UK queen not likely to follow Dutch
2013-01-29 20:02
London - One European queen has announced her retirement.
Any chance Europe's most famous queen - Elizabeth II of Britain - might join
her?
Not likely, experts say.
The spectacle of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
stepping down in April at age 75 so her 45-year-old son can become king is
sparking some speculation in Britain about whether Elizabeth might follow suite
so her eldest son, Prince Charles, can start his reign.
Elizabeth is 86. Charles, 64, has been heir to the throne
since he was three.
The British press tweaked these concerns on Tuesday, with
the Daily Mirror featuring a photo of Beatrix with the headline: "Queen
Gives Up Her Throne to Son."
Then, in smaller type, "Easy, Charles...It's Queen
Beatrix of Netherlands."
Others said, "Sorry Charles...it's in Holland, not
here!"
But commentators quickly noted that Elizabeth - who seems
to be in excellent health - has said in the past that she regards being queen
as a "job for life."
At her Diamond Jubilee last summer marking 60 years on
the throne, former Prime Minister John Major said the idea that the queen would
abdicate was "absolutely absurd."
He said she would serve her entire life unless a health
crisis made it impossible.
Author Robert Lacey, who has written several books about
the British monarchy, said Beatrix's decision would likely firm up Elizabeth's
resolve.
"It would reinforce her feeling that the Dutch don't
know what monarchy is about, and that she should go on forever," he said.
"The crown is a job for life in the British
system."
He said the queen's mother, who lived to be 101, had made
a "snarky" comment when Beatrix's own mother stepped down as monarch
decades ago.
Lacey said the idea of abdicating is particularly
unpleasant for Elizabeth because her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936
so he could marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American woman.
The resulting scandal, remembered as a low point for the
monarchy, brought her father, King George VI, to the throne.
No one in British history has been heir apparent as long
as the now greying Charles, who is set to become a grandfather when his
daughter-in-law, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, gives birth this summer.
- AP
