This piece you are about to read, simply goes beyond Charles’ position as the heir apparent to the throne of of England. It touches every facet of British monarchy. Indeed, it is more or less a compendium of the age long British throne. TrendyNews, in its usual style of trying to meet your desires for accurate, factual and indept information on critical subjects, decided to present you with this story unedited but, in our own fashion. Take it from here.
After the Queen passes away, Prince Charles – her eldest son – is set to take the throne. That’s how it’s worked for hundreds of years, the crown being handed down from parent to child. But could this ancient tradition be about to change? One royal expert certainly thinks so – and they’ve explained the controversial reason.
Charles not being king would be a massive shock. Royals take the line of succession very seriously, after all! At the moment, Charles is first in line to the throne, followed by his son Prince William. After that, we’re onto the generation who are still just children. Prince George – who was born in 2013 – is in line after William. But there’s a twist.
In recent years, there’s actually been a change to the rules around succession – and it’s a pretty major one, too! In 2013 the law was amended to ensure the oldest child, not just the oldest male, could inherit the throne. So, when Princess Charlotte was born in 2015, she would keep her place in line to the throne – even if another boy was born after her. Interesting, although that doesn’t explain why Charles may not become king.
As it happened, Charlotte did get another brother: Prince Louis, born in 2018. Anyway, next in line after Louis is Prince Harry. William’s younger brother is sixth in line to the throne, and his baby son, Archie, is seventh. Yes, even though they’re now in California!
Being in the States doesn’t remove Harry from the line of succession. It takes the British Parliament to do that. Harry’s position remains whether he likes it or not. But the chances of him being king one day are practically zero. It won’t be him that takes over if Charles forfeits the throne.
Is it really likely that Charles will give up being king? Well, it’s happened before. And if you’ve ever watched The Crown, you’ll know all about it. King Edward VIII – the current Queen’s uncle – was told he couldn’t marry a twice-divorced American and remain ruler. So, he had to go with either his heart or the crown – and ultimately he chose his heart.
Edward VIII’s exit meant King George VI was next in line to the throne. Then, when George took the role, his daughter Elizabeth – still just a child at the time – became next in line. That’s why she’s the Queen today – and why Charles should be the one to succeed her.
This all happened way back in the 1930s. And Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson were apparently not popular with the other royals. The couple were reportedly pro-German and may have even entered negotiations while the United Kingdom was at war. But there are some other elements of the story that may remind you of the recent debate around Harry and Meghan.
Meghan and Harry’s marriage provoked some major discussions, as Meghan was a divorcée. Before meeting Harry, you see, she had been married to producer Trevor Engelson. Why was this an issue? Well, the royal family tends to be, shall we say, a bit funny about divorce…
The Queen is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which traditionally has been strongly anti-divorce. Only in 2002 did it finally relax its rules and allow divorced people with living ex-spouses to remarry. And even then, this was only under “exceptional circumstances.”
Much was made in the media about Meghan’s status as a divorcée. And in May 2018 – just a few days before Harry and Meghan’s wedding – royal historian Hugo Vickers spoke to the Associated Press about it. He said, “It would have been probably terribly difficult for [Meghan] to have married into the royal family in the 1950s.” No kidding. But just how does Charles factor into all of this?
Well, divorce and remarriage loom large in Charles’ life, too. As we all know, his first wife was Diana Spencer, the mother of William and Harry. And the couple were so unhappy that their marriage eventually ended in divorce in 1996. The woman Charles had really wanted to marry – Camilla – had been forbidden to him. They didn’t approve of Camilla.
Camilla wasn’t considered a suitable wife for Charles because of her “past.” Basically, she wasn’t the virginal bride the royals wanted to marry the heir to the throne. But Diana – who was young and beautiful – very much was. And there was yet another issue. Camilla was already married to Andrew Parker Bowles when Charles and Di tied the knot.
What happened next is well documented. Despite Diana and having appearances to maintain, Charles couldn’t stay away from Camilla. So, as his marriage to the mother of his children broke down, the Prince of Wales allegedly went back to his former girlfriend and began having an affair. And, yes, Diana knew all about it. It wasn’t a good look, and it could have impacted Charles’ chance at the throne.
