-
Queen Elizabeth announces Camilla to be upcoming queen once Charles ascends to throne
The Asharq Al-Awsat reported, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has announced that she wants daughter-in-law Camilla to hold the role of queen consort once her son Charles ascends to the throne, in a major statement timed to mark her unprecedented seventieth jubilee.
The move cemented a remarkable journey to public acceptance for Camilla, after being vilified for her role in the break-up of Charles' marriage to Princess Diana -- and shows that the Queen is planning for the future after her death.
Predictably the news dominated Sunday's front pages, with the Daily Mail -- Britain's highest-circulation newspaper -- declaring "Camilla WILL become Queen".
AFP said, the move was a long time coming for the Mail, which splashed on its Sunday front page that the queen's statement "ends years of speculation" over the future role of the Duchess of Cambridge as well as quashing rumors that she might abdicate.
The decision, the tabloid declared, represented "the clearest sign yet not just of the Queen's unswerving support for her daughter-in-law but proof of her enduring affection for the woman who has secured her eldest son's happiness".
Queen Elizabeth starts celebrations for 70th anniversary of her accession to throne
The Mail's main conservative tabloid rival, The Sunday Express, also led with the story, describing it as the Queen's "Platinum Jubilee Gift to Charles" and offering readers a free eight-page souvenir special to mark Elizabeth II's 70 years as monarch.
The broadsheet Sunday Times, too, emphasized the significance of the decision, reporting that the Queen "anoints Queen Camilla" in a move that ended "years of controversy and confusion".
Queen Elizabeth quietly marks 70 years on the British throne
It said: "It was the first time the Queen has given her view publicly on an issue that has divided opinion since Charles and Camilla wed in 2005."
Source: aawsat
