Duchess of Cornwall is a courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of Cornwall. The Dukedom of Cornwall is a non-hereditary peerage title held by the British monarch's eldest son and heir. The current duchess is Camilla, wife of Charles, Prince of Wales.[1]
History
Duchess of Cornwall was one of the titles of Diana, Princess of Wales.[2]
The only women who have been known as duchesses of Cornwall are Princess Mary of Teck, who used the title from January to November 1901, and Camilla Parker Bowles, who assumed title upon her marriage to Prince Charles in 2005. The latter does not use the title of Princess of Wales because it is still popularly associated with her husband's first wife, Diana, who died in 1997.[3]
Literary references
- Shakespeare's King Lear includes the character "Regan, Duchess of Cornwall", Lear's second daughter.
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon included the fictional character Morgaine as the Duchess of Cornwall through inheritance.
- Igraine, mother of King Arthur, was Duchess of Cornwall when she caught the eye of King Uther Pendragon in many retellings of Arthurian legend.
See also
References
- ^ "House of Commons – Royal Marriage". parliament.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Hall, Trevor (1985). Story of Diana. Crescent Books. ISBN 0517463172.
- ^ "The Royal Title that Camilla and Princess Diana Shared". Harper's Bazaar. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
When she married Prince Charles, "Camilla was not popular or well liked, [though] this has changed a lot since the marriage as Camilla has taken on a lot of patronages and Charles is a lot happier," [Marlene] Koenig says. "Still, [there was] a lot of tension and anger among a certain element of the population—so it was decided that Camilla would be styled as the Duchess of Cornwall, even though, of course, she is the Princess of Wales."