Prince Charles Already 'A King In All But Name,' Source Says

Prince Charles is set to be the next monarch after Queen Elizabeth II, and the royal family may already be preparing for the transition.

Robert Jobson recently claimed in his new book, "Charles at 70: Thoughts, Hopes and Dreams," that royal officials have already confirmed that the Prince of Wales is the prince regent. "In truth, with the Queen now well into her tenth decade, senior officials within the Royal Household confirm that Prince Charles is effectively already our ‘Prince Regent’, a king in all but name," he said (as quoted by Daily Star).

"Some close to the monarch say that, if she reaches the age of 95, she will make a monumental decision and choose to officially allow Charles to take over the stewardship of her reign," he added. "She will, they say, officially transfer all executive powers to him as Prince Regent until her death, when he will become king. This would enable her to fudge the issue of her not fulfilling her Coronation Oath to God and her people to serve as queen regnant until her death."

In related news, earlier reports claimed that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip doubt Prince Charles' suitability as a king. In fact, at one point, the Duke of Edinburgh was heard saying that they wanted to live longer so that the Prince of Wales would "have little opportunity to damage the monarchy."

The 97-year-old royal reportedly finds the next king "precious, extravagant and lacking in the dedication...to make a good king." He also actively opposed the Prince of Wales' plans for the monarchy.

"Philip has fulminated against Charles's vision of a slimmed-down Royal Family which he wants to eventually be independent of taxpayers' support, and has called his son 'willful and petulant,'" Adam Helliker wrote.

For the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles is "too political and cerebral to come a successful sovereign." According to Catherine Mayer, Prince Charles wanted to change the monarchy.

"The Queen and Prince Philip had very strong ideas about how you do monarchy and Prince Charles comes along and starts doing things very differently," she wrote.

On the other hand, the staff also finds Prince Charles difficult to please. They dubbed the future monarch as a "pampered prince" with bizarre demands.