What would happen if William abdicated?

[strawberrymilk7]

If the PoW decided that being King wasn't for him and either never became King or abdicated would Prince George still be next in line? Or does that cut off the whole line?

When King Edward abdicated he didn't have children so it was a bit easier.

It would go to George.

A few years ago there were people saying that when the Queen dies, Charles should abdicate so that William could go straight to king.

The line of succession would stay the same so George would still be next in line

An Act of Parliament would be required for the abdication to take place, and the Act would set out the terms in relation to the line of succession.

When Edward VIII abdicated, the Act ruled out any children he might hypothetically have fathered from the line of succession (Wallis was 40 when she married him, so children would still have been possible although in the event they never had any).

As William's children are already extant, it's unlikely they would be ruled out by the Act, but not impossible. If William and his line were removed, the next in line would be Harry.

Thanks, I wasn't sure. I can't imagine William would but just wondered

@BedTaker I do remember people saying Charles should step aside, I've heard people saying that since I was in school so the 00s. Really though if I had waited my entire life as the next in line no way would I just step aside.

that would be a really shitty thing to do to George.

it's clear that being a prince is way better than being a king. honestly I think it would be a kindness to either scrap the monarchy altogether or to radically downscale it to be a lot less high pressure. but if you don't do that then in general barring the occasional misfortune of one's parent dying young, being king/queen should be something one only does for 20 years or so, from age 70ish to 90ish, and getting to live for oneself a bit before that duty comes.

being thrust into kingship while still a child would be awful. it was pretty tough on our Liz having to start the job in her 20s.

Be even better if the whole lot of them abdicated one by one. Including Charlie. In my dreams I suppose.

Bizarre question. He would not abdicate. He is obviously king in waiting

This has been asked before on here fairly recently.
Is William thinking of abdicating then?

If William abdicated then George would be King and a Regent would need to be found to cover the next 10 years.

That's covered by the Regency Act, and would be adults over the age 21 by position in the succession.

If we're lucky, Harry and Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie would all decline the role, and we could have Edward and Anne appointed co-regents.

Offspring born after the abdication would be excluded from the succession, but those legitimately in that line born beforehand would maintain their place.

Is he bollocks!

Before the Queen died, people on here were forever talking about Charles abdicating and the throne 'skipping to William'.

Some people don't seem to realise that the likelihood of such a thing is minuscule. I thought perhaps the seamless and immediate accession of Charles might dispel the notion that abdicating as a decision is on a par with a commoner deciding to change jobs, but, no, people still seem to think it's feasible.

@PlaitBilledDuckyPuss I never thought Charles would abdicate. He obviously wanted the job. But the Queen believed she was appointed by God. I don't think either Charles or William think that, and it does change things.

How on earth would we know? Would he confide in some random poster from Mumsnet before anyone else?

God forbid he abdicates and insists on all three of his children also being removed from the succession. We'd be in line for King Harry or Andrew's girls to become our next monarch. None of them were brought up to expect this. Fortunately, though, it's not going to happen, not least because his wife would probably kill him if she didn't get to be Queen.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g William won't even know. Even if he had expressed a desire to abdicate, it will be quite a few years until Charles dies. Who knows how he will feel then?

It seems unlikely of course, but if he suddenly decided he wanted to run away to Cuba to live with a Venezuelan drag queen, then he, Charles, the PM, assorted men in grey suits, and possibly George and Catherine, would get round a table and then an Act of Parliament would be passed redirecting the succession to either George or Edward, or conceivably Anne or Charlotte.

Once you're changing the law anyway then as long as you've come up with a sensible sounding solution that makes some kind of nod to precedence, and persuaded all the interested parties to line up behind it then you can do what you like.

If Charles didn't believe that at some level, he wouldn't be on the throne. It's central to the concept of the monarchy. Otherwise, they're just random rich people leeching off the public, aren't they?

Kate would divorce him. She's gone through too much to miss out on being Queen.

@CredibilityProblem The press would go wild if he ran away with a Venezualuam Drag Queen. And the feminist board would be in uproar about drag. Would even knock Harry and Meghan threads off the board.

Charles is not even committed to the Church of England, he wants to be a defender of all faiths. I do not think he believes he is anointed by God for a minute. He probably does think he is the best man for the job.

"Otherwise, they're just random rich people leeching off the public, aren't they?" You said it.

William cannot insist on his DC, born legitimately into the line of succession, being removed from it.

I think the verbiage round Edward VIII 's abdication hasn't stood the test of time very well. It really is referring only to any hypothetical future children born after the abdication.

Catherine wouldn’t allow William to abdicate.

If William did bugger off altogether then Catherine would make an amazing Shakespearean Queen Mother. Would give us back the enormously awkward situation that Diana's death prevented.

I wonder if Kate would dish the dirt on William?

The Divine Right of Kings was abolished in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

That's what I think - I'm a republican.

Unless Charles comes out as an atheist, he must believe he is where God wants him to be, doing what God wants him to do. It makes no difference if he wants his role to encompass all faiths.