In recent weeks, Elisabeth II has been forced to cancel her attendance at several official events for health reasons.
If, for some, the time has come for the change of monarch, the queen does not seem to want, nor simply to be able to step down from her functions as long as she has all her head.
The latest symbol of British unity, its replacement does not seem the most opportune today, while the United Kingdom is going through an unstable period economically and politically.
Will the Queen of England stay on the British throne until her last breath?
Sunday, Elisabeth II was forced to cancel her participation in an official ceremony in London because of her state of health.
This isn't the first event the 95-year-old monarch has canceled in recent weeks after her brief hospitalization last month.
In the United Kingdom, voices are starting to rise for her to cede the throne to her eldest son, Prince Charles.
“Her job is to go to these kinds of events, and now she can't go.
Let's be honest, she can't do her job, ”journalist Kevin Maguire said on Monday on Good Morning Britain on the ITV channel.
But in reality and in the codes of the British monarchy, things are not that simple.
Why does the queen, despite her state of health, not give up her place?
First of all, because she just doesn't seem to want to.
Obviously the "back pain" from which the sovereign suffers, according to Buckingham Palace, is not a sufficient reason to leave her place.
To fulfill its role, it is not so much the physical as the mental that would count.
"She remains sensible, has the full capacity of her means and still feels capable of reigning", assures historian David Feutry at
20 Minutes
.
An argument also put forward by columnist Andrew Pierce, still on Good Morning Britain.
For him, the Queen remains "mentally strong" and able to hold conversations with world leaders on major political issues.
What does the monarchical tradition of Great Britain say?
"To be king or queen is much more than a profession, it is a moral obligation, a priesthood", assures David Feutry.
All members of the royal family are prepared to rule from an early age.
Suffice to say that we do not get rid of our role like that.
“Uses have been established since the Declaration of Rights of 1689 and, in 1701, the rules of succession were definitively put in place designating the king's first son as heir to the throne,” indicates David Feutry.
The rule was amended in 2013. It is now the first child of the king and queen, who becomes heir regardless of gender.
If the rules of succession are well established, those of a possible retirement for a nonagenarian queen do not exist.
To leave your place, you have to abdicate.
Why doesn't abdication seem like an option?
Symbolically, abdicating does not mean leaving your place, but rather that you renounce the throne.
This strong act happened once in the history of the British crown.
In 1936, Edward VIII renounces the crown after less than a year of reign in order to be able to marry a divorced woman.
The case had caused a constitutional crisis.
"It was a traumatic moment and not at all in the scheme of things," says David Feutry.
Does the British government have a say?
"It is up to the queen to make this decision, it is not the role of Parliament", insists the historian.
However, it is provided that in the event of a crisis, Parliament can effectively decide to hand over the crown to the legitimate heir.
"One can imagine that this is what could happen if the queen lost her head completely," admits David Feutry, although this has never happened in the past.
Is abdication the only solution available to the queen?
In a column of
The Independent
on October 23, Sean O'Grady, deputy editor of the newspaper, assures that the queen could "retire without abdicating".
It would suffice for him to "declare the Prince of Wales Prince Regent".
She could then keep her title, her status and her position while letting her elder brother manage the constitutional aspects.
“The queen does not need to disappear from public view, and Charles would not be king,” he assures us.
But does the queen have an interest in giving up her place to Charles?
In the rest of his forum, Sean O'Grady concedes: “Whether Prince Charles is up to the task is another matter. "A matter which he considers to be" delicate ". The least we can say is that Prince Charles does not really have the same aura as his mother, whom he has long lived in the shadows. “His marital tribulations between the 1990s and 2000s did not help,” says David Feutry.
Moreover, "taking power at over 70 is not the same as having exercised it for so many years", adds the historian.
Recall that Queen Elisabeth II arrived on the throne at the age of 25, after the brutal death of her father George VI.
"Prince Charles embodies the 20th century, while the English expect renewal with William who is their darling and who is more in touch with reality," he says.
On the other hand, the currently male dominated British government has a great deal of respect for the Queen.
"With a king, the relationship could be slightly different, speculates David Feutry.
There could be a balance of power.
"
Besides the heir, is this the right time to change monarch?
At a time of the Covid-19 crisis, Brexit, regular requests for a referendum for independence in Scotland or recent supply problems, the departure of Elizabeth II could fuel the instability that reigns over the kingdom.
“Everything changes in Britain except the Queen.
It is a fixed point, an anchor in the British identity, ”decrypts David Feutry, who recalls that, unlike politics, the monarchy is intended to“ last over time and bring stability ”.
So the Queen may also be waiting for a more opportune time to consider possible changes.
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