Then came Charles and Diana’s separation and divorce, which was incredibly messy and difficult for all involved. It didn’t help Charles that the newspapers got hold of an extremely explicit phone conversation between him and Camilla.
A year after the divorce was finalized, though, a horrible tragedy struck. Everyone who was around in that era remembers where they were when the news broke. On August 31, 1997, Diana was killed in a car crash while in Paris with her boyfriend.
Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul all died. And when news of this reached the British public, the mourning began right away. Diana was beloved by many, and people were keen to express their grief publicly. Many Brits were also angry with the royals – including Charles.
People were furious that the Union flag flying outside Buckingham Palace wasn’t lowered to half-mast straight away. Blame was hurled at Charles, too. If he hadn’t cheated on Diana – so some folks thought – perhaps she would never have been in Paris in the first place.
After that, Charles struggled to be loved by Brits. Some would say he’s never really managed it since. First of all, there was the Camilla problem. Charles still wanted to marry her, but a section of the British public hated the idea. Rumor has it that Camilla was once pelted with bread rolls by irate Diana supporters!
But Charles was determined to make Camilla his second wife and improve her standing in the public eye. So, the prince made sure he wasn’t seen in public with her until 1999 – two years after Diana’s death. And slowly, people’s perception of Camilla changed. This was helped by the fact that she was low-key, clearly in love with Charles, and didn’t cause any more scandal.
Charles and Camilla finally wed in 2005 – but the Queen wasn’t there to see it happen. The Daily Telegraph reported at the time that because of her religious beliefs and position as head of the Church of England, she thought it best not to go. Did the Queen disapprove? Well, she did hold a reception for the couple – indicating she had no issue with the relationship itself.
Interestingly, Camilla didn’t get the same royal titles Diana received upon her marriage – even though she was technically entitled to them. Camilla could have been the Princess of Wales, but she turned it down because it was still so associated with Diana. All things considered, that was a pretty shrewd move. It also made Charles’ path to the throne a little bit smoother.
But even if Camilla has come a long way from allegedly having bread rolls thrown at her, it doesn’t appear likely that she will ever be queen. While, by all accounts, the royal family like her very much, it seems that they believe giving her the title of queen would just not go down very well with the public. She’ll probably be known as “queen consort” instead.
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Though that all begs the question: if popularity factors into what titles you can have, will Charles be king at all? The fact remains that he’s just not very liked by Brits. In 2021 the results of a YouGov poll declared him the least favorite royal family member. Only 36 percent of people surveyed thought he was “a positive impact on the monarchy.”
And one expert thinks Charles may never make it to the throne. Royal biographer Anna Pasternak spoke to Vanity Fair about this possibility in May 2021. The reason she gave? It’s all to do with Harry and Meghan.
Pasternak said, “I’m not 100 percent sure that we will see Charles ascend to the throne. The Sussexes have sparked something so fundamentally incendiary in this country that it is changing the face of Britain, and I think the monarchy as an archaic institution may well topple.” Wow.
That’s not definitely going to happen, though, so plans for Charles’ eventual coronation are in place. There will be a lot of work to do on the day the Queen dies, and much of it will be down to Charles. Reportedly, he’s supposed to make a speech to the nation on the very evening of his mother’s passing.
Royal advisors have already discussed the details of Charles’ first days as king. In 2017 one told The Guardian, “From [the first day], it is about the people rather than just the leaders being part of this new monarchy… It is see and be seen.” Essentially, Charles will have to go out and meet people whether he wants to or not.
But in the eyes of the experts who spoke to Vanity Fair, there’s still a chance none of this will happen. Pasternak said, “It may be that there is such a groundswell of public opinion against [Charles] that it’s deemed by the firm preferable for William to ascend… because he’s younger [and] more relatable.”
According to Martin Wiener – a professor at Rice University and researcher of British history – the states in the Commonwealth may also decide to drop out after the Queen dies. Or as he put it, “It’d be like, ‘Who wants Charles to be our head? We’re stuck with Charles.’
