What would happen if Prince William were to abdicate when he's king
Prince George would be his heirOne day, Prince William will take the throne and become king, with Kate, Princess of Wales, as his queen consort – but what would happen if he were to abdicate?
The Prince of Wales is the current heir to the throne. His eldest child, son Prince George, is behind him as second in line to the British throne.
In the event that King Charles is no longer monarch, his eldest son Prince William will become king.
But what would happen if William followed in the footsteps of Edward VIII and abdicated the throne? Here, we look at some of the possibilities…
Possibility #1 – William abdicates when George is of age
There are two real possibilities of what would happen if William abdicated the throne, and it all depends on how old Prince George is if it were to happen.
If King Charles were to die or abdicate today, Prince William would take the throne and become king.
This would change the line of succession, with Prince George becoming heir to the throne.
If William were to wait until July 22, 2031, to abdicate, the crown would automatically pass to George, who would now be 18 and eligible to be king. Again, the line of succession would change, with Princess Charlotte becoming heir to the throne until George had his own children. So if anything were to happen to George before then, his younger sister would become queen.
But what would happen in the unlikely event if George were under the age of 18 and his father abdicated?
Possibility #2 – William abdicates when George is under the age of 18
Now this is when things could get complicated.
If King Charles were to die or abdicate today, and William took the throne and immediately abdicated, George would technically become king straight away.
However, due to him being under the age of 18, a regent would need to be appointed in his place until July 22, 2031, when he turns 18. A regent would take on the role of monarch temporarily.
The last time a regent stepped in to run the monarchy in the UK was between 1811 and 1820. This was when Prince George – later George IV – acted as regent during his father, King George III’s incapacitation due to mental illness.
But who would be regent? The answer is the next in line to the throne over the age of 18.
In this case, it would be Prince Harry, who is currently fifth in line to the throne. In normal circumstances, Harry, 41, would be expected to step in as regent until George comes of age.
But what would happen if Harry didn’t want to be regent? After all, the Duke of Sussex quit working royal life in 2020 and has been living in the US ever since.
What then?
Who would become regent if Harry said no?
If Harry said no, then the regent would have to come from further down the line of succession.
In this case, the next royal over the age of 18 who would be eligible to be regent would be Prince Andrew.
However, Andrew, who is eighth in line to the throne, has been embroiled in scandal recently and agreed to stop using his royal titles earlier this month. It is highly unlikely that Andrew would become regent in this instance.
The next possible regent, in this case, would be Princess Beatrice, who is ninth in line to the throne.
But, if the royals wanted to avoid having any of the Yorks in charge, even temporarily, then it would have to be Prince Edward, who is 15th in line to the throne, who would have to take over as regent until George came of age.
Of course, there’s no suggestion that William would ever abdicate, or if he did before George turned 18, that Harry would say no to being regent.
But if all that did happen, then it could be quite a complicated time for the royal family…
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