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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.”
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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
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