The idea of skipping over a whole generation of the royal family is something that’s quite captured the imagination of British writers. The 2014 play King Charles III – adapted as a TV film in 2017 – has the royal’s reign go so disastrously that he’s forced to abdicate in favor of William.
The production naturally sparked a lot of controversy. One politician, British MP Andrew Bridgen, told the Mail on Sunday that it was a “distasteful” “flight of fantasy” that “denigrates and undermines our royal family.” But it also got people questioning if such a thing could happen in real life.
Tim Pigott-Smith – the actor who played Charles – was asked about the possibility of the crown skipping to William. And he replied, “I think, ten years ago, people sort of went, ‘Oh, well, maybe William and Kate would be a great young king and queen.’ I think now, actually, people respect Charles and would be quite happy for him to be king.” Not everyone, though!
Pigott-Smith went on, “I think [the royals] will have to move towards a more Scandinavian or Spanish model of monarchy. I think when the Queen dies, it’ll be okay for Charles for a bit, but then I think in order to survive really healthily, they’re going to have to move forward. But I think, funnily enough, that’s what they’re getting William ready for already. I think they’re preparing them for this different role of monarchy.”
Plenty has changed, of course, since the actor spoke up. For a start, Harry got married and left the royal family. That sent massive shockwaves through the whole institution, as did the explosive interviews he and Meghan gave to the media afterward.
During that Oprah interview, Harry claimed that Charles and the royals had cut him off financially. Well, so he said, anyway. Newspaper sources claiming to be friends of Charles alleged that this had never happened.
In addition to that bombshell, Harry told Oprah that he believed his family was “trapped” in the royal system. He said, “I am part of the system with them, I always have been, but I guess – and I’m very aware of this – my brother can’t leave that system, but I have. My father and my brother are trapped. They don’t get to leave, and I have huge compassion for that.”
Some folks were livid with what Harry had said. One biographer, Duncan Larcombe, angrily declared to the Daily Express, “Prince Charles has been waiting to become king since the age of four… And he’s got his very popular, very high-profile son trying to sweep the mat from under his feet from saying his father and Prince William are trapped.”
- Even if Charles does feel stuck in his role, that’s probably not going to stop him from wanting to be king. That way, he can make real change. Yet that may not be a good idea, either. According to The Guardian, he has lobbied the government on political issues – things a monarch is supposed to stay quiet about. What does this all mean for Charles’ chances, then?
A poll taken in October 2020 discovered that about half of Brits want William to inherit Elizabeth’s throne, while the rest are fine with Charles. It’s a debate that’s not going away any time soon. And there could be another reason why Charles relinquishes the monarchy – all to do with his health.
Take a closer look at photos of Charles, and you’ll see an alarming detail. It even looks as though the prince may be struggling with a worrying health condition. But perhaps it’s no surprise that he’s not in a good way. He’s recently suffered the loss of his father, Prince Philip, after all.
Philip’s funeral was a chance for the royals to meet up again as a family. Everyone’s aware of what a stressful year 2020 was for them. There was the global pandemic obviously, but it was also that year when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Charles’ son and daughter-in-law, stepped down from the royal family.
The exit caused absolute chaos – and it can’t have been good for Charles’ health. Newspaper stories immediately claimed that Harry and Meghan hadn’t even told the Queen they were leaving – accusations Harry later denied. Oh, and apparently Harry’s closest relatives, his father and brother, were furious with him. Again, not the best situation for a man with any health condition.
A royal source told The Sun at the time, “The queen is deeply upset. The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge are incandescent with rage. Courtiers can’t believe it. There are so many unanswered questions, but they’ve just up and done it without a thought for anyone else. The plan was there to discuss it and work out a way that works for everyone in the family.” Could the stress of this mess have affected Charles?
Harry confirmed that his relationship with his father was strained to say the least. When he and Meghan gave a supposedly “tell-all” interview to Oprah, he said that Charles had stopped taking his calls. The prince added, “It’s really sad that it’s gotten to this point.”
