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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Camilla has forgotten title she can use - but has refused to for almost 20 years

Today marks a very special day for the future Queen Consort the Duchess of Cornwall - it's her birthday.

And it's somewhat of a landmark as Camilla turns 75, with her birthday already been marked with a special TV documentary and a stint as the guest editor of Country Life magazine.

This year is already shaping up to be a memorable one for Camilla and her husband Prince Charles, as they've stepped in for the Queen more and more as she suffers with mobility problems.

And earlier this year, on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee, Her Majesty expressed her "sincere wish" for Camilla to use the Queen title when the time comes for her husband Prince Charles to become King.

Camilla turns 75 today (Getty Images)

It marked a turnaround from Charles and Camilla's wedding day in 2005 when Buckingham Palace released a statement saying she intended to use the unprecedented style of Princess Consort when her husband was King.

In that same statement almost 20 years ago, it was also confirmed that going forward Camilla would go by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

And this is despite being entitled to use a much grander sounding title - but she chose not to.

Camilla greets a dog during an engagement earlier this week (Getty Images)

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As Charles is the Prince of Wales, Camilla technically gets the title of Princess of Wales.

The last person to use the title Princess of Wales was Charles' late former wife Princess Diana.

It is believed that Camilla decided against using the title out of respect for Diana - and to avoid any tension or ill-feeling from the public, as many had unfavourable opinions of her.

But royal historian Marlene Koenig writes on her blog Royal Musings: "Camilla is HRH The Princess of Wales, but she is styled as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Diana was the last person to use the Princess of Wales title (Getty Images)

"I believe the decision to use Cornwall was done to appease the Dianamanics."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Camilla had an early celebration at a lunch hosted by The Oldie magazine.

Celebrities including actress Joanna Lumley, Gogglebox star Gyles Brandreth and newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald attended the event, where Camilla gave a speech.

In it, she praised her mother-in-law the Queen before revealing that she hopes to follow in the footsteps of her father-in-law, the late Prince Philip when she is Consort.

She said: The Duke of Edinburgh’s philosophy was clear – look up, look out, say less, do more and get on with the job – and that’s just what I intend to do.

“Both he and Her Majesty have been… an inspiration to each one of us here to do the same, whatever her age.”

After her speech, Camilla was presented with a birthday cake by her 15-year-old granddaughter, Lola.

The tiered creation – featuring the duchess’ coat of arms and Jack Russells – was wheeled in on a trolley as the award-winning bass-baritone Willard White led guests in a round of “Happy Birthday”.

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