Two and a half months away from turning 76, Charles III of England He is determined to reassure his subjects by continuing his official trips and with spontaneous phrases such as “I’m not so bad”, such as the one he uttered a few days ago during a visit to Southport, where the terrible murder of three girls took place.
But the reality is different and Her Majesty’s Government knows that the British Crown is already preparing for the worst. As we reported this weekend, Lady Di’s ex-husband has undergone the latest medical tests and the results have not been as expected, as the cancer has not disappeared.These are the last tests they have done to see how the treatment is going and the cancer has not disappeared. It was one of the worst news I could have expected, since the treatment has to be extended a little longer.“, they repeated on Telecinco.
Doctors have asked Charles III to slow down, especially with the trips he makes.Although everything is very planned because he makes the trips by helicopter, as soon as he arrives he collapses on a sofa because he runs out of strength. The time he has left will be given to the Crown.“, revealed specialist journalist Concha Calleja this Sunday.
Treatment
The treatment that the monarch has received in recent months to end his illness has not given the expected results And recent medical tests have revealed something very worrying: that his cancer has not disappeared and he will have to extend his treatment for a while longer, something that has undoubtedly raised alarm in those around him. Not in vain, King Charles has less and less strength to continue with his obligations as monarch, since the trips leave him exhausted. However, it seems that stubborn in remaining on the throne until the end of his days, just as Queen Elizabeth II did, something that Carlos already made clear in his inaugural speech as king, on September 9, 2022, where he stated that by taking over from his mother he was committed to “defending, For as long as God allows me, the constitutional principles that are the heart of our nation.”
However, the will sometimes cannot fight against nature, and even less against illness, so there is a possibility that the voracious advance of his illness, detected after undergoing prostate surgery, could retire him earlier than desired by preventing him from exercising his obligations as king. What would happen then if the weakness of Charles III forced him to leave office?
Three options
Given this scenario, there are three possible options: the delegation of responsibilities to the State Councillors, the establishment of a regency or the transfer of the throne to his first-born son, Prince William, through an abdication. The first of the situations, contemplated in the Regency Act of 1937, is one of the most plausible given the situation, and possibly the only one to which Charles III would give in given his obstinacy to remain on the throne until his death. This option would allow the monarch to delegate occasionally (when he had bad days or his physical condition prevented him from travelling or attending to specific commitments) part of his royal functions to State Councillors. According to the law, these would be his wife the queen Camilla Parker Bowles and the next four people in the line of succession who are over 21 years old. However, given the complicated personnel structure that has existed at Buckingham Palace, only two could replace Charles III on a one-off basis as State Counsellors: his son William and Beatrice of York. Neither his son Harry nor his brother Andrew could take on his duties, as neither of them are currently active members of the royal family. Furthermore, if necessary, it is unlikely that Prince Harry would be called upon to perform such a role as he does not reside in the United Kingdom.
Law to include the monarch’s siblings
Fortunately, in anticipation of something serious happening and more State Councillors being needed, a new one was approved in 2022. law to also include as such the monarch’s siblings, Edward and Anne, So both of them would also be on the list. And what would be their specific function or in what tasks could they replace the monarch? According to the law, they are authorized to carry out official functions of the king, such as attending meetings of the Privy Council, signing routine documents and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the United Kingdom. They could not, however, dissolve Parliament (except by express instruction of King Charles III), appoint a new prime minister, grant noble titles or manage the affairs of the 15 states that belong to the Commonwealth.
In the event that the monarch’s illness became excessively complicated and the physical condition of Charles III was so serious that he could not assume any of his functions, the Crown would be forced to declare a regencywhich would fall to the first person in the line of succession, that is, the king’s first-born, Prince William. For the regency to take place, there has to be agreement, and a vote would be held that would have to be approved by an absolute majority and in which the queen consort Camillla Parker-Bowles, the lord chancellor (currently Habana Mahmood), the lord president of the Supreme Court of England (Baroness Carr of Walton-on-The-Hill), as well as the master of the lists, would participate. The regency would end if the king recovered his health or could return to his commitments. And, be careful, because in this case there would be the remote possibility that Prince Harry would occupy the regency. How? Only in the hypothetical case in which his brother William was declared incapable, since currently the next in the line of succession is little Prince George, but he could not act as king until he comes of age.
Prince Harry, “out of touch with institutional duties”
Despite this remote option, experts on the subject have pointed out that the husband of Megan Markle He is out of practice when it comes to institutional duties, but what would make it impossible for him to take on the regency is that, as has been pointed out above, he has renounced his royal duties. According to some experts, another option that could be considered when choosing a regent would be Princess Anne, sister of Charles III, who is known for being one of the “royals” most given to assuming institutional commitments, even more so than the Prince and Princess of Wales themselves, who have greatly lightened their schedules in recent times given Kate’s illness.
The last of the options, unlikely to be chosen by Charles III, is that of the abdicationthereby leaving the throne directly in the hands of his son William. To make his abdication official, the monarch would first have to make a formal declaration stating that he no longer wishes to serve as monarch. After that, the UK Parliament would have to pass an Abdication Act.
The prospect of the Princes of Wales assuming the throne earlier than expected would have caused them “intense anxiety”, something that would not be surprising given the very a fight that Kate Middleton is also waging against her own cancer. We will see if the illness forces him to make one decision or another, although Charles III’s desire to remain on his throne will be a fierce battle against cancer, possibly until the end of his days.
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