Could Prince Charles soon be the royal head honcho? A royal expert claims that Queen Elizabeth II will “give up her powers” when she turns 95, relinquishing her duties to her son.
“Her Majesty turned 93 in April but could bring in the 1937 Regency Act in two years to relinquish the ‘majority of duties’ to her son and heir to the throne,” reports Fox News. “The Act allows a reigning monarch to hand over power if they feel they are unable to fully perform their duties.”
Speaking with Yahoo’s The Royal Box, Royal author Phil Dampler said that current talks within the royal family circles point to the Queen evoking the Regency Act in just two years time.
“There is talk that when she reaches 95 in a couple of years she may slow down and possibly the Regency Act will be brought in,” Dampler said. “She will still be Queen but Prince Charles will, in fact, take over most of the duties. He is starting to do that already, being at the state opening in Parliament and the Commonwealth conference. He is starting to take over a lot of the duties and doing the investitures.”
Though Queen Elizabeth would still maintain her royal title, the 70-year-old Prince Charles would essentially be a steward until she was to pass away, after which point he would be crowned King of England. The 98-year-old Prince Philip would become the Guardian of the Queen. For the Queen’s request to take effect, “Prince Philip along with a Houses of Parliament spokesperson and a third senior person” would have to provide evidence supporting it.
Indeed, as Fox News notes, Prince Charles has “gradually been filling in for his mother and represented the head of state on foreign trips during her Diamond Jubilee year to Australia and New Zealand.”
Should the day come that Prince Charles becomes the actual King of England, speculation is that he will abdicate the throne to his son, Prince William. In fact, a 2019 survey shows that half the British population would prefer William over Charles.
“A 2019 survey showed that almost half of the British public want Prince Charles to stand aside and let his eldest son William become the next King,” reports the U.K.’s Express. “The survey by BMG Research on behalf of The Independent found that 46 percent of Britons want the first in line to the throne to abdicate immediately to allow the Duke of Cambridge to take over. A further 27 percent of those polled showed ‘strong support’ for directly passing the crown to William.”
Will Charles actually abdicate? Royal experts say it depends. One problem for Charles is his divorce from Princess Diana and remarriage to Camilla Parker Bowles, who only a third of Britons support as their future queen. On the other hand, Charles could indeed hold the throne for a few years as his son prepares for the title if experts believe he is still too young to take up to the mantle.