Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons married Albert, Duke of York and became the Duchess of York thereby. When Edward VIII abdicated, Albert became King George VI. His wife became Queen through her marriage as she had become Duchess of York, not in her own right.
George VI was not a physically strong man at the best of times, and his wife probably carried more of the burden of the public face of the monarchy than many queens before her; certainly Queen Mary, George's mother, was not often heard.
When George VI died, his widow was really in a very similar position as she had been when he was alive. She was mother to the Queen, and we know that Queen Elizabeth leant heavily on her for support and advice. The British handled the situation with some aplomb by naming her Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, or just the Queen Mother. I can't find any reference to a similar title being used in the past. The present Queen has always taken her position very seriously, and her mother provided the world with a more human view of the monarchy. She seemed to have found a niche in that area.
She had what is called "the common touch" and could work a crowd of lords or of stable boys with equal aplomb. I was speaking to someone on Saturday who met her some years ago. It was a convention of some sort, and apparently it took the Queen Mother no time at all to work out what was going on and what the atmosphere was. She went away leaving, apparently, a bunch of devoted slaves behind her. That ability does not come from position, it comes from personality. It would appear that Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, has inherited the knack. Her older brother seems to be fairly good at it too.
On the down side, it seems that it was the Queen Mother who finally nixed Princess Margaret's association with Peter Townshend which, in retrospect, would have probably been the best thing for her, so the old girl's judgement wasn't always sound. But that's family, and one's judgement isn't always sharpest when it comes to those nearest and dearest to you.
As for Prince Charles, I have always felt sorry for him. It was a fair bet that, illness aside, his mother wasn't going to pop her clogs young, and he's never really been able to find the kind of niche that his grandmother carved out for herself. After that farcical marriage, his credibility dropped until people began noticing that he was actually quite a good father. I personally see no reason why he shouldn't become King when mum finally dies. His relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles is quite interesting. Once of the major things against Wallis Simpson was the fact that she had been married twice before. Camilla doesn't have that impediment. She's also English and from a "good" family. Personally, I think that marrying her would be good for Charles, he's too much of a straight arrow to relish sneaking around. I also think that the British people would shrug and say "oh well, good on them" if they did get married, although that wasn't the case a couple of years ago. I don't know whether the Great British Public would stomach her as queen, but the marriage could be morganatic so that everyone's sensibilities would be accounted for.
FWIW
