# Could Queen Elizabeth Decide to Bypass Prince Charles as her Successor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288 "2016-10-11T21:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/81 "2016-10-13T07:41:33Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > From what I’ve read in the late 1990s Elizabeth realized that for Charles to do a good job as king, he needed to be happy. The best way for Charles to be happy would be for him to be married to Camilla. So the Queen let Camilla in the house, let them get married somewhat quietly in a civil ceremony (a Church of England ceremony was out because her first husband still breathes) and have her known by a lesser title, Duchess of Cornwall. No need to upset the Diana fans by naming her Princess of Wales. Camilla _is_ Princess of Wales. Although she opts to be known as Duchess of Cornwall - presumably from respect for Diana. I also don’t get the hate for Charles. Honestly, what’s he done? He seems quite a nice old man to me, and genuinely seems to be concerned for the welfare of the countryside, the environment and deprived communities in the UK. He’ll make a fine King. I think too many people have seen _[UK] House of Cards Part II: To Play the King_ where a leftie King challenges the right-wing PM. That’s not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/82 "2016-10-13T13:15:09Z")
Although that was one of the sub-texts to Edward’s abdication and why he didn’t have a lot of support in Parliament: earlier comments when he was Prince of Wales suggested he might want to be active in politics. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/83 "2016-10-13T13:31:47Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > **Northern Piper** , could you address this remark: > > My own understanding of Canada’s Constitution is that while it contains provisions to remove the monarch (at Charter s. 41), it does not address succession issues. Those should be addressed by the _Succession to the Throne Act_, S.C. 2013, c. 6, but I also note that there was some controversy about that Act, specifically in regards to its constitutionality; and Ontario and Quebec both challenged it. > > Could you clarify? Is succession to the throne a constitutional issue in Canada? It’s a real question mark, and is working its way through the courts. On the one hand, as you mention, it takes unanimous federal-provincial consent to amend the “office of the Queen”: _Constitution Act, 1982_, s. 41. Some argue that includes the law governing succession, so unanimous consent is required. Others take a more limited view of s. 41, and argue that “office of the Queen” means the powers of the position under the Constitution, but doesn’t apply to who holds the office. By this view, the federal Parliament can consent to changes to the line of succession made by the UK Parliament, using the combined powers of the preamble to the _Statute of Westminster_ and the pogg power in s. 91 of the _Constitution Act, 1867_. It’s come up in relation to the recent change to the law of succession to make it gender-neutral. The Quebec Court of Appeal is hearing an appeal from a decision of the Quebec Superior Court, which upheld the federal law ratifying the gender-neutral change to the succession law. So stay tuned! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/84 "2016-10-13T13:36:48Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I’m no expert, but I think that the effect of the statute is that Westminister won’t pass a new succession law, because if they did, the Queen of the Commonwealth might be a different person from the King of the UK, which would be a bit rude and inconsiderate. The dominions aren’t under that restriction. They can choose whoever they want as King/Queen, and people won’t think it’s rude: just stupid. But the British Parliament has passed a law to change the succession, to make it gender-neutral: strict primogeniture, rather than male-favouring primogeniture. The British only passed that law following extensive consultations with the Commonwealth realms which retain Her Majesty as their head of state, as required by the Statute of Westminster. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/85 "2016-10-13T13:50:09Z")
The other argument against an abdication I’ve read is that a certain segment of the population would be happy to establish a republic and might take the opportunity to push for it. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/86 "2016-10-13T13:57:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The other argument against an abdication I’ve read is that a certain segment of the population would be happy to establish a republic and might take the opportunity to push for it. Probably there would be voices raising the issue, but as far as the parliamentarians go, inertia will always win out. There would be too many legal and administrative loose ends left to be sorted out, which would all be a massive distraction from whatever else they had planned to do. In any case, HM would never formally abdicate (it appears to be as much a religious thing for her as the political calculation of any potential for damaging personal or institutional images), but if it ever came to that, there would be a carefully-planned smooth handover with more than an eye to the tabloid reactions to the next in line - and at the moment, those are hardly hostile. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/87 "2016-10-13T14:30:02Z")