The prince also claimed that Charles had cut him off financially, meaning he had to pay for security arrangements himself. However, an “ally of Charles” denied this via the Evening Standard newspaper, saying, “For Harry to say he feels ‘let down’ seems a little rich when you consider what he has done.” Harsh! But possibly fair if it was all taking a toll on Charles’ health.
Not only that, though, but Meghan claimed in the Oprah interview that there had been comments about the skin color of her then-unborn first child, Archie. She claimed that there had been “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” Harry concurred with the claim but said he wouldn’t reveal who’d allegedly said such things.
The media speculated wildly about which member of the royal family had perhaps made the racial remarks. Oprah herself clarified that she had been told a little more, and it wasn’t the Queen or Philip, for sure. Could it have been Charles? Harry simply wasn’t saying.
In the weeks after the interview, royal fans had to rely on insiders and experts to understand where the Harry-Charles relationship stood. One of these, Katie Nicholl, told Entertainment Tonight, “Prince Charles did want to issue a more detailed statement [in response] to the Oprah interview and possibly address some of those issues point by point.”
Nicholl went on, “Prince Charles was particularly frustrated by the suggestion that financially he just cut the couple off, when if you speak to sources in Charles’ camp, that wasn’t the case. He did continue funding them for quite some time after they moved first to Canada and then to America.” So, what was the truth?
Well, the actual statement released by the royal family after the Oprah interview was a more neutral one. It read, “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately, ”
And then came another misfortune. Philip passed away on April 9, the cause of his death being simply old age. Harry and Meghan were asleep at their California home when the Palace attempted to notify them, as it was 3:00 a.m. Pacific time.
So a representative of the U.S. Embassy called up the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department and requested an officer drive to Harry’s home. The officer told a staff member there to relay a message to the prince that he needed to call the Embassy. But the Palace has never confirmed whether that story was true or not.
Harry and Meghan quickly had their website updated to feature a tribute to Philip. It read, “Thank you for your service. You will be greatly missed.” Then news spread that Harry would attend the funeral, but Meghan couldn’t fly out to Britain because she was heavily pregnant.
Attending the funeral meant Harry meeting up with his father and brother again in person, so everyone was anticipating what might happen. And as soon as the service started, cameras were in place snapping every single interaction between the royals. It was thanks to those photographers that so many noticed the worrying detail about Charles.
Harry had apparently attempted to patch things up to some extent before returning to Britain and his family. An anonymous source told The Mirror on April 19, “Truth be told, Harry didn’t really know what to expect before he came home, which is why he reached out before seeing everyone. ”
The source went on, “He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight, but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped. There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person’s mind and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral.”
And the source also had something to say about after the funeral. They claimed, “Harry didn’t expect everything to be completely back to normal, but his feeling after seeing his family was there is a lot of ground to make up.” Could it also be the case, though, that his father’s health was another complication?
When royal fans saw Charles at Philip’s funeral, eyebrows were certainly raised. It was hard not to notice something standing out about the elderly royal. His hands, especially his fingers, appeared red and bloated. Whatever was causing this, it seemed like a painful condition.
And this isn’t the first time the prince has been spotted with swelling. Back in 2019 Charles visited India, and fans noticed how much his hands and also his feet were swollen. In that case he’d just spent nine hours on a plane, which could very much have exacerbated the condition.
What medical issue does Charles have? Folks are eager to know. According to the website Keyword Tool, every month 33,000 people search for the term “Prince Charles fingers.” And that figure increased after some of Charles’ public appearances in 2021, where the condition seemed even more visible.
Towards the end of May 2021 Charles visited a pub and was given some local beers to taste. Photographs naturally focused on his hands holding the mug, and it was clear that something was wrong with his fingers. So Twitter users speculated on what it might be.
In amongst comments about Charles’ fingers being “absolute sausage units,” fans on the social media site traded their theories. One person questioned, “Does the Prince of Wales have rheumatoid arthritis of the hands?” And another claimed, “He’s got severe water retention. It’s been an ongoing issue for two years.”
