The Prince of Wales is likely to regard being given the role of reading the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament as an “honour”, a royal expert has said.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, also said the Queen’s decision not to attend the major national event had a “huge inevitability” about it given her age of 96.
And he described the task now before Charles as “another part of his training”, albeit a duty he probably did no want to fulfil given the circumstances.
Mr Little said: “To my mind it was all down to logistics, it’s not an easy building to get into or around when you have mobility issues and I could always foresee it as being a problem.
“I really didn’t expect that she would be attendance, but you obviously hope that she would and that isn’t going to be possible.
“And that’s the future as I see it really, that we won’t see her but occasionally we might.”
In announcing that the role the heir to the throne would undertake, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen continues to experience episodic mobility problems, and in consultation with her doctors has reluctantly decided that she will not attend the State Opening of Parliament tomorrow.”
The Duke of Cambridge, also a future monarch, will attend the State Opening, the first time William has done so – with the royal function of opening a new parliament delegated to both Charles and William by the Queen.
Mr Little said about Charles: “I suppose you could say, it’s another part of his training, one of the many tasks that he’d prefer not to be fulfilling right now. But given his mother’s great age there’s a huge inevitability about all this.
“Clearly he would regard it as an honour to be doing it on her behalf.”
In a few weeks, the nation will gather to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee during an extended four-day Bank Holiday weekend which will see a service of thanksgiving held, Trooping the Colour and a Jubilee pageant staged.
Mr Little said: “I’d like to think we will see the Queen on the Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving service and the birthday parade but again it’s very much all about logistics.”
