Eduardo Alvarez

Updated Saturday, March 30, 2024-01:59

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It was one of the last decisions that Elizabeth II made a few months before her death:

"When Charles becomes king, Camilla will be queen."

The revered sovereign who occupied the throne of the United Kingdom for seven decades thus settled in February 2022 the rumors and desire on the part of the British public that her heir's wife would never be recognized as more than a princess. However, tradition and sanity prevailed. Furthermore, Isabel II, at that point, not only felt personal appreciation for her daughter-in-law - it was known that this had not always been the case - but she also valued what she represented for her son

and the determination and rigor with which she He rowed in favor of the institution.

No sooner said than done. Elizabeth II's wish was fulfilled. And Camilla was crowned at the pompous investiture ceremony of Charles III last May in Westminster not as queen consort, but as queen, simply, which is her official title. No one could imagine that day that precisely on the shoulders of this 76-year-old woman

the greatest weight of the Crown was going to fall

in this

annus horribilis

of 2024.

And, since it became known that the monarch suffers from cancer and that his treatment prevents him from developing an official public agenda, it has been Queen Camilla who has starred in the most important events of the British Monarchy. For weeks, Prince William was heavily criticized for the fact that he was not the one to take on a larger agenda in the absence of his father, to avoid the feeling of a vacant throne. The moving and shocking announcement last Friday by Kate Middleton that she also has cancer and that she has started preventive chemotherapy treatment, made us understand

why Prince William has had such a low profile

all these weeks.

Queen Camilla during her visit to Northern Ireland on March 21Gtres

Camila, then, is not only the one who is developing the most institutional acts, but also the one who assumes those that, due to her importance, would correspond directly to the king. It was she, for example, who led the commitments on the occasion of Commonwealth Day, March 12, one of the most important dates in the Crown's calendar. Although William supported her during the interreligious service at Westminster Abbey, the queen, now alone, presided over the reception for the authorities of the fifty Commonwealth countries and the rest of the guests at Marlborough House. She also hosted the mass of thanksgiving for King Constantine. Or, just yesterday,

Camila carried out the traditional distribution of Holy Thursday gifts

in the name of the king in the traditional ceremony at Worcester Cathedral with which Easter always begins in the United Kingdom. Royal Maundy Thursday is a centenary event, with enormous tradition, which Elizabeth II only missed four times in her entire reign.

These weeks Camila has also not stopped attending events in the four nations of the United Kingdom, including last week's two-day trip to Northern Ireland in which, as always, she put a good face on the bad weather, reassuring public opinion. about the health of Charles III and even cracking jokes, with his usual sense of humor,

giving an image of essential stability.

Gone are the bitter years in which Camila was the most hated woman in the United Kingdom, the lover for whom the Heir had made the princess of the story, Lady Di, so unhappy, the stepmother whom William and Harry did not want to see. not even in painting. Mark Bolland, brilliant image consultant,

was the man who got the British to start swallowing Camila

in a very careful strategy that lasted 20 years and that began in 1999 with the so-called Ritz operation, the first official photo of Carlos and the woman. the one he loved.

The current queen is still far from being a truly popular Windsor. And a year ago she had an acceptance rate that barely reached 40%, according to surveys. But the crisis that the Monarchy is going through is relaunching it. A recent

YouGov

poll indicates that today 50% of citizens are satisfied with her work. "Although she did not expect to find herself in the position of leading the family,

the queen is absolutely prepared to do whatever is necessary for the institution,"

a Palace source revealed to the

Sunday Times days ago.

"She's found reserves of energy she didn't even think she had, and Buckingham employees' esteem for her has skyrocketed as she's gotten to work."

Another palace source assured British media that

"Queen Camilla is proud of her work,

she is resilient and devoted, and if it serves the king and the nation to step forward and serve the nation, she will do so." That's called putting the Monarchy on your shoulders.