Why Queen Elizabeth Hasn’t Given Up The Throne To Prince Charles Yet

Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in the world. However, she’s already 93 years old, and some concerned fans are thinking that perhaps it’s high time for her to just relax and enjoy life by passing the throne to her successor, Prince Charles, or Prince William, if the former is unavailable to serve as a monarch for whatever reasons.

Even bettors are starting to think that perhaps the time to pass the reins of power is near. “We think that the Queen just might start to be thinking about stepping aside now as another year goes by and another new arrival to the family comes,” explained Harry Aitkenhead of Coral. “We've cut the odds on it happening this year to just 3-1.”

But there are those who believe that bettors are simply wrong in this one. The reason is that Queen Elizabeth abdicating in favor of Charles or William will never happen.

“Abdicating due to age just isn’t done,” wrote Reader’s Digest. True there are some royal families, such as those in the Netherlands, whose monarch will abdicate after reaching a certain age. However, that’s just not the case in the United Kingdom, where abdication is against “informal rules of the monarchy’s set-up.”

In addition, Her Majesty gave her word that she would do no such thing. Elizabeth basically promised that she’ll be the Queen for life on her 21st birthday.

“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” the monarch once said. Knowing her sense of propriety, she’ll likely stick by those words she uttered back then.

But in case a situation might arise that she will become incapable of overseeing the daily affairs of the firm, the establishment is likely to work out an arrangement wherein she’ll continue to be the monarch. “Were the Queen to go senile or become disabled, her staff would likely slowly delegate some of her duties to other members of the Royal Family, and do their best to limit her participation for her own good,” Alex Denethorn wrote on Quora.