Over the past year, Queen Elizabeth II has delegated some of her most important royal duties to her eldest son, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne.
In May, the 96-year-old monarch was forced to withdraw from presiding over the state opening of Parliament because of mobility problems, and did not deliver the traditional queen’s speech, which lays out the government’s legislative program. It was the first time since 1963 that the queen did not attend the ceremony.
Instead, set against a gilded backdrop in the Palace of Westminster, Charles, the Prince of Wales, delivered the queen’s speech on his mother’s behalf, setting out the priorities for “her Majesty’s government.”
Charles was flanked by his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, and his eldest son, Prince William, who is second in line to the throne. The dynastic image came a month before the queen’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70 years on the throne and her position as the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
William’s three children follow him in the succession order. His brother, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is sixth in line, but he has taken a step back from royal duties. Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, moved to the United States two years ago after saying that they wanted to become financially independent.
The couple have spoken openly about the intense scrutiny they faced from the British tabloid press and the toll this took on their mental health, and have alleged that members of the royal family made racist comments about their son, Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne. The couple’s daughter, Lilibet, who is named after the affectionate nickname given to the queen by her family, is eighth in line.
Prince Andrew, the queen’s third child, is ninth in line to the throne, but stepped away from royal duties in 2019 after giving an interview to the BBC about his links to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison in New York City while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The rules of succession were changed in 2013 to prevent younger male siblings from overtaking their elder sisters in line to the throne. The change was made two months before William’s second child, Princess Charlotte, was born, and meant that she retained her position as fourth in line to the throne when her younger brother, Prince Louis, was born.
Source : Nytimes
