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Princess Anne has been a dedicated member of the British royal family for decades. As the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, she has always been held in high regard by the British public with many referring to her as the "Queen who will never be." During the recent coronation ceremony of King Charles III, Princess Anne assumed her duty as the King's personal aid, as she has been fulfilling royal duties literally since infancy.
However, beneath her poised public persona, Princess Anne is also known to swiftly lose her gentle demeanor if the monarchy's reputation is threatened in any way. She inherited a strong sense of decisiveness from her father, Prince Philip. Recent rumors have highlighted Princess Anne's dissatisfaction with some of her brother King Charles' decisions, which seem to contradict their late mother's wishes.
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One decision that reportedly angered Princess Anne was King Charles' proclamation that Camilla would be called Queen Consort upon his ascension, without the customary "Queen" prefix. At the coronation dinner following the ceremony, with King Charles present, Princess Anne is said to have voiced strong objections to Camilla being referred to simply as "Queen." According to renowned wedding dress designer David Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana's iconic gown over 40 years ago, Princess Anne told Camilla directly at the dinner, "You are not a queen, but merely the king's consort."
Other sources have confirmed this account, noting that while Princess Anne is usually very poised, Camilla's disregard for Queen Elizabeth's explicit request that she be called Princess Consort, not Queen, truly upset her. The term "consort" is traditionally used for the spouse of the monarch in the UK and other countries, to distinguish them from a queen regnant who rules in their own right. Camilla's situation is unique given her past relationship with Prince Charles before he divorced Diana.
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Charles had promised publicly that Camilla's title upon marriage would be "Princess Consort" to avoid public resentment over her replacing Diana as Princess of Wales. But the unexpected change to "Queen" without the customary "consort" prefix has become a point of contention, according to insiders. It is seen by some as an attempt to overly assert Camilla's position in the monarchy. There were even signs that "consort" was being strategically removed from references to Camilla's title on the royal family's official website before the coronation ceremony.
While acknowledging Camilla as Queen may seem simpler, dropping "consort" disregarded the late Queen's express wishes. A Buckingham Palace source noted signs that Camilla is trying to further elevate her status, such as renaming the reading room at her official residence from the "Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room" to the "Queen's Reading Room," again avoiding use of the "consort" descriptor. Publications like the Daily Mail have reported that Camilla's higher titling will soon be officially reflected in documents like the Court Circular.
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To some observers and reportedly even to Princess Anne herself, these actions seem too bold and disrespectful on Camilla's part. An insider close to the situation said Anne's objections are not just out of loyalty to her late mother, but also concern for proper etiquette within the monarchy. According to sources, Princess Anne now prefers to keep her distance from Camilla at official events, standing formally to King Charles' right in official photos but avoiding frequent interactions.
Angela Levin, who has written biographies of both Camilla and Princess Diana, says Anne never got along well with Diana due to finding her "too eccentric." Her initial relationship with Camilla was also not smooth. Although Princess Anne maintains a polite friendship with King Charles for the sake of the monarchy, she certainly does not consider Camilla an ally. As the years pass, Princess Anne shows no sign of acknowledging or accepting Camilla's newly assumed title and status without the customary "consort" descriptor.
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Meanwhile, sources note signs Camilla may be aware of Princess Anne's lingering dissatisfaction. She now prefers spending more time at her private home away from the constant scrutiny of the royal family and tabloid press. Curiously, photos published of Princess Anne often feature her with her long-time friend Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla's former husband, possibly for the sake of any continuing relationship with their children.
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Of course at their ages, neither Camilla nor Princess Anne has any rivalry over romance. But observers say Princess Anne's disapproval of Camilla's campaign to normalize her royal title is a sign their relationship remains complicated many decades after Queen Elizabeth first envisioned Camilla bearing the customary subordinate title of "Princess Consort." Whether Princess Anne's objections will carry any real influence remains to be seen, but for now the long-serving Princess does not seem prepared to fully acknowledge Camilla's place beside her brother King Charles without use of the expected "consort" descriptor in her title. The relationship between these two royal women remains delicately balanced.
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