Prince Charles and his eldest son, Prince William, could share the royal duties of the king after Queen Elizabeth’s reign ends, an Australian royal watcher has suggested.
During an appearance on Australia’s The Morning Show, journalist Melissa Hoyer commented on the call by some royal fans for Prince William to become king in place of his father, Prince Charles, who is the heir apparent to the throne.
According to Express, Hoyer rejected the calls for Prince Charles to step aside so that William can be king. She said Charles would never agree to be skipped over after having waited for so long.
“He [Prince Charles] was walking with that coffin in front of him, thinking, and he was crying being very emotional obviously about the death of his dad,” Hoyer said. “He is ready to step up whether we like it, whether England likes it I don’t know.”
Hoyer argued that instead of skipping Prince Charles in the line of succession, he and William, Duke of Cambridge, could share the royal duties of the king so that the U.K. would have a “double king.”
“But I think they will probably share duties a bit, to be honest, William and Charles,” Hoyer said. “They will be like double kings.”
The British people want William to be king over Charles, according to a recent survey
Hoyer suggested that Charles, Prince of Wales, and William, Duke of Cambridge, could share the royal duties of the king after Monsters and Critics reported about a recent poll that suggested the British people wanted Prince William to be king after Queen Elizabeth.
The survey, conducted between March 31 and April 1 by Deltapoll, included 1,590 respondents reportedly representative of the adult British population.
According to the survey, 47 percent of the respondents wanted William to be king, compared to 27 percent who said they wanted Charles to be king after his mother.
Young Brits prefer Prince Harry over Prince William
The poll found Prince Harry was more popular among younger Brits, including Generation Z members, aged between 18 and 24, and millennials, aged between 24 and 40. Harry was less popular among baby boomers aged between 57 and 75.
According to the survey results, 23 percent of millennials wanted Harry to be the king while only 5 percent of baby boomers said they wanted Harry to be the king.
Prince Harry was more popular than William among members of Generation Z as 23 percent wanted Harry to be king, compared with 22 percent who said they preferred William to be king.
Some Brits want the monarchy abolished
The survey found that 18 percent of respondents wanted the monarchy abolished completely.
A royal watcher has also suggested that going by Harry’s comments during his recent interview with Oprah, he would also be “quite happy” if the monarchy were abolished, Monsters and Critics reported.
Ann Gripper, who hosts the Pod Save The Queen podcast, said “It sounded like Prince Harry would be quite happy for the whole thing to be disbanded because he thinks they are all trapped and in a cage and it would be much better for people to have a choice rather than being in a zoo, to choose that life essentially.”
The attitude of British people to the monarchy is changing, Republic CEO said
Reacting to the survey numbers, Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic, an organization that advocates for the U.K’s monarchical system to be replaced by a Republic, said it revealed a generational gap and changing attitudes.
“No matter what the polls say, Charles will be king. Yet this poll tells us people no longer care about the hereditary system, they want a choice,” Smith said. “The huge gulf between generations underscores how disconnected the royals are from modern attitudes.”