Elizabeth II's wish: "May Camilla be Queen consort when Charles is King"

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 70th year of reign - a milestone that no British monarch had ever achieved before - and, for this historic milestone, she has reserved a surprise for her subjects, expressing the wish that the wife of the Prince Charles, Camilla, becomes

when he is king.

"When my son Charles becomes king", writes the sovereign from Sandringham House in the Jubilee message to her subjects, "I know that you will offer him and his wife Camilla the same support you gave me".

"It is my sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be called queen consort while she continues her faithful service," the text continues.   

Charles and Camilla

, respectively Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, married in 2005. It was then announced that, once Charles became king, Camilla would assume the title of Her Highness the Princess Consort, and not that of Queen Consort.

A choice seen as a fallback solution because Camilla was considered not very popular due to her long relationship with Charles at the time when the crown prince was married to Princess Diana of Wales.

A Clarence House spokesperson said the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were "moved and honored" by the Queen's words, which also highlighted Camilla's "loyal work".

Elizabeth's message shows that the monarch is planning for the future after her death.

In December, the sovereign had bestowed on Camilla the title of Lady of the Order of the Garter, the oldest order in the United Kingdom: she is so far the only spouse of her children to have been awarded such an honor.

The British press welcomed the Queen's wish.

The

headlines "Camilla will become Queen" and writes that the statement "puts an end to years of speculation" and "uncertainty" and sweeps away rumors of a possible abdication as well as proving not only the queen's unwavering support for her daughter-in-law, but also the affection and esteem for the woman who made her eldest son happy ". The

considers the issue as a gift from the sovereign to Charles while the

stresses that the queen's gesture, which puts an end to" years of controversy and confusion ", it is also the first time that the monarch publicly expresses her opinion on a divisive issue".

AP

Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla

Queen Elizabeth II, 95, has largely withdrawn from public life after health problems in recent months.

In her last public appearances she appeared frail and walked slowly.

February

is traditionally a special day for her because it is both the date of her accession to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25, but also that of the death of her father King George VI, to whom she was very attached.

This year also marks her first anniversary of reign without her husband, Prince Philip, who died in April 2021 at the age of 99, while the monarchy is going through a troubled period between allegations of sexual violence against her son Andrew and the move to the United States of his nephew Harry with his wife Meghan and their children.

Before reaching Sandringham, the Queen examined the items and messages sent to her for her previous jubilees at Windsor Castle.

A video shows her smiling, looking in particular at a card made with bottle caps and the "recipe for a perfect queen" imagined by a little girl, with "500 ml of royal blood", "some jewels" and "a pinch of fidelity ".

In Parliament, Prime Minister

this week thanked Elizabeth II's "tireless" devotion, which remains hugely popular.

have been minted for her Jubilee

and eight stamps have been issued, depicting her at different times during her reign.

Her portrait will be broadcast in the next few days on giant screens positioned in various cities of the country while on Monday the so-called

, the day of the return to London of the twenty-five-year-old queen with her prince consort from Kenya where they were on an official visit 70 years ago. , will be celebrated with 41 cannon shots fired from Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, while another 61 will be fired from the Tower of London.

Four days of festivities, eagerly awaited by the British, are scheduled for early June starting with the traditional

parade , which officially celebrates its anniversary every year.

Also scheduled is a great concert and a historical reconstruction of the 70-year reign of a queen who has gone through, unperturbed, times and crises.

The celebration of the royal jubilee is an occasion to revive the monarchy, as the historian Jane Ridley explained in recent days in a meeting with the international press in London.

"It is a particularly important moment - you stressed - precisely because it is now essentially a ceremonial monarchy".

Ridley herself recalled on that occasion the popularity of Elizabeth II "does not stop increasing with her age: she is so popular that it is practically impossible to express criticism. She does not participate in political debates, but her unifying role of the country, especially when there are crisis, it was particularly important during the peak of the pandemic. People consider her a bit like everyone's grandmother. "