Charles in waiting: 63-year-old pays tribute to Queen – and his own destiny?
1 June 2012
Taken from Michael White's article in the Guardian
Professor Robert Hazell, head of University College London's Constitution Unit, argues that the most powerful case that republicans could make for abolishing the ancient British monarchy – practical rather than theoretical – is "the serious burdens it places on the royal family".
"The Queen is 86, an age when most people have retired; she's been in the job for 60 years with no prospect of relief until she dies. She won't ease up and she feels her coronation oath was a sacrament, so there is no question of abdication. It is a very heavy burden, for which we will be applauding her this weekend. She's stuck on the treadmill."
Prince Charles? "He's 63, itself an age when most people are starting to contemplate retirement, yet he's not actually started the job he's spent his adult life preparing for. That is burdensome, too. There are other demands we make on them in terms of the human rights we now value. The Queen has no freedom of expression or religious belief: she must be an Anglican in England and become a Presbyterian when she crosses the Scottish border. She has no freedom to travel, which the rest of us take for granted, and royal marriages need approval. It may be gilded, but it's still a cage," concludes Hazell.
