(Reuters) — After 63 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth becomes Britain’s longest-ruling monarch on September 9 but there is little prospect of her stepping aside, as other ageing European crowned heads have done, in favour of her son, Charles.
Those close to Elizabeth – who on September 9 takes the long-service record from her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria – say the 89-year-old has no intention of succumbing to the European fashion for abdication.
That means Prince Charles, 66, already a record-holder himself as Britain’s longest-serving heir apparent, will have to wait longer still until he becomes king.
The milestone of overtaking Victoria has already prompted speculation as to whether Elizabeth might step aside.
When asked if abdication were a possibility, a senior palace source told Reuters: “Life means life.”
The religious overtones to a British coronation are deeply symbolic for Elizabeth, who as queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
“The queen won’t abdicate, she must not abdicate, there’s absolutely no reason for her to abdicate and indeed constitutionally and religiously she cannot abdicate: she is an anointed queen,” royal historian Hugo Vickers told Reuters.
“In fact, I think she becomes more valuable as a Queen the longer that she lives because she has got a fantastic memory and so she has this huge historical database of material that she can bring in to play at any point,” he added.
The abdication in 1936 of the queen’s uncle Edward VIII – for reasons of love rather than old age – proved traumatic enough, plunging the monarchy into a constitutional crisis that put her reluctant father on the throne.
Her former communications secretary Simon Lewis said that the modern monarchy has adapted which will help avoid the need for the Queen to abdicate.
“I think the queen made a commitment, a very public commitment to the country about serving the country, so I don’t see any prospect of that. Indeed, one of the very clever things about the institution, is the way over time some of the activities that the queen performs, some of her programme, have as she’s aged has been handed on to other members of the royal family,” he said.
In the Netherlands and Spain, long-standing monarchs have in recent years given up their thrones saying they needed to pass on the mantle to a younger generation.
The Dutch Queen Beatrix announced shortly before her 75th birthday in January 2013 that she would abdicate in favour of her son Willem-Alexander.
In June last year, Spain’s once popular King Juan Carlos abdicated at the age of 76 in favour of his son Felipe after a series of corruption scandals in the royal family.
In Britain though, there appears to be little demand for Elizabeth to go, nor much clamour for Charles to be king.
Charles, who has been groomed from birth to one day be king, is less popular than his mother: In a poll in April, 53 percent said they liked him compared to 77 percent who liked the Queen.
Only 19 percent of Britons wanted a republic, compared to 70 percent who supported the monarchy.
In contrast to the strict political neutrality observed by Elizabeth, Charles has spoken out about issues from the destruction of historical buildings to organic farming and Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Ukraine.
Critics said letters Charles had written to ministers, some of which were published in May against the wishes of the government and royal family, showed a desire to meddle in everything from the supply of equipment for British troops fighting in Iraq to the fate of the Patagonian Toothfish.
Supporters said the letters showed Charles was speaking up on issues Britons cared about.
Some commentators have suggested that only serious illness could prompt Elizabeth to hand over to Charles, particularly if she were to lose her 94-year-old husband Prince Philip, although even then a regency is thought more likely.
Outside Buckingham Palace, opinons were divided over whether the throne should jump ahead to Prince William, rather than pass to Charles.
“There’s no need to do things out of order. Why upset the apple cart more than that? It will be traumatic enough after a long time and there’s no need to go out of order with things. Why change the rules?” said Kate Bowes, a tourist from America.
Javan Lalles-Allen said that he thinks Prince William has a more common touch than his father.
“He’s up on his parapit and shouting down to us all about what we should do. I think with Prince William, you get the point that he’s standing on your own level and trying to talk to you, the way you speak,” he said.
Prince William and Prince Harry, the children of Charles and Princess Diana, his first wife who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, are the most popular members of the family, liked by 79 percent of the British public.
Melvin and Mary Reeves said they thought William had what it takes to be a good king.
“It’s a young person’s game. He’s got a good wife who stands beside him. Very similar to Diana,” Melvin said.
As it stands, republicans or those wanting constitutional change, will have a long wait, with the Queen appearing in rude health as she approaches her 90th birthday she’s unlikely to relinquish the throne anytime soon.
