Is Queen Elizabeth Really Making Prince William, Kate Middleton King And Queen?

Queen Elizabeth may love her grandson Prince William, but that doesn’t mean she is foregoing royal protocol and tradition to name him as the next King of England over his father, Prince Charles.

A new report from National Enquirer claims that Queen Elizabeth is not only suffering dementia, but that during a “moment of clarity,” she decided to name Prince William and Kate Middleton as her heirs over her eldest son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles. However, Gossip Cop has refuted the claim as being completely unfounded.

The report claimed that Queen Elizabeth opted to “throw protocol out the window” and decided “to skip a generation and name her favorite grandson instead of her oldest son as the next monarch” because she has long felt “Charles lacked the fortitude to rule,” and “The people like [William] and say he’s more genuine than his father ever was.” The alleged source for the information also claimed that the Queen is suffering from dementia, but during a moment where she was thinking clearer, she was decisive and had “even gone as far as officially passing the crown to William in a secret ceremony” and ordering her own son to flee Great Britain and settle outside of the U.K.

However, not only is Queen Elizabeth clearly not suffering from dementia but even if she wanted to install William as her heir apparent, she is unable to due to the Settlement Act of 1701 and the Bill of Rights of 1689. These acts set the laws for the line of succession, and they have been followed for over 300 years. It would seem unlikely that the Queen would try to deviate, forcing Parliament to try and enact a new law justifying the action.

In addition, the Queen officially appointed her son as her successor in April 2018 and has been reportedly taking steps to assure his transition to power is a smooth one.

The magazine’s claim that she also told Prince Charles to “flee the U.K.” after her alleged decision also doesn’t make sense because it’s unclear what purpose that would serve if she had legally made William the successor. If it was even a remote possibility, Charles would still be able to freely live in the U.K. because he would be on par with other members of the royal family who are exceedingly unlikely to ever ascend to the throne—like his own son, Prince Harry. He also wouldn’t be forced to leave the country even if he opted to abdicate the throne and give it to William, so the Queen forcing him out would have been unlikely.