On October 19th, Queen Elizabeth “reluctantly” cancelled her two-day trip to Northern Ireland, citing exhaustion. We later learned that the Queen was checked into the hospital later that day, and that she stayed overnight for “tests.” She was back at Windsor Castle the next day, the 20th. The news about the Queen’s hospitalization and cover-up came out on the 21st, which is the same day the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed off for vacation. By all accounts, the Cambridges only returned to the UK over the weekend. Meaning, they were gone, in the wind, for ten days of the Queen’s “health crisis.” Prince Charles, meanwhile, kept his own schedule of events, travels and more during that same time frame.
Many have been focused on how terrible and lazy the Cambridges looked, but it’s actually far worse than that. William is one of the “Counsellors of State,” and in the Queen’s absence or incapacity, he would have to make decisions in her place. Or, he would have needed to do that if he wasn’t on vacation. That criticism is built into this rather shady story about how Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will need to take a larger role in the coming weeks/months.
Palace aides are drafting plans for the Duchess of Cornwall to take on a significantly greater role – and it is possible she could even be appointed to an elite group of senior Royals who can carry out duties on behalf of the Queen. The Monarch is still receiving her daily red boxes of Government documents. But constitutional experts last night expressed concern about the preparedness of the Royal Family if she becomes unable to fulfil the basic role of a Head of State. Significantly, however, sources say that Camilla, who was praised for a speech last week in which she called for more urgent action to tackle sexual violence against women, will be asked to help manage the workload.
Under rules enshrined in law and detailed on the official Royal website, four members of the family are currently entitled as ‘Counsellors of State’ to take over from the Queen if she is unable to perform her duties – if, for example, she were abroad or unwell. These Counsellors are Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, chosen because they are the four next in line to the throne and at least over the age of 18. This rules out William’s children George, Charlotte and Louis. But neither Prince Andrew – who is fighting sex claims lodged in the US – nor Prince Harry, who has quit official duties and now lives in California, are currently working members of the Royal Family.
Vernon Bogdanor, the author of Monarchy And The Constitution and professor of government at King’s College London, said: ‘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.’
Two Counsellors of State are required to act together in a ‘quorum’ to perform crucial functions, such as providing Royal assent to bills passing through Parliament and appointing High Court judges. Without such assent, these functions of Government cannot be enacted.
Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Bangor University, said the current situation posed a potential problem for the smooth running of Government. ‘There is a small but genuine risk that the non-availability of Counsellors of State could impede the operation of the constitution. It could certainly make the day-to-day running of Government much more tricky. The Counsellors of State are a Plan B from a constitutional point of view, but what happens when Plan B isn’t quite ideal? The Queen may look to add the Duchess of Cornwall, who would become a Counsellor of State when Charles is King anyway. Or they could go down the line to Princesses Beatrice or Eugenie, or add more members of the family, like Princess Anne or Prince Edward to the list.’
A source close to the Palace said: ‘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.’
[From The Daily Mail]
Basically, for ten days, Charles was the only viable “counsellor of state” in the UK, because Andrew is a rapist, Harry got out before he was exiled and Lazy Bill was on vacation. So this story is pointing out several things at once: that other counsellors of state need to be added, that Camilla will likely be given more power and responsibilities, and that William is a constitutional lightweight who eschews even the most basic role of “sitting there, in the UK, in case of emergency.” Also: Charles went to the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend. Meaning the only official counsellor of state in the UK for about 48 hours was Prince Andrew. Yiiiikes.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
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