Rumour has it that she ensured Diana would never be Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/88 "2016-10-13T14:48:43Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > I also don’t get the hate for Charles. Honestly, what’s he done? He seems quite a nice old man to me, and genuinely seems to be concerned for the welfare of the countryside, the environment and deprived communities in the UK. He’ll make a fine King. I don’t get the hate either. Just the fact that people think the laws of succession should be changed because they don’t like somebody _pout_ baffles me. The Queen’s response (if she ever lowered herself to give one) should be “thank you for your opinion. Now, STFU and GBTW.” Democracy is responsible for this belief that you get to change the course of world history because of popular opinion. Sorry dudes, not when it comes to the workings of a monarchy operating within established parliamentary bounds. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/89 "2016-10-13T14:49:17Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Rumour has it that she ensured Diana would never be Queen. Rumor has it that she doesn’t have a say in the monarchy nomenclature. Wait, that’s not a rumor, that’s an act of Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/90 "2016-10-13T15:42:32Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > I don’t get the hate either. Just the fact that people think the laws of succession should be changed because they don’t like somebody _pout_ baffles me. The Queen’s response (if she ever lowered herself to give one) should be “thank you for your opinion. Now, STFU and GBTW.” > > Democracy is responsible for this belief that you get to change the course of world history because of popular opinion. Sorry dudes, not when it comes to the workings of a monarchy operating within established parliamentary bounds. More centrally, the popular conceit that democracy means “I get what I want” is laughably wrong-headed. Is there any true democracy in the world? Almost every functional “democratic” government is a representative democracy of some type, where every voter has **a say** in who gets chosen to represent them in law-making, and then everyone abides by the chosen laws as decided by the majority of those representatives. Double indirection, and some people are still shocked and dismayed that democracy isn’t handing them exactly what they want. Political naiveté is so prevalent it shocks the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/91 "2016-10-13T18:21:43Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Democracy is responsible for this belief that you get to change the course of world history because of popular opinion. Sorry dudes, not when it comes to the workings of a monarchy operating within established parliamentary bounds. I disagree. Those of us who live In constitutional monarchies could use the democratic process to change it, if large numbers of us were so inclined. For instance, Australia had a referendum on going republican, which the people rejected. The Jamaican government has suggests they might go republican. However, here in Canada at least, there’s no popular movement to dump the monarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/92 "2016-10-13T19:10:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The other argument against an abdication I’ve read is that a certain segment of the population would be happy to establish a republic and might take the opportunity to push for it. There’s about 20-25% of the population who have republican leanings > **[Jubilee, Monarchy and Politics. Queen Elizabeth II Most Popular Monarch In...](https://www.survation.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-most-popular-monarch-in-british-history/)** > > Survation Jubilee Survey State Of The Parties (Changes Since April 30th)  – LAB 37% (NC) CON 29% (-1) LD 13% (NC) UKIP 12% (+3) OTH... > **[The Monarchy: popular across society and 'here to stay' | YouGov](https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/13242-monarchy-here-stay)** > > As the Queen becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch, new research shows that the monarchy remains popular across all parts of British society That might change with Charles in charge, of course, but the younger generation are well-liked, so I don’t see any change in my lifetime. Prince George might turn out to be a mad tyrant, right enough, but that’s 50 years down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/93 "2016-10-13T19:14:07Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > …Charles in charge… Snipped by me b/c now that damn theme song is stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/94 "2016-10-13T19:35:44Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > TPrince George might turn out to be a mad tyrant, right enough, but that’s 50 years down the line. Wouldn’t matter that much if he did. The scope to _do_ anything tyrannical is somewhat limited. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/95 "2016-10-13T20:07:22Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Wouldn’t matter that much if he did. The scope to _do_ anything tyrannical is somewhat limited. Yup. Worst he could be, by law, is an obscenely rich jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/96 "2016-10-13T20:26:46Z")
😕 “Prat”? [King Charles, eg, according to upthread poster, who I will wager is not of the American persuasion] ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/97 "2016-10-13T20:30:11Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Snipped by me b/c now that damn theme song is stuck in my head. My dastardly plan worked then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/98 "2016-10-13T20:36:43Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “Prat”? [King Charles, eg, according to upthread poster, who I will wager is not of the American persuasion] An idiot, basically. If you type the word “prat” into a very popular search engine then you can get a definition of the word at the top of the search results. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/99 "2016-10-13T20:38:59Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > An idiot, basically. If you type the word “prat” into a very popular search engine then you can get a definition of the word at the top of the search results. Not to be confused w/ a git or a numpty. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288/100 "2016-10-13T20:46:04Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “Prat”? [King Charles, eg, according to upthread poster, who I will wager is not of the American persuasion] Someone probably not as bright as they think they are, inclined to unconventional ideas, behaviours and obsessions as well as misjudgements, but more maladroit than offensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-queen-elizabeth-decide-to-bypass-prince-charles-as-her-successor/768288.md?page=6)