What happens now that Charles is king
The coronation countdown is finally over!
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With the Queen's passing on September 8, Prince Charles automatically became king, even though his official coronation will likely take several months to arrange. This, of course, raises a lot of questions. What kind of king will he be? What will change? What will the British monarchy look like now?
One change that many hope to see is the removal of his brother, Prince Andrew, as a counselor of state. The role of counselor state is automatically given to the spouse of the monarch and the next four people in the line of succession over the age of 21, under British law. Those appointed may be called on to fill in for King Charles if he is absent or unable to fulfill his duties. There has been an outcry for Charles to take action to change the law so that Prince Andrew can be removed, as concerns grow over the proximity of an accused sex offender to the crown. Andrew was an associate of the late billionaire and convicted sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. At the beginning of 2022, he paid US$12 million to settle a sexual assault lawsuit brought against him by one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, who claimed that Prince Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 years old and had been trafficked by Epstein. The late Queen Elizabeth stripped Andrew of his military titles following the scandal.
While Prince Andrew has held the role of counselor of state since 1981, his visibility during the proceedings following the Queen's death has triggered a revival in the conversation about the disgraced royal.
While we wait to see if the new sovereign will address the issue, click on to learn what other changes we can expect now that Charles is king.
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