\201cPrince Charles Will Make Some Changes\201d When He Becomes King

Though we hope Prince Charles’ ascension to the throne is in the far distant future, we’re beginning to get more insight into what a monarchy under Charles might look like. Charles has long been rumored to want a “slimmed down” monarchy, but what does that mean, exactly?

When he becomes king, “Prince Charles will make some changes,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti tells Us Weekly. “It’s always been rumored that he wants to slim down the working royals at the core of the family.”

Of course, anyone paying attention to the royal family over the last two years has noticed there has already been a slim down in the number of working royals, namely Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who announced their intention to step back as working royals in January 2020 and whose royal departure was made permanent in February 2021, and Prince Andrew, who lost his royal titles earlier this year amidst a sexual assault lawsuit (which has since been settled). But under Charles’ reign, Sacerdoti says, he will “formalize the slimming down” so that it doesn’t seem like the “result of circumstances.”

And, amidst the Queen’s health struggles as of late, Charles and his son, Prince William, have been taking on more and more duties that resemble those they will undertake full-time when each becomes king.

“Prince Charles has always been a hardworking royal and Prince William, too,” he says. “But the more they get to do now, the more the baton is being handed over. They’re getting used to some of those roles for when they themselves are monarch.”

As for what a monarchy under William might look like? Royal commentator Charlie Lankston, per the Daily Express, says it will be less stuffy, as is evidenced by the way he and wife Kate Middleton are already conducting themselves as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

“They are making small but very important changes, opening up the monarchy to a more modern point of view, not perhaps in a way [that] is noticeable every single day,” Lankston says. “But bit by bit they have helped the monarchy to evolve, to embrace new traditions, and to maintain the important heritage of the past while saying ‘a few of the things that we used to do are seen to be very stuffy. They are very stuffy–here’s ways we can maintain the tradition behind these things without making it appear as though we’re completely ignorant to what the rest of the world is doing and how they’re living.”