Longstanding royal rule prevented Prince Philip being called King - but Queen Camilla isn’t affected
He stood alongside Her Majesty for decades, so why wasn't the prince known as King Philip?The Queen and Prince Philip celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary before the Duke died in 2021. However, while he held a number of royal titles, Prince Philip was never called King.
This is down to a longstanding royal rule within The Firm that doesn’t apply to King Charles’ wife Queen Consort Camilla.
Philip became the longest-serving royal consort in British history, having stood by Elizabeth‘s side for more than 70 years. As we look back on Prince Philip’s role in the royal family before his death, we explain why he was never called king.
When did Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip marry?
Born on the Greek island of Corfu, into the Greek and Danish royal families, Philip abandoned his royal titles on marrying the future Queen. Instead, he grew up overseas, and attended a number of schools in France, Germany, England and Scotland.
The couple began corresponding when the young Princess Elizabeth was just 13. After growing close over the years, in 1946 Prince Philip asked her father – King George VI – for permission to marry his eldest daughter who was aged 20 at the time.
Permission granted, on the condition that the announcement waited until Elizabeth turned 21 the following year, the couple revealed their engagement in July 1947. They married on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
The day before Philip married Princess Elizabeth, her father King George VI gave him the title His Royal Highness. George also created the titles Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, but it’s the former by which Philip was most often known.
Philip and Princess Elizabeth were in Kenya on a Commonwealth tour on February 6, 1952 when her beloved father, King George VI, passed away at Sandringham.
Philip was the one who broke the news to his wife, and the couple returned home immediately. Her coronation followed on June 2, 1953.
Why wasn’t Prince Philip called king?
Why is a king’s wife a queen but a queen’s husband not a king? The spouse of a ruler – king or queen – is referred to as a consort. It gets more complicated than that, so let’s look at princes.
The reason Prince Philip was never called king is down to language. Queen did not mean ‘a female king’ in the history of the monarchy. It simply referred to the ‘wife of a king’, which did not put her as the same hierarchy as the monarch themselves.
Whereas, if we used the same language for Prince Philip when he was at Queen Elizabeth II’s side, it wouldn’t make sense. Why is it prince consort and not king consort? For a King consort, it would seem like a contradiction or that the King Consort outranked the Queen. Prince Albert and Prince Philip were both Prince Consorts, not kings, to ensure they did not outrank their wives who had higher status.
Prince Philip was also not crowned at Elizabeth II’s coronation ceremony in 1953. Ten years after their wedding, the Queen made Philip a British prince and he became Prince Philip.
Why is Camilla a Queen?
Nowadays, we differentiate between Queen Consort and Queen Regnant. The latter refers to the ruler and the former a wife of a ruler. Following Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, Buckingham Palace referred to Camilla as Queen Consort to help convey who they were talking about.
The Queen had been Elizabeth for seven decades, and as such, it would have been hard to distinguish between the two.
At King Charles’ coronation, Camilla was crowned alongside her husband. As it had been several months after his mother’s death, fans and people around the world had become associated with their new titles.
But it is more than just familiarity. In royal history many Queen Consorts later were just referred to with the word ‘Queen’. Elizabeth II’s mother, Queen Consort Elizabeth, eventually just became Queen Elizabeth alongside King George VI before being known as the Queen Mother.
When William becomes King, Kate will be Queen Consort if she is crowned during his coronation, much like Camilla is now. Although, most people drop the ‘consort’ when referring to the monarchy.
However, this doesn’t apply the other way around. This is the reason Prince Philip did not become King.
Do you think Prince Philip should have been a king? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @RoyalInsiderOfficial.
