“She will still be Queen but Prince Charles will, in fact, take over most of the duties.”
If this were to occur, Prince Charles would take on the roles previously looked after by the Queen.
“He is starting to do that already, being at the state opening in parliament and the Commonwealth conference,” Phil added.
“He is starting to take over a lot of the duties and doing the investitures.”
For the crowning of a new monarch, the Queen will need to either step down or die. In both cases, the natural succession to the title would be Prince Charles.
He will then become Head of the Commonwealth as stipulated in a statement issued by the Commonwealth in 2018.
“We recognise the role of the Queen in championing the Commonwealth and its peoples. The next head of the Commonwealth shall be his Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.”
This followed the express wishes of the Queen, when she said, “It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations, and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949”.
However, there has been some talk that Prince William could become king if Charles decides to abdicate, due to the public favouring his son in the popularity stakes.
But, according to experts, this is unlikely. Royals biographer Penny Junor believes Charles “does think he will become king”.
“I certainly don’t think he’s preparing to hand over to William or to abdicate himself,” she added.
“I think he will become king.”
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