Prince William or Prince Charles, who will be the next king?
he order of succession is clear and fixed. Prince Charles is expected to become the next king. But he could choose to abdicate and leave the throne to his eldest son William. This is what crown specialists think.
And according to experts, she has no intention of giving way before her death. Indeed, some had assumed that after the death of her husband Prince Philip, she would like to take some distance and enjoy her last years. It seems that this is not the case, she has already explained that she would never abdicate and cease to be queen until the day of her death.
Prince Charles designated successor to the Crown
When the queen dies therefore, there will be no debate, the order of succession is very clear, it is Prince Charles, her eldest son, who will automatically become king.
He has been preparing for this task since his birth. Moreover, since the death of his father, he has taken on a little more royal responsibilities to relieve his mother. He is even said to have organized a meeting on the future of the royal family.
When the queen dies, Prince Charles will be king ex officio, as required by the Act of Succession set by Parliament in 1700. His coronation will then be organized and he will be able to choose his name. Indeed, he will have the possibility to be called King Charles III, or to use one of his other first names and to become King Philip, King Arthur, or King George VII.
But there is a possibility: Prince Charles will never become king. There is debate among specialists as we can read in the press from across the Channel.
What condition for Prince William to become king?
Indeed, Prince Charles is already 71 years old. It is not known how old he will be when the queen dies. But according to some specialists, he could decide to pass his turn. Prince William has no legal recourse to demand to become king, but his father may decide to cede the throne to him. For that, he would have to officially abdicate before Parliament.
This is what a majority of British citizens would like, as revealed by a Deltapoll poll carried out in April 2021. 47% of Britons would like to see William and Kate accede to the throne, against only 27% for Charles. He still suffers from his divorce from Lady Di.
What are the odds for Prince Charles to abdicate?
But despite the wishes of the British, it seems likely that Prince Charles will never abdicate and make the same choice as his mother: to reign until her death.
Abdication is, on the one hand, an extremely rare act. The British monarchy took years to recover from the love abdication of King Edward VIII in December 1936.
Since that date, there is an unwritten rule among the Windsors: no one abdicates, under any pretext. It is therefore very unlikely that Prince Charles will decide to break this tradition and jeopardize the already fragile stability of the monarchy.
It is therefore a safe bet that Prince Charles will become king, and perform a "short" transitional reign before handing over to his son on his death. But when it does, William already has a lot of ideas about what he wants to change in the Monarchy. And after him, it will be his eldest son Prince George.
