (George VI)
Queen Elizabeth II

It's possible that Charles has put personal property, jewellery, art and possibly the racehorses etc into a family trust.

This is what the Queen Mother did to avoid inheritance tax and to leave proceeds to her great grandchildren.