King Charles III and Queen Camilla flew back to the U.K. on Friday, following four action-packed days on the East Coast, including a visit to the White House and several other tourist sites.
A few of my friends have been remarking on the visit, and one of them mentioned the fact that, back when Queen Elizabeth II was the British monarch, her husband was known as “Prince Phillip”. But now that Charles has been crowned King, his wife is being referred to as “Queen Camilla”.
Would it be more proper to refer to her a “Princess Camilla”? Because, just like Prince Phillip, Camilla wasn’t born into a royal family, like a real King or Queen. She married her way into it. So how did she get to be “Queen”, when Phillip was relegated, all those many years, to the somewhat demeaning position of “Prince”, instead of people calling him “King Phillip”? Doesn’t seem fair.
And while we’re on the subject, I wonder how King Charles feels about being called “King Charles”? The term “King” seems to have a negative connotation these days. Here in the States, people have been marching down the street with picket signs that say “No Kings”. Which is slightly weird, because we don’t actually have any “Kings”.
Nor do we have any “Queens”. Although we do have people who refer to themselves as “queens”… but with a somewhat different meaning.
250 years ago, we did have a King. King George III. His wife, of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was referred to as the “Queen consort” rather than merely as “Queen”, maybe because she was German. When King George began suffering from mental illness in 1804, the Queen consort arranged for her own bedroom and started avoiding the King as much as possible, preferring the company of her 15 children.
In spite of going mad, George III was able to pass the crown on to his descendants, including Charles III.
Some countries that still have Kings are not entirely sure they like the idea, and that includes the U.K.
We note that the signs say, “Not My King”. So they’re obviously admitting that there’s someone who is, in fact, the King… just maybe he’s not “their King”. So presumably he’s someone else’s King. It’s not entirely clear who that “someone else” might be.
King Charles III is not my King, and Queen Camilla is not my Queen. We don’t have Kings and Queens here in the U.S.A. We only have people who act like Kings and Queens.
Based on what I saw online about the recent visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, I think I would actually prefer to have them as my King and Queen, compared to certain other people.
I came across some videos of King Charles, addressing the U.S. Congress and speaking at a White House dinner. Turns out, he has quite a sense of humor, and that’s something incredibly useful to have these days, especially if you speaking the truth. I came across a photo online, showing our President sitting with the King at the White House, and they were both laughing. I have no idea what they were laughing about, but it gave me a warm feeling. Things in Washington have been entirely too serious lately.
During a speech at the White House dinner, King Charles remarked on the close relationship between the U.K. and the U.S., something that “my Mother’s first Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, understood so well…”
“Indeed, such was the closeness, that Sir Winston, whilst staying here in the White House – in one of the rooms you showed us upstairs – emerged naked from the bathtub to discover the door opening as President Roosevelt came in for a chat. With rapier wit, the President cast aside any embarrassment by declaring that, ‘the Prime Minister has nothing to conceal from the President of the United States’. This warmth came after testing times between our leaders in the early 1940s.
“The kinship and friendship of many centuries provided great reassurance to my late grandfather King George VI, as it did to my late Mother. It means every bit as much to me.
“Of course, my late Mother met no fewer than 13 serving Presidents – thankfully, all of them fully clothed!”
Our President reportedly enjoyed the visit, and the King’s sense of humor, enough to remove certain tariffs. From the President’s social media account:
In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky.
Perhaps the lower prices on Whiskey and Bourbon will help promote humor — even, dare I say, political humor — of the kind the King was demonstrating during his visit.
Our President was also impressed with Queen Camilla, if we can believe the lip-readers. From an online article:
According to lip reader Jeremy Freeman speaking to the ‘Mirror’, President Trump expressed admiration for Queen Camilla. Standing outside the White House with both couples present, the President told the King, “It’s been good. It’s been important. Look at everybody,” before gesturing toward Camilla and remarking, “I don’t know how she does it, she’s amazing.”
The lip reader did not reveal what, exactly, the Queen does that amazes the President. We are left to our imaginations.
All I can say is, if I were King, I would definitely want a Queen who does something amazing. Whatever it is.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.