Camilla has made her first public appearance since the Queen announced she would be known as the Queen Consort.

A huge crowd of well-wishers – as well as reporters and photographers – gathered outside Roundhill Primary School in Bath for the 74-year-old’s visit, which included touring classrooms and joining a range of lessons.

It comes after the Queen used her Platinum Jubilee message to the nation at the weekend to announce her “sincere wish” the Duchess of Cornwall will be known as Queen Camilla when Prince Charles is crowned king.

Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills, in Bath, said the duchess would likely welcome the extra attention on her, with it also throwing the spotlight on the issue of reading and literacy – one of her key passions.

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The royal seal of approval on the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign ends years of controversy over Camilla’s future title.

The Prince of Wales responded by saying he is “deeply conscious of the honour represented by my mother’s wish” for his “darling” wife.

Camilla was initially cast as the villain in the story of Charles and Diana, and when news of her affair with the prince came to light she was heavily criticised.

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But as she has carved out her own royal role and been accepted by the rest of the family, the mood towards her has softened.

Prince Charles has described his wife as his “steadfast support” as the pair have “sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities”.

When he married Camilla in 2005, royal aides insisted that Camilla did not want to be queen and said originally the former Mrs Parker Bowles “intended” to be known instead as princess consort, the first in British history, instead.

It was seen at the time as an acknowledgment that the public was finding it difficult to accept Charles’s new wife, after their affair and his divorce from Princess Diana.

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Technically, Camilla would have been Queen when Charles acceded to the throne, and only legislation would have prevented it.

But the long-serving monarch has now closed the matter in a move seen to help to make the start of her son’s reign as trouble-free as possible.

Mills said reasons for the surprise announcement include that “over the last 17 years she has seen that Camilla has embraced royal life, has been a real key supporter of her son the Prince of Wales, and also, once and for all, putting to bed that matter of what the Queen will think when Prince Charles one day becomes king”.

She added: “There can be no questions about what her wishes would have been.”

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