Heartbroken Queen Had ‘Seriously Considered’ Handing Crown Down To Son Charles

Apr 21, 2021 by apost team

Queen Elizabeth II, the past monarch of the British royal family, had reigned for seven decades. Feb. 6, 2022, marked the 70th year since she became the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth nations. Even before she ascended to the throne at the young age of 27, all eyes were on her as royalists waited with anticipation and speculated what she would be like as a ruler. In 2021, Queen Elizabeth turned 95 and unfortunately, she did so without her faithful husband, Prince Philip. 

Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of 73 years, was laid to rest in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in April 2021. The late prince was buried alongside former kings of England and other royals, the Associated Press reported.

Images from inside the funeral, where only a select group of 30 people could attend due to coronavirus restrictions, showed Elizabeth sitting alone in the chapel. 

The queen was said to be heartbroken after losing her “strength and stay.” The enduring love between Elizabeth and Philip will always be one for the ages. While Elizabeth had the responsibility of becoming a queen thrust upon her early on, Philip had to make compromises and sacrifices to support the new queen. Through his actions and devotion toward his wife, Philip became the perfect example of a royal consort and will remain an inspiration for decades to come.

Read on to learn more about how King Charles III came to power and took over the throne following the passing of the queen.

Queen Elizabeth celebrated two birthdays in the year — the first was her actual birthday on April 21, where she mostly spent it privately with family, while gun salutes across London marked the occasion publicly. The other birthday was the Trooping the Colour event, which usually takes place on the second Saturday in June. 

On her birthday in April, normally, a 41-gun salute would take place in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and the Tower of London did a 62-gun salute. However, with the past global situation, gun salutes did not take place in 2021, and the celebrations were kept small and limited to her personal bubble at Buckingham Palace. The year 2021’s Trooping the Colour event had also been canceled, which was only the third time that had happened in Queen Elizabeth's reign.

The previous year she didn't have a big celebration either, as the initial pandemic lockdown took place in the United Kingdom. She spent the birthday with Prince Philip and opted for video calls with the rest of her family members. Furthermore, the bells of Westminster Abbey were not rung in celebration.

According to the BBC, the royal tradition of celebrating two birthdays was created during King George II's reign in 1748. As his birthday was in November, he decided to have a large public celebration in June instead, when he could make use of the great summer weather. It made perfect sense to do so, and the royal family has celebrated each ruling monarch's birthday in this way ever since.

However, in 2021, the idea of then-Prince Charles taking the throne was also in the queen's head, as she had officially turned 95 years old. 

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According to Express, a former senior member of the Royal Household disclosed to royal correspondent Robert Jobson that the queen had given "considerable thought" to handing over the throne to her heir and son, Charles. In fact, this matter was discussed back in 2019. The former member had said:

"Her Majesty is mindful of her age and wants to make sure when the time comes, the transition of the Crown is seamless. I understand the Queen has given the matter considerable thought and believes that, if she is still alive at 95, she will seriously consider passing the reign to Charles.”

Per the official royal succession rules, the queen would not have been able to give the throne to Charles without abdication, but she can most certainly start to give away her royal duties and responsibilities if her health becomes a concern. Although there was no particular concern other than the normalcy of the queen's aging, Elizabeth had already started to have senior royal family members step in and take over some of her duties. 

Back on the queen's 21st birthday, when she was just Princess Elizabeth, she made an iconic speech in which she promised to serve the British Commonwealth until the day that she died. She said:

"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."

Because the queen was under extra stress due to the passing of her beloved husband Philip, it was possible that she could have passed on more royal duties to Charles sooner rather than later. And following the queen’s passing on Sept. 8, 2022, King Charles III ascended the throne, replacing his mother as Britain’s reigning monarch.

What do you think about Prince Charles becoming king and taking on more of the queen's former royal responsibilities? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to all the royal fans you know.