The Princess of Wales has become the focus of a new viral video, as fans highlighted her role as a future queen on TikTok.
Kate is set to become Britain's next Queen Consort if and when her husband, Prince William, takes to the throne following the reign of King Charles III. The princess' royal career has been highlighted in recent weeks after it was announced that she would be taking an extended absence from public life to recover from "planned abdominal surgery."
Kensington Palace revealed last month that Kate underwent the surgery on January 16 and this was followed by a two-week period of recovery in a London hospital. On January 29, the princess was discharged and began a convalescence period in Windsor. She isn't expected to return to official duties until after Easter.
In the years since her marriage in 2011, Kate has become one of the most photographed and watched members of the royal family, and a very senior one.
In September 2022, King Charles made his elder son and daughter-in-law the new Prince and Princess of Wales in his accession speech. This denotes their senior status as the next couple in line to take to the throne.
Following Kate's medical announcement and period of absence from public life, fans of the royal shared a number of social media posts and video edits reflecting on her role.
Uploaded to TikTok by user, aniston.royalfamily, on February 7, one of the most recent of these spotlights the princess' status as a future queen.
In a compilation of clips from public engagements, footage of Queen Camilla is captioned "The queen right now," which is contrasted with footage of Kate with the caption: "The future queen."
Titled, "Our next queen👑" the viral video has been viewed over 390,000 times on TikTok so far, receiving in excess of 42,000 likes and over 300 comments, many of which have praised Kate.
"Catherine will be perfect," wrote one user.
"Catherine The Princess of Wales is going to make the most amazing peoples Queen," posted another, with a further comment reading: "She was born to be queen. A woman with a firm head on her shoulders and understanding of royal protocol. Testimony is her demeanor to date."
An additional comment highlighted the distinction between "queen" and "queen consort."
In the British monarchical system there are two types of queen. One rules by right, meaning that she inherited the throne by virtue of birth and rules independently, known as a queen regnant. Examples of these are Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.
The second category, queen consort, hold their titles simply because they are married to kings. Traditionally, however, "consort" is not used when referring to the person, instead being known as "queen" in addition to their first name. Examples of queen consorts are Queen Camilla and Queen Mary.
If Prince William accedes to the throne, he will become King William V, and therefore, by virtue, his wife will become his queen consort, likely being known as Queen Catherine.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
