Appointing a successor has always been a subject of interest, especially those deemed eligible to assume a throne. In most cases, intense disputes erupt when a ruling leader decides to hang their boots and selects a successor. In modern political trends, elections seem to smoothen succession disputes as voters are allowed to choose their leaders through casting votes, but for a queen, it is a different story entirely. Queens operate in a different governing structure than our regular political environment, and their channels of successors are unique.
So can the queen choose her successor? The answer to this question depends on a monarchy’s rules and regulations. But usually, all monarchies have rules which tend to monitor those who are given the throne. The Royal Central notes that “the royal line of succession is fixed in order to keep the monarchy in check – meaning, the queen (and any other monarch) cannot choose her successor.” It is argued that “After all, what would be the point of the monarchy if you could choose the heir?” [Source].
A monarchy is “a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial” [Source].
Royal Central posited how a fixed succession line in a monarch makes it hard to implement other forms of choosing a successor. If the succession line skips anyone, a serious inquiry would be called for [Source]. This was said regarding if Prince Charles, the expected person to assume the throne from Queen Elizabeth II, might lose it to the Queen’s grandson Prince William. According to the traditional rules of the British monarch, Prince Charles is next in line to become King. After him, his eldest son Prince William will take over from his father.
But parliament is given authority to deviate from this succession line determined by birth order. The queen does not have any authority to name her successor. Parliament controls the succession to the crown, and that “Parliament can legislate for anything under a doctrine known as Parliamentary supremacy.”
Another way of breaking the fixed line of succession is when an individual is regarded as unfit to rule. The following person in line will have to step up and take the throne when this happens. This means the queen does not have a say in such a case and can only watch as things unfold.
As it stands in the British monarchy, “Queen Elizabeth II’s first-born, Prince Charles, is the next in line to the British throne. After Prince Charles is his eldest son, Prince William, then Prince William’s children in order of birth (Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis)”. Due to this, the queen plays no vital role in naming a person who comes after her, but she can offer recommendations when one is seen as unfit.
Questions were posed on whether Camilla will become Queen if Prince Charles assumes the role of King. It was revealed that Camilla would take the role of a Prince Consort instead of a Queen Consort because this was agreed upon in the current rules.
In answering the question “Can’t Queen Elizabeth abdicate and choose her successor?” the answer argued that “Yes and no respectively” and explained that “she can, legally, abdicate. However, she chooses to abide by her coronation vows and not to do so. She can’t choose her own successor” [Source].
Considering all these factors, a queen cannot choose her successor because of parliamentary laws and a monarch’s fixed-line of succession.
