Prince William
Prince William attends the unveiling of The Victoria Cross Commemorative Paving Stones representing each of Birmingham's 1st World War recepients at the Hall of Memory, Centenary Square on Dec. 7, 2015 in Birmingham, England. Getty Images/Richard Stonehouse

KEY POINTS

  • Prince William could take the throne from Prince Charles
  • Prince Charles could give up the throne for Prince William
  • Prince Charles and Prince William are being snubbed by Queen Elizabeth 

Prince Charles and Prince William are being pitted against each other for the throne.

The Order of Succession dictates that Prince Charles would succeed Queen Elizabeth. But there’s one particular scenario wherein Prince William could take the throne from his father.

In 2011, professor Robert Blackburn told BBC Radio 4 that Prince William could become king sooner rather than later if Prince Charles decides that he doesn’t want to head the monarchy.

“If there was a feeling within the royal family, particularly with Prince Charles, that he would prefer not to be king and he would like to pass the throne to his son, then I think that would be perfectly reasonable to do that,” he said.

However, Prince William previously said that he’s in no rush to become king. In fact, even though he’s aware of his future role, the Duke of Cambridge doesn’t lie awake at night thinking about ascending the throne.

“If you were talking about 10, 15 years, down the line, the question mark over skipping a generation would be that much stronger. There would have to be some legislation enacted, but that would be a relative formality,” he said.

When Prince William was much younger, he also expressed his desire to live a normal life. During his conversation with Princess Diana, he said that he didn’t want to be king. And when Prince Harry heard what he said, he volunteered to take over his position.

Unfortunately, no one, not even Queen Elizabeth, has the ability to change the order of succession. So, unless Prince Charles would abdicate, Prince William cannot leapfrog him with the role.

Meanwhile, a royal expert suggested that Prince Charles and Prince William are being snubbed by Her Majesty. Now that Prince Philip is already retired, the Queen is relying on two members of the royal family but they are not her son and grandson.

Richard Fitzwilliams told Express that the monarch is relying on Princess Anne and Sophie, Countess of Wessex more now that Prince Andrew, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle have already quit the royal family.

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