Rules regarding Succession of the British Royal Family?

Question

Perhaps someone in the UK could answer some questions for me...

1. If Charles becomes King one day, does Camilla become the Queen of England? If not, does she get some other special title?

2. Is there a minimum age for someone to become the reigning monarch? I'm sure that Prince William is officially old enough to be King by now (age 25).

3. If Prince William is still single when he first becomes King, but later marries, does his wife become Queen?

4. Can Queen Elizabeth "voluntarily" give up her throne (for example, because of health reasons) in favor of Charles?

Answer 1

not British but I can answer.

1) Yes if Charles becomes king his wife becomes the queen
2) minimumage is the same as for legal adult status (18 I believe)
3) If William becomes King then whoever he marries will become Queen be it b4 or after he is named King
4) Yes Queen Elizabeth can abdicate the throne in favor of Charles




manorris3265> maybe you could actually provide an answer instead of just saying everyone is wrong...or are you clueless and just assuming we are all wrong?

Answer 2

Not British... But will try to answer your questions...

1) Officially Camilla has the right to be the Queen of England for as long as she's married to Charles and he didn't die before he became king. If she wants to be called something else, I believe that Parliament has to do an amendment or something to make that official.

2) There is no minimum age to become a reigning monarch. In the olden days when the successor is a minor, there is a Regent that is appointed to rule until they are of age and can rule the country. Usually the remaining parent or grandparent or some cases the uncle/aunt becomes Regent and then rules for the young king/queen. Since Prince William is already 25 if he were to inherit the throne now, he will be King and no Regent is necessary.

3) Yes, his wife will become Queen.

4) Yes, Queen Elizabeth can abdicate her throne in favor of Charles. But I don't think she will do that as she takes her responsibilities seriously.

Answer 3

I'm afraid I'm going to have to completely disagree with a lot of the answers you've got so far.....

In response to your questions:
a. Ordinarily, a woman marrying a man with a title automatically assumes said title, but as a courtesy style. Therefore, the wife of the Duke of Atholl is styled the Duchess of Atholl. And as some of my fellow posters have noted, the style of Queen has never been denied to the wife of the King. But - and it is quite a but - a future king has never married under these circumstances before, and so what will be done remains to be seen.

The trouble in this particular case is that Charles and Camilla married in a civil ceremony, which according to British law, members of the Royal Family may not do. Certain law lords in Parliament have promised this will not be a problem, and that well may be. However, one must wonder how they intend to get around the strict provision that members of the Royal Family must marry in the Anglican Church. But what will certainly be a problem is that religiously speaking, Charles will be head of the Church of England. The Church of England neither reconises divorce nor permits remarriage unless the former spouse is dead, because in that case, the person is considered a widow/widower. Therefore, in the eyes of the Church, Charles could remarry, as at the time of his wedding, his former wife was dead. However, Andrew Parker-Bowles is still very much alive, and as long as he remains so, in the eyes of the Anglican Church, Camilla is his wife, not Charles. Therefore, they cannot crown her Queen along side Charles, because they do not consider her to be his wife, and several Anglican Archbishops, including the Archbishop of York and Canterbury have said so publically.

b. The minimum age to rule without a regent is 18, but one could become the king/queen at a younger age, and then take over from the regent when they come of age. However, if you are suggesting what I think you are, it doesn't make a difference is William is old enough - Charles is next ,like it or not.

c. As long as he marries within the guidelines for members of the Royal Family (consent of the monarch before age 25, after that consent of Parliament, not a Catholic, not a divorcee, etc), his wife will be Queen.

d. In theory, like her uncle, the Queen could abdicate - however, I would absolutely bet my life that she will never ever do so. Ever. Just to reiterate - ever. When Queen Julianna of the Netherlands abdicated in favour of her daughter, the now Queen Beatrix, Queen Elizabeth reportedly exclaimed "typical Dutch." implying that she would never consider such an action. And in all the years of British monarchy, only David has ever done so, so I think it is highly highly improbable and if it happens, I will eat my Ascot hat!

Answer 4

1. No, Camilla can't be a Queen. She was a divorced woman before Charles married her, and the heir to the throne technically is not allowed to marry a divorced woman if he wants his wife to be a Queen, and she is in the middle of a lot of controversy, so to abide by the law and avoid controversy, Camilla will be referred to as Lady Camilla or Camilla, the Queen Consort.

