Can you guess who’s rumoured to be taking over?
In Royal news this week, it’s thought that Prince Harry might be set to lose yet another of his family roles.
He stepped down from official Royal duties in March 2020 with his wife, Meghan Markle.
However, he kept some of his duties in place, including his position as Counsellor of State.
It’s now thought that he will be removed from that position too, with Princess Beatrice reportedly being considered to replace him.
It’s thought that filling in the gaps of Harry’s old roles is causing the Royal Family a “constitutional headache”, or so says The Express.
Wondering what being a Counsellor of State actually entails? It simply means you are one of four Royal family members lined up to fill in for Her Royal Highness should she fall ill, like she did this week, causing her to cancel her appearance at COP26.
At current, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince William and Prince Harry are the four Counsellors of State. They were chosen as the four next in line to the throne and because they are all over the age of 18, which is required for the position.
Why is Harry being removed from the position? Simply put, as he is no longer a working Royal and similarly, because as he doesn’t live in the United Kingdom, it would be impractical for him to fill in at short notice.
Not only that, but one expert has explained that a Counsellor not living in the UK actually doesn’t qualify for the role.
Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at King’s College London and the author of Monarchy And The Constitution, said to The Express: “A Counsellor not domiciled in the UK cannot act, so that excludes Harry.”
“The next in line and over the required age of 21 would be Princess Beatrice.”
“However, most of the functions of the Head of State can be devolved.”
“It is not, for example, constitutionally necessary for the Queen to attend the State Opening of Parliament.”
While it’s thought Princess Beatrice, daughter of Prince Andrew, may fill the gap Harry has left, a question mark has further been raised over whether another Royal family member will need to fill in for Prince Andrew, since he stepped away from public Royal duties in 2019 amidst sexual abuse allegations.
The MailOnline, reports that palace officials are considering appointing the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, in his place.
A source said to the MailOnline: “This is a constitutional headache. With an ageing monarch there are talks about what will happen if the Queen is unable to work for some reason.”
“You can’t have Andrew and Harry do it and Charles and William are extremely busy.”
In the past, Counsellors of State have proved pretty crucial, with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret having to step in as heads of state in 1974 to dissolve Ted Heath’s government. The Queen and Prince Philip were on a tour of New Zealand at the time.
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