Why Isn't Camilla Called a Princess Like Diana Was?

If the British royal family's rules were bound in an actual physical book, there would need to be a Harry Potter-sized section dedicated solely to titles. The way royals refer to themselves is a tricky and somewhat convoluted business that's full of meaning.

Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, for example, is technically "His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit, Grand Master and First and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Knight of the Order of Australia, Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, Extra Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Lord of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Councillor of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom."

We dare you to try reading that in one breath (it's impossible). When you keep that in mind, it makes it pretty surprising, then, that Prince Charles's wife, Camilla, has such a short moniker. She is simply known as "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall."

Notice anything missing?

Unlike Charles's first wife, Princess Diana, Camilla is not known as the Princess of Wales, despite being married to the Prince of Wales. She technically could be, but special steps were taken to avoid that scenario, mostly out of respect to Diana.

Even after Diana and Charles divorced, the title "Princess of Wales" was strongly associated with Di. After she died, general public feelings toward Camilla were not exactly favorable, even a decade later when she and Charles finally married. Royal expert Marlene Koenig told Town & Country that Camilla not taking Diana's former title was an attempt not to stir up more ill will for herself than absolutely necessary.

"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," Koenig told the outlet. "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."

Even with Camilla's rising popularity, there have been no changes to her title — not that she'd be using it for very long. Once Charles becomes king, many believe that Camilla will end up as queen (though it's not guaranteed).

Will there be a Queen Camilla in our future? Only time will tell, but if it happens, she might finally get a few more lines to her title.