When The Queen dies...

[sunnyjune]

And Charles becomes King, will William become the new Prince of Wales?

Kate would then become Princess of Wales and I just wonder if they'd want another Princess of Wales.

I know it's been almost 21 years since Diana's death, but it still seems so fresh. The title is still so heavily associated with Diana, I wonder if William and Harry would want that.

Hasn't it been speculated that Harry will get the Dukedom of Sussex when he marries?

I think Clarence would be rather fun.....

I thought it was reported that Harry would be Duke of

Yes, she will become Princess of Wales, and their children will become Prince George of Wales etc.

Connaught 😊 That idea's not going down too well in certain quarters.

My money's on Sussex.

That was it - Connaught.

Oh, I thought this was going to be about the various protocols on what happens when the Queen dies, like the 'RATS' warning on the BBC --

This Guardian article is completely fascinating on the mechanics of what has been rehearsed:

For people stuck in traffic, or with Heart FM on in the background, there will only be the subtlest of indications, at first, that something is going on. Britain’s commercial radio stations have a network of blue “obit lights”, which is tested once a week and supposed to light up in the event of a national catastrophe. When the news breaks, these lights will start flashing, to alert DJs to switch to the news in the next few minutes and to play inoffensive music in the meantime. Every station, down to hospital radio, has prepared music lists made up of “Mood 2” (sad) or “Mood 1” (saddest) songs to reach for in times of sudden mourning. “If you ever hear Haunted Dancehall (Nursery Remix) by Sabres of Paradise on daytime Radio 1, turn the TV on,” wrote Chris Price, a BBC radio producer, for the Huffington Post in 2011. “Something terrible has just happened.”

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge

Oh, x-posted with Gasp. It's fascinating, though, isn't it?

I imagine there was a delay with Charles as he was still a child at the time?

Probably, but he was still a child when he was made Prince of Wales, only 9 years old. In the two previous instances there were much shorter delays. Prince Edward, who became Edward VIII, was made Prince of Wales only a month after his father, George V, became king. But George had to wait eight months. His father became king in January 1901 and George was not made Prince of Wales until November 1901, supposedly in part because Queen Alexandra was not yet ready for someone else to take over the title Princess of Wales, by which she had been known for so long.

It's really interesting!

Good point from PP about Princess Charlotte one day becoming Princess Royal, I hadn't thought of that!

I think because Camilla chose not to use the Princess of Wales title, the idea of 'The Wales's' is still heavily associated with Charles, Diana, Wills and Harry. With that being such an unhappy marriage I just thought it might be perceived to be a tainted title. Probably doesn't help that Diana's life just seemed to be one trauma after another. It was all just so bloody tragic, but they seem really happy so maybe they can turn it around and bring some positivity to the 'Wales' name.

If only Charles hadn't been so bloody weak and spineless, he could have married Camilla first time around and left the 19 year old Diana to live her life. She'd probably be living it up in a country house on the outskirts of Althorp now, not buried alone on an overgrown island in the middle of it.

Imagine, 19 year old girl marrying a 32 year old prince these days! Eyebrows would definitely be raised!

It certainly is, Serious! I've just listened to that piece of music in preparation. I can't say I'm confident I'd recognise it again, but I think I've absorbed the general principle that lift-type music is a coded signal.

Realistically, we've got ten more years at most.

It's weird that we'll probably never see another Queen again, at least in our lifetimes.

I can't remember anyone raising the age difference between Charles and Diana at the time. Strange, isn't it?

I remember when the King died, dirge-like music for days on the wireless.

I was very aware of the age difference. Diana and I were born in the same month and oddly enough we got engaged in the same month. My husband is six years older than me and I thought that was quite a big age gap at the time, so hearing that she was going to marry a man who was 12 years older was a bit of an eyeopener.

As I recall there was quite a lot of adverse comment about the marriage, in left-leaning circles anyway. There was a song which might have been Australian which went 'And Lady Di Di Di went stick it in your eye' or similar. Also some people wearing badges saying 'Don't do it, Di!'

Having said that, most of the nation appeared to go doolally about the Royal Wedding and the births of William and Harry. The cult of Diana was very strong all through the 80s and into the 90s.

Yes-I would have imagined that I would have been horrified. Maybe I was too busy being a rabid trade union official to notice.

I do remember there being some comment about the age difference in the US coverage. And discussions about the virgin requirement making it difficult for him to find a bride closer to his age.

Main benefit of the RW was an extra Bank Holiday! Although as a student on vacation at the time that was not of huge significance to me. Vanished times. I didn't have a job that summer as I had glandular fever but I was able to get Income Support (social security benefit paid to anyone, as I recall, no need to show any record of NI contributions). Mrs T put a stop to that shortly afterwards.

I think it was mentioned, KimJong - although there seemed to be a recognition that Charles 'had' to marry a debutante (by implication: virgin). I think the Royal Family tried to engineer a fairy tale, with awful results.

Thanks for the Guardian article - fascinating!

Not quite as I remembered, though.

I have no memory of the King's death, but my first memory of TV was watching the Queen's coronation on a tiny black and white television. I think that is what sparked my lifetime interest in British history and, by extension, the RF.

Gosh, what a memory, Seneca. I wasn't alive then. My husband (just) remembers the assassination of JFK. I remember the moon landings clearly, not sure what other news events from earlier in the 60s I truly remember.

I was hoping Charles declines the throne when the time comes

I was hoping Charles declines the throne when the time comes

No chance what so ever.