What would Prince Harry’s role be if King Charles III abdicated?
King Charles III is undergoing cancer treatment raising questions about the Royal Family succession. Here’s what it would mean for Prince Harry.
Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that King Charles III while undergoing a recent medical procedure doctors discovered he had cancer. They advised the 75-year-old monarch that during the schedule of regular treatments for the ailment that he postpone public-facing duties.
The news sparked speculation that Charles III could abdicate, especially when taken together with a prediction made by Nostradamus nearly 500 years ago. While Prince Harry is fifth in the line of succession, a recent interpretation of one of the French seer’s quatrains pointed to the King’s second son as a potential replacement.
What would be Prince Harry’s role if King Charles III abdicates?
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has had a strained relationship with his family in recent years. He stepped back from his royal duties in 2020, along with wife Meghan Markle, and moved with his family to the United States.
The following year he and his wife sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey in which bombshell allegations came out. At the end of 2022, Netflix released a documentary and he published his memoir ‘Spare’ which both aired further dirty laundry about the Royal Family and his relationships with his father and brother.
Prince Harry is no longer a working member of the Royal Family, so he only maintains the title of Prince as son of King Charles III, along with His Royal Highness, which he doesn’t use, and Duke of Sussex.
However, he was stripped of his patronages and lost his honorary military appointments. Furthermore, Harry and Meghan were asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate last year.
His role in the Royal Family is similar to that of Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal patronages and military affiliations by Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizbeth II’s “approval and agreement.” The move came after he was unable to stop a sex-abuse lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Giuffre. She alleged that as a minor disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Andrew who then sexually abused her.
Both Andrew and Harry are barred from acting as Counsellors of State for King Charles III. Only “working members of the Royal Family will be called on” according to legislation passed in 2022. It was reportedly fast-tracked to avoid an “awkward constitutional problem” created by Andrew and Harry stepping away from their working royal roles.
Could Harry become king?
Even if Prince Harry was desirous to take the British throne, he has said that he does not want to be a working royal anymore, it would take a quite tragic event for that to happen. As fifth in the line to the throne, were King Charles III to abdicate, or worse, pass away, then the crown and throne would go to his older brother, William, Prince of Wales.
Following William are his three children with his wife Kate Middleton in order of succession: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis would come next. All four would need to be removed from the picture for Prince Harry to move to the top of the list.
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