# The reign of King Charles III of the United Kingdom **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 8, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232 "2022-09-08T18:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 65
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1284 "2024-02-06T13:50:27Z")
figuring on cos being adults that would be william, harry, edward, anne, and …? i’m reckoning on andrew being right out. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1285 "2024-02-06T14:17:56Z")
There are currently seven counsellors of state - the Queen, the first four adults in the line of succession (William, Harry, Andrew, Beatrice), Anne and Edward. Anne and Edward were added in 2022, mainly to avoid any need to call on Harry and Andrew to act as such. They were appointed for life and so won’t get displaced when any of the children ahead of them come of age. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1286 "2024-02-06T14:22:14Z")
ah, i knew they had “subbed” andrew, didn’t know camilla was in the count as she isn’t in the “next up” line. thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1287 "2024-02-06T16:07:28Z")
> [@APB](#): > > There are currently seven counsellors of state - the Queen, the first four adults in the line of succession (William, Harry, Andrew, Beatrice), Anne and Edward. Isn’t Anne ahead of Andrew in the line of succession? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1288 "2024-02-06T16:23:11Z")
No, for everyone down to the grandchildren of E2 male heirs and _their_ descendants are ahead of female heirs and theirs. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1289 "2024-02-06T16:23:15Z")
no, anne is at the end, andrew, his kids, edward, his kids, then anne. the recent rule change came in time for charlotte. she holds her spot before louis. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1290 "2024-02-06T17:15:09Z")
What would Camilla’s status be if Charles did pass away? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1291 "2024-02-06T17:18:51Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What would Camilla’s status be if Charles did pass away?   I’m not sure about British traditions, but the general word for the widow of a king is “Dowager Queen”. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1292 "2024-02-06T17:18:57Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What would Camilla’s status be if Charles did pass away? I think she would be styled Queen Dowager, I.E., the widow queen. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1293 "2024-02-06T17:33:19Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What would Camilla’s status be if Charles did pass away? Single and ready to mingle. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1294 "2024-02-06T18:31:12Z")
With a lot of catching up to do! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1295 "2024-02-06T19:36:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Single and ready to mingle. Nearing 80 and with her own health issues…? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1296 "2024-02-06T19:48:53Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > > What would Camilla’s status be if Charles did pass away?   > > I’m not sure about British traditions, but the general word for the widow of a king is “Dowager Queen”. In other words, the same status that “the Queen Mother” had when her husband King George VI died and her daughter became Queen Elizabeth II. (“You Know You’re Getting Old When…” you use a term like “the Queen Mother” and expect everybody to know exactly who that is, despite the fact that she died 22 years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1297 "2024-02-06T22:30:09Z")
“The Queen Stepmum” somehow doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1298 "2024-02-06T22:34:14Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > (“You Know You’re Getting Old When…” you use a term like “the Queen Mother” and expect everybody to know exactly who that is, despite the fact that she died 22 years ago.) Here’s a good place to ask: is the “Queen” in “Queen Mother” referring to QEII or her mother? That is, if QEII had been a boy, would the Queen Mother have been called the “King Mother” instead? Edited: Is it more like “Queen, Mother” or “Queen-Mother”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1299 "2024-02-06T22:51:43Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > she died 22 years ago Now _that_ makes me feel old. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1300 "2024-02-06T23:21:31Z")
She was a former Queen who was mother of the current monarch. « Mother » is used here in an adjectival sense, like « General » in « Attorney General » She preferred it over « Queen Dowager ». It was an inspired choice of new terminology. « Dowager » is an old and fusty term about the nobility. Instead, she was identifying herself as the nation’s granny. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1301 "2024-02-06T23:43:41Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Here’s a good place to ask: is the “Queen” in “Queen Mother” referring to QEII or her mother? That is, if QEII had been a boy, would the Queen Mother have been called the “King Mother” instead? > > Edited: Is it more like “Queen, Mother” or “Queen-Mother”? If Elizabeth II had been a boy, the widow of George VI would still have been the Queen Mother (and Queen Dowager). But she wouldn’t usually have been called that. The only reason she was routinely called ‘the Queen Mother’ was to avoid confusion with the new Queen. She would otherwise just have been called ‘Queen Elizabeth’, in the same way that the previous widowed queen (her mother-in-law) had been ‘Queen Mary’ from 1937. Camilla is currently just ‘The Queen’. If she is widowed, she’ll become ‘Queen Camilla’. Only when her full titles are used (which will be almost never) will she also be called Queen Dowager. Whether she would also be called Queen Mother is an interesting question, for which there is no precise precedent, although there have been childless Queen Dowagers who have not been called that. Probably less confusing if it wasn’t used, especially as it would make no difference to her legal status. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1302 "2024-02-07T01:22:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Single and ready to mingle. > > Nearing 80 and with her own health issues…? Don’t be ageist. Life begins at 80. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/1303 "2024-02-07T01:46:58Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Life begins at 80. Maybe so, but it ends 11 months later, according to UK life expectancy stats, so it’s wise to party often and hard. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232.md?page=66)