2. No, there is not a specific age, and one king in British history became King at age 9.

3. Yes, and according to many reports, William is back with Kate Middleton. If that is so, and lets say they marry, Kate will be Queen Kate. Kate is not divorced and she is an Anglican, meeting all the requirements to become a future Queen.

4. Yes, by all means Elizabeth can give up the throne if she wanted to, but it will not give her any benefits to do so, so she will stay on the throne.

Answer 5

1. She becomes whatever she and Charles want her to become, and Parliament will agree to. Parliament has never refused the title Queen to the King's wife, so it is unthinkable that they would refuse it to Camilla, but she and Charles have announced in advance that they will not ask for it, and that Camilla will remain just the Duchess of Cornwall.

2. If the monarch is under 18, a Regency Council is appointed to rule for him/her. The monarch may be a member of the Council.

3. See 1. above. If they both want her to be called Queen, she almost certainly will be.

4. No. She can abdicate the throne "for herself and her descendants", as Edward VIII did even though he had no descendants, but in Elizabeth's case that would pass the throne to Princess Margaret's son Lord Linley. Of course it is almost unthinkable that she would do this, but if she did, there would be nothing that her family could do about it. She can also declare herself unable to rule, and have a Regency Council appointed, but still Charles would not be King while she was alive.

Answer 6

1. Yes, she becomes the Queen (though of the United Kingdom and the other 15 realms, not of England). How she chooses to style herself is a different matter however. The King would be free to issue letters patent giving her the style "Her Royal Highness" and the title "Princess Consort" as well as her automatically-acquired "Her Majesty" and "Queen." She could then choose to style herself "Her Royal Highness the Princess Consort" as was announced before their wedding. That does not, without an Act of Parliament specifically stripping her of the title, mean she is not the Queen, however.

2. The minimum age to act as monarch is 18. A younger person who succeeded to the throne would still be the monarch, but a regent would act in their place. (Either the previous monarch's consort or the next person in the line of succession over 18)

3. Yes, she does.

4. It is technically legally impossible for a monarch to cease to be the monarch. The law says they are the monarch. However, Parliament can pass an act stating that the monarch is no longer the monarch, and passing the throne down the line. This has only happened once (Edward VIII), and was considered quite scandalous. It is highly unlikely that the Queen would ever abdicate, as she believes she was chosen and anointed by God to serve her people for the remainder of her life. If health reasons were ever to keep her from being able to carry out her duties, a regency would be established (as in the case of George III) to allow Charles to carry out the duties of the monarch without actually being King. This regency would last until the Queen recovered or died.

Answer 7

if Charles become king, no Camilla will not be queen, i think she will only be called Lady Camilla

no there is no minimum age for someone to be a king or a queen as far as i know!!!

yes hes wife will be queen

yes she can give up the throne anytime she wants

Answer 8

1. Camilla will become Queen although she might not use the title. The wife of a King is always Queen in Britain as morganatic marriages are not recognised. Since Mary II, the British parliament has not allowed the husband of the Queen regnant to be called King. Mary's husband was William III. The husbands of Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II were not named King but the husbands of Mary I and Mary II were.

2. William will become King on the death of his father no matter what age he is. If he is below the age of majority, a Regent will be appointed to guide him but he is still king.

3. If William marries after he becomes king, his wife will be queen.

4. The Queen can abdicate in favour of her son. The Queen of the Netherlands abdicated in favour of her daughter and retired. King Edward VIII abdicated in favour of his brother George VI.

Answer 9

1 Camilla will not be queen, she will be charles's consort like prince Phillip.

2. I don't think there is a rule because the royals areent really incharge right now. Im sure tehy would not let a 12 yr old be king.

3 His wife will become queen or consort. it will be decided when it happens.

4 She can.

Answer 10

Yes. Members of the British Royal Family are free to date and marry representatives of any race, religion or nationality, apart from Roman Catholics. They can, of course, marry Catholics as well, however that would result in their removal from the Line of Succession. The reason why there aren't any (senior) Royals married to black or mixed race people is quite simple; most people socialise within their own race and/pr background, including members of the Royal Family. Currently, Princess Angela of Liechtenstein (wife of Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein) and her son, Prince Alfons, are the highest ranked black members of a reigning European dynasty.