Will Camilla’s Two Children Get Titles When Charles Becomes King?

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published 5 March 2022

We don’t hear much about Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s two children Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes—and they seem to prefer it that way.

Both of Camilla’s children from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles are long grown and are keen to live their lives quietly and largely out of the spotlight. Tom Parker Bowles is a well-respected food writer and Lopes is an art curator. But, upon their stepfather Prince Charles’ ascension to the throne, could they become titled royals?

It’s a quandary that has no firm answer, as what to do with royal stepchildren is a precedent not yet set. But, with the Queen’s recent statement that it is her wish for Parker Bowles and Lopes’ mother, Camilla, to become Queen Consort one day, royal commentator Brian Hoey points out to the Daily Express that “we have never, ever had children of a King or Queen who remained untitled–so that will be interesting. Are we going to have the Parker Bowles children being elevated?”

When asked how likely he thinks that Charles will give titles to his two stepchildren, Hoey says “I think it’s very probable.”

The titles, he says, would be minor ones and wouldn’t impact the working core of the royal family.

“I think they are bound to get some sort of a title,” Hoey says. “Charles, even though he said he wants to be a modernizer, he is also a traditionalist, very much a realist. He quite likes ceremonial, and he believes in the honor system in Britain, and I think he will do whatever he feels it’s the correct formal thing to do at the time.”

The Prince of Wales is said to have a good relationship with both of his stepchildren; in fact, as a nod to the longstanding and at times extremely complicated relationship Charles and Camilla have had since they met in the early 1970s, long before he married Camilla in 2005, Charles was named one of Tom Parker Bowles’ godparents.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.