But this remains speculation for now, as Charles has never actually spoken about any health issues he may have. It is, however, clear that old age is starting to catch up with him – he’s in his 70s now – and that’s something he has, in fact, mentioned in public.
In April 2018 Charles delivered a funny speech while touring Brisbane, Australia. He joked that for no longer would he be able to “squeeze into a pair of budgie smugglers,” and added, “I don’t know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but now bits of me keep falling off at regular intervals.”
Charles’ age has been a much-discussed topic for a while now. Currently he’s the longest-serving heir apparent in the whole of recorded British history and the longest-serving Prince of Wales. And when the time comes for him to be crowned, he’ll also be the oldest king of Britain to date.
Will Charles even make it to the throne, then? And would it be a good idea if he does? In 2021 royal expert Clive Irving told Vanity Fair, “One problem is that he doesn’t look like an invigorating generational shift, does he? That’s what would be needed – something that reinvigorates and sends a sense that [the royal family have] understood the modern world.”
Charles’ nearest and dearest may also not want him to be king. In 2021 royal biographer Penny Junor told Woman and Home that she believed Camilla was feeling “dread” over the prospect of Charles’ ascension. Some of that, however, may have been fear of becoming Queen Consort herself.
Junor wrote, “Friends and family know it is not something [Camilla] wants – she has said as much. She is in this position because of her love of the man, not because of her desire to be anything more than a support to him. The whole business of his accession is something she dreads and, in her inimitable way, is choosing not to think about.”
Harry surely must have some feelings there too, right? Well, if he’s ever commented on specifically his father’s suitability for the throne, we don’t know about it. But in 2017 he told Newsweek, “Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”
Although Charles hasn’t revealed the reason for his swollen hands, the photographs of him did spark a rise in awareness for the particular medical problem that might be responsible. Plus the media published some advice about what a person could do to improve the pain of swollen hands and feet.
The U.K.’s National Health Service recommends massage, gentle exercise and drinking plenty of water to bring down swellings. But it also points out that although the cause might be something benign, like eating too much salty food, it may also be a sign of a more serious long-term health problem.
You see, the condition nicknamed “sausage fingers” is usually caused by the immune system disease psoriatic arthritis, which unfortunately can get worse as a person grows older. But if it’s caught early and given the appropriate treatment, it can be slowed down and prevented from causing permanent problems with the joints.
We can safely assume that Charles receives the finest medical treatment available, though. As the heir to the throne, he’s entitled to have a doctor go with him whenever he flies overseas on a tour. And he even travels with his own packs of blood in case he should need an emergency transfusion.
Charles could also get Camilla to help. She has connections, you see, to the charity Versus Arthritis. The Duchess of Cornwall is patron of the organization and has been since 2012. The official website for the charity notes that she is “a tireless advocate for better musculoskeletal health” and says that staff have been “honored by the Duchess’ support.”
If Charles does have a medical issue, then that could make the feud with Harry even more problematic. And unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. In May 2021 a royal source indicated that Charles was still livid with his son over the explosive Oprah interview.
An anonymous source told Us Weekly, “With the way things are going, Charles may never forgive Harry, which hasn’t gone down well with [Queen] Elizabeth. She feels that he’s putting his pride before the best interest of the monarchy. She has enough on her plate dealing with the loss of her husband. It’s a drama she can do without.”
Although William had succeeded in opening up a dialogue with Harry, apparently the “more stubborn” Charles had not. The anonymous insider said, “Elizabeth is proud of William for taking the dignified approach, unlike Charles, who still hasn’t forgiven Harry for dragging his name through the mud.” That doesn’t sound good.
- Yet there might be a glimmer of hope. Harry and Meghan’s second child came along in June 2021, a little girl they named Lilibet after the royal family’s nickname for the Queen. Charles described this as “happy news” during a trip to Oxford. He also spoke about the importance of “the legacy we bequeath to our grandchildren.”
What happens from here, we’ll simply have to wait and see. But if Charles’ seeming medical condition worried fans on the internet, there’s a high chance it might have worried Harry as well. So considering he’s a dad for the second time, perhaps it’s time for the duke to fully make up with his father, too.
