The Queen might be preparing for some massive changes.
According to a new report from the Daily Mail, Queen Elizabeth may effectively "retire" in the next 18 months, at which point she would presumably pass off day-to-day control of the monarchy to her oldest son, Prince Charles.
Though the new report is all speculation at this point, Charles has taken on an increased role in big picture decision-making in the wake of his brother, Prince Andrew's scandal.
"The scandal surrounding Andrew and Epstein gave Charles an opportunity to step in to show that he can run The Firm," A royal source told The Sun. "No one is bigger than the institution of the Royal Family. Not even Andrew, the Queen's favorite son. Charles recognized that and acted decisively—like the king he may well soon be. This was the moment when Charles stepped up as Prince Regent, the Shadow King."
The new rumors suggest that Charles is preparing to take over leadership in the royal family when the Queen turns 95.
The reports don't suggest that Elizabeth would fully step down as monarch. Instead, it's been suggested that Charles would take on a modern Prince Regent role and assume control of day-to-day affairs while Elizabeth retained the official title of monarch.
The speculation that Elizabeth would make this shift when she turns 95 in a year and a half has been tied to Prince Philip's retirement from public life, which he announced when he was 95.
The reports aren't coming out of nowhere—the Queen has been reducing her public engagements significantly in recent years. In 2016, she attended 332 engagements and by 2018, she had cut that number down to 283. While that's still a lot of engagements, of course, Charles has been increasing his royal workload and took on 507 engagements in 2018.
We'll just have to wait and see how this actually plays out of course, since the decision will ultimately be the Queen's alone.
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