King Charles has been urged to step aside as monarch and allow Prince William to take the reins amid the shock abdication announcement of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Commentators have been debating Charles’s future on the throne less than 18 months into a role he has been preparing for his entire life.
It comes after Queen Margrethe II of Denmark said on Sunday (December 31) she plans to abdicate after 52 years and hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik.
Stephen Pound, a former Labour MP, said if King Charles were to step down it would save the monarchy. He told GB News: “The monarchy is in a state of crisis at the present time.
“We’ve had possibly the worst few years since [Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II] passed on. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if King Charles said it’s time for a reset?”
The former Ealing North MP suggested the King should agree to step back and let a new generation take over.
Royal commentator Charles Rae said, however, that Prince William and Princess Kate will have to wait their turn before the next in line can ascend the throne.
He told the broadcaster King Charles took an oath when he became monarch, adding: “We’ve always got people wanting William and Kate to take over because they’re young, they’re cool.
“But they will have to wait their turn. It’s going to be some time. Charles has at least another 20 years. I see no reason why he should abdicate and sit at home with his pipe and slippers.”
King Charles has a 52 percent approval rating, according to YouGov, which compares to 40 percent for Prince William and 71 percent for the Princess of Wales.
In YouGov polling published at the end of Charles’s first year on the throne, 62 percent of Britons said the UK should continue with a monarchy. Twenty six percent said the country should have an elected head of state instead while 11 percent were unsure.
It came after Buckingham Palace was rocked by a slew of allegations published in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare and before royal author Omid Scobie’s book Endgame revived allegations about “royal racists” who allegedly asked about the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son, Prince Archie Harrison.
The Express.co.uk has decided to not name the “royal racists”.
Mr Rae denied the monarchy is in crisis, pointing to the King’s Speech being the most viewed programme on Christmas Day and a documentary about the Coronation netting the most viewers on Boxing Day.
He said: “I think the monarchy is going along quite nicely and it should stay as it is.”
Calls for a reigning British monarch to abdicate are nothing new, with commentators debating whether or not Queen Elizabeth II should step down at a number of points during her historic reign.
But the debate has been revived since Queen Margrethe II told her subjects she would step down on January 14.
That date is the anniversary of her own accession to the throne at age 31 upon the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
Margrethe, 83, said the back surgery she underwent early last year had led to “thoughts about the future” and when to pass on the responsibilities of the crown to her son. She said in her speech: “I have decided that now is the right time.”
