While royal watchers hope that it's a long way away, the day will likely come when the young Prince George will be crowned King of the United Kingdom. But did you know his coronation could bring his uncle Harry back home?
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00While royal watchers hope that it's a long way away, the day will likely come when the
00:05young Prince George will be