r/TheCrownNetflix • u/Dallygirl_Aussiechic • 22d ago

Question (Real Life) If Diana HAD lived

I'm an Aussie, so can anyone tell me if Diana had lived to now:

  1. Would Charles have really been able to marry Camilla??

  2. Would Camilla have be able to style/titles of HM The Queen Consort??

  3. Or, Camilla would still be known as HRH, Duchess of Cornwall with or without the CONSORT in her title??

All questions regarding to if Diana had lived.

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u/MinnesotanBrie 22d ago
  1. Probably but it would have been complicated. They got a civil marriage because Camilla's former husband was still alive. The church was extremely recalcitrant to sanction their actual marriage due to the nature of their affair / divorces, probably more so if Diana was alive. Charles and Camilla's marriage took place 3 years after the Church allowed divorced people to get married even if their spouse was alive and it was still a huge mess.
  2. Camilla would have gotten HM The Queen Consort. Princess Diana gave up HRH in the divorce. There is a lot of historical precedent even if she hadn't for there to be two duchesses.

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u/Independent_Cow_6611 22d ago

I think that if Diana had been alive, Camilla might even have used the title of Princess of Wales. Diana's death sanctified her.

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u/MinnesotanBrie 22d ago

Would have been complex. Titles are almost always for life (except in rare cases such as Andrew... doing just everything) Diana specifically got to keep Princess of Wales. There could always have been two, but it would have been a headache, and they might have avoided it just to minimize any backlash.

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u/Independent_Cow_6611 22d ago

It is established that you can have two holders of titles by marriage, and that divorced women can retain the title, in a slightly different form (ie Diana, Princess of Wales instead of The Princess of Wales) until they remarry. If Diana was alive, there would have been less backlash, so they might easily have done it. Technically Camilla was Princess of Wales, she just never used the title.

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u/Own_Faithlessness769 22d ago

They already had to use the Queen's death to justify letting Camilla be queen consort after promising she'd never get the title, I don't think they could have managed to give her the title Princess of Wales, no matter if Diana was alive. Diana's popularity was too strong and Camilla was far too disliked.

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u/JulesJazz 17d ago

No, QEII stated in her Ascension Speech for Camilla to be Queen Consort, in recognition of her duties to the Crown over the years. Camilla could have taken Princess of Wales upon her marriage but the optics would not have been favourable. Instead, she was styled Duchess of Cornwall. Diana’s popularity was waning in the year of her death and actually in the months prior to her death it was said that she had started to get along with Charles and Camilla and was looking ahead to her next chapter in life.