Queen Elizabeth attends Trooping the Colour in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle to mark her official birthday on June 12, 2021.Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
WhileQueen Elizabethstill conducts her weekly meeting with the Prime Minister, hosts various diplomats and receives her daily red boxes, she’s increasingly relying on senior members of the royal family to carry out her more arduous duties.
At 95, the monarch has gradually handed off some of her patronages and public engagements to younger royals. Given the Queen’s age and herrecent health setbacks— includingissues with mobility— it is an inevitable transition.
Now that herhome base has moved from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, that also means more virtual engagements for the Queen — and more of a need for other royals to carry out her duties at Buckingham Palace.
Prince William.PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
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Now thatPrince Andrew has been stripped of his royal roleamid his sexual assault lawsuit andPrince HarryandMeghan Marklehave moved to California after stepping back from their roles, the Queen relies on a core group of senior royals, including Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; William and Kate; and Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
On Thursday, the Queen’s youngest son Prince Edward presented new colors to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment at Windsor Castle on behalf of his mother.
Queen Elizabeth II with (L-R) Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Edward, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, Sir Tim Lawrence, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.Chris Jackson/- WPA Pool/Getty Images
Looking ahead to the future of the monarchy, however, all eyes are onPrince WilliamandKate Middleton.
Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
Yes,Prince Charles, 73, will reign next alongside his wife, future Queen Consort Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 74, but “because of the ages of all the participants, there must be a feeling that long-term, the future of the British monarchy is more about William and Kate—spiritually, not in terms of actual succession,” historian Sarah Gristwood, author ofElizabeth: Queen and Crown, tells PEOPLE.
“The baton of the crown has to pass to Charles and Camilla, but there is a sense of a baton also being passed from the Queen to William and Kate. Charles and Camilla have a lot of life experience between them, and they’re not going to change. The future belongs with the Cambridges,” she adds.
source: people.com
