A royal expert has said that Charles, Prince of Wales, could take over while the Queen is still living if he is appointed Prince Regent. Royal expert Robert Dobson said the Queen won’t have to abdicate the throne if Charles is regent.
Royal watchers have been discussing the possibility that the Queen could retire and hand over the responsibilities of her office to her eldest son and heir apparent, Charles.
Royal experts who suggested the Queen should consider retiring from public life cite her age and the fact that her late husband, Philip, also retired at 96, nearly four years before he died at 99.
However, suggestions that the Queen should retire have been rejected by some of her supporters who don’t want her to hand over the reins to Charles.
Some of the Queen’s supporters insist they want her to continue actively serving as Queen for the rest of the life.
The Queen should be allowed to retire but shouldn’t abdicate, a royal expert said
Robert Dobson, a royal biographer, said he supports calls for the Queen to retire after she celebrated her 95th birthday on April 21 and hand over the reins to her son, Charles, because it is unrealistic to expect the Queen can continue serving indefinitely during her old age.
“If she wants to retire, then she should be allowed, in my opinion,” Dobson said, according to Express. “I think that it is a job that involves a lot of active mental capacity which she has been incredible at. But we can’t fool ourselves that she is indestructible or some sort of super-super-human.”
But Dobson admitted the Queen may never retire. He also ruled out the possibility that the Queen will ever abdicate.
“The Queen will be the Queen until the day she dies. Of course, she will,” he said.
Charles could become Prince Regent
Although Dobson said he did not expect the Queen will ever abdicate, he added that Prince Charles could take over her duties if he becomes Prince Regent as provided under the Regency Act 1937.
This could happen before the Queen’s death if she is unable to continue performing her duties due to age-related physical or mental incapacity.
“That would only be necessary if she was both physically and mentally infirm. There is enough scope in the Regency Act for that to happen,” Dobson said, according to Express.
A regent is someone who is appointed to perform the duties of a King or Queen when the monarch is unable to perform their duties. This can happen during the monarch’s absence from the kingdom or when the monarch is too young, too old to rule, or suffering from mental or physical incapacity.
Under the Regency Act 1937, a regent can assume authority only if at least three of several officials, including the spouse of the Sovereign, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Chief Justice of England, accept the evidence that the monarch is unable to perform their constitutional duties.
The act also states that the next person in the line of succession should be appointed as regent.
George IV became Prince Regent (“sovereign de facto”) on February 5, 1811, after his father, George III, was declared mentally infirm.
He became King on January 29, 1820, after George III died.
Instead of becoming Regent, The Queen could simply allow Charles to take on more responsibilities
After pointing out that Charles could take over as Prince Regent without the Queen abdicating, Dobson said he believed that instead of activating the Regency Act 1937, the Queen could, in the years ahead, allow Charles to take on more responsibilities and act as “Quasi-King.”
The novel arrangement could allow the Queen to eventually retire from public life without abdicating.
“I have a feeling the way they are planning this now is to do it differently. Which is essentially we see Charles as a Quasi-King,” Dobson said. “And in this way, he is supporting the Queen. I think that is probably what will happen.”
Dobson claimed that Charles was already studying “government papers” in preparation for the alleged “Quasi-king” arrangement.
I think the queen should give the British people a present and appoint William and Kate to be king and queen
Charles doesn’t know his ass from a whole in the ground. His wife has given the British people nothing but grief. She would just be a figure head; doing nothing for the people.
William and Kate would be a breath of fresh air!