Why Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned beside King Charles at his coronation, but Prince Philip was never crowned king
- Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned alongside King Charles III at his coronation in May.
- The late Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, wasn’t crowned at her coronation.
Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday that King Charles’ coronation will take place on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London.
Charles and his wife, Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned in the traditional ceremony, which the palace said “will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future.”
Camilla, formerly known as the Duchess of Cornwall, was named Queen Consort when Charles ascended the throne upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8. Earlier this year, the late Queen expressed her wish for Camilla to use the title in a statement marking her Platinum Jubilee.
“Consort” is a term used to describe the spouse of a sovereign. Camilla will be the first consort crowned at a British coronation since 1937, when Queen Elizabeth’s mother, the Queen Mother, was crowned alongside her husband, King George VI, according to the Royal Collection Trust (RCT).
Prince Philip wasn’t crowned during Queen Elizabeth’s coronation
Elizabeth II was crowned Queen at her coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. As the Queen’s consort, Prince Philip knelt before Her Majesty to show his allegiance, according to the RCT.
“I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God,” Philip said at the ceremony, according to the RCT.
However, Philip wasn’t crowned at the ceremony like the Queen was, in accordance with tradition stated on the royal family website. It states that while queen consorts are crowned alongside their king, the consorts of female sovereigns are not crowned.
While the website doesn’t elaborate on the reasons behind this, it’s possibly because male consorts aren’t typically given the title of king. As Insider previously reported, the most likely reason for this is because the title of king could be considered to outrank the title of queen.
The title of queen can mean either a “female monarch” or “wife of the monarch,” while a king can only ever describe a reigning monarch, according to Mental Floss’ Ellen Gutoskey.
Nonetheless, there has been speculation as to whether this was the only reason that Philip was never king. Royal author Nigel Cawthorne previously told Insider that Philip couldn’t have been king because he was born outside of the UK.
Philip was a prince of Greece and Denmark before marrying into the British royal family and would have followed the precedent set by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who was not made king consort because he was from outside of the UK. Albert was born into the royal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1918 and became a prince consort upon his marriage to Victoria in 1840, the royal website states.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
