The wife of a king automatically becomes a queen consort and only a change in legislation would prevent her from doing so.

But when the former Mrs Parker Bowles married Charles 17 years ago, aides insisted she did not want to be Queen and “intended” to be known as Princess Consort instead.

Camilla was blamed for the breakdown of the prince’s marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales.

But in the decades after the divorce, the untimely death of Diana in 1997 and Camilla’s acceptance into ‘The Firm’, the public mood towards the duchess has softened, and she has gradually taken on a more prominent position within the royal family.

Camilla is patron of St John’s Foundation, a local Bath charity which launched a plan in 2020 to equip children with the skills and level of education needed to thrive in their transition into secondary school.