Queen Elizabeth is making fewer engagements, and her son, Prince Charles, has been taking on more jobs from her. Due to the current arrangement, there are rumors that the 96-year-old monarch might abdicate.
Queen Elizabeth Sparks Abdication, Health Concerns For Canceling Engagements
The British monarch has been pulling out from numerous important engagements this year. She skipped the Commonwealth Service. She also decided to cancel her attendance at the opening of the Parliament Tuesday. Instead, she had the heir apparent, Prince Charles, his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, and Prince William attend the event on her behalf.
It was the first time Queen Elizabeth decided to miss the State Opening of Parliament in 59 years. Thus, her decision sparked health concerns and abdication rumors.
Some royal fans are wondering if she is sick. Others anticipated if Her Majesty would pass down the throne to Prince Charles, the longest Prince of Wales in British history.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams weighed in on the abdication rumors and them. Although he believed that the Queen delegating more jobs to her firstborn suggested a gradual takeover from the Prince of Wales, it still didn't mean that the Queen was making him regent.
Fitzwilliams believed that Prince Charles was just stepping in for the Queen and not replacing her. He offered a symbolic explanation saying the sovereign throne was removed from the chamber and not used by the heir apparent. Prince Charles only uses the Consort's throne.
"It is important to stress that the Throne, symbolic of her authority, will remain vacant," he told Express.
For the State Opening of Parliament, Prince Charles will wear his Admiral of the Fleet uniform. Prince William will wear a morning coat. The Prince of Wales will also read his mother's message.
"The Queen continues to experience episodic mobility problems, and in consultation with her doctors has reluctantly decided that she will not attend the State Opening of Parliament tomorrow," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "At Her Majesty's request, and with the agreement of the relevant authorities, The Prince of Wales will read The Queen's Speech on Her Majesty's behalf, with The Duke of Cambridge also in attendance."
Queen Elizabeth Has No Plans To Abdicate, But Some Believe It's Best For The Monarchy That She Steps Down From The Throne
The Queen has dedicated her whole life to the monarchy when she ascended the throne. When she made her first public speech as the new monarch, Queen Elizabeth said that "my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service."
However, due to the Queen's advanced years, she has to limit her engagements. She no longer has the energy and physical ability to attend to as many duties as she used to two decades ago.
She is no longer as visible to the public and has already moved from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle. Thus, royal correspondent Daniela Elser felt it would be best for the Queen to abdicate.
"While her view that abdication or bowing out of the job has always been one of horror and extreme distaste, her refusal to even countenance stepping down is going to start severely impacting the monarchy," Elser wrote on News.com.au.
"For one thing, her ongoing health issues are already proving a huge distraction, with the flurry of reporting and speculation every time she cancels an event detracting from whatever do-goodery her children and grandchildren are up to, you know, the meat and potatoes of the royal game."
She added that the Queen's absence will give the monarchy a "symbolism of a sovereign who is largely invisible and tucked away from view."
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In Elser's opinion, instead of "projecting strength and continuity," a monarch away from the palace only gives the crown an impression of uncertainty and weakness.
"Making way for Charles to take the throne now is not only the practical play here but the canny one. A smooth, joy-filled coronation for King Charles III, one which starred his beaming mother casting a proud eye over proceedings, would be a world away from a coronation tainted by the sadness of her death."
Elser continued. "If the Queen was to pass the baton, or the Imperial State Crown in fact, to her 73-year-old son, it would start his reign on a totally different note, one of positivity and joy and with him ruling with her blessing – not out of necessity" because the Queen "sadly passed away."
Stay tuned for more news and updates about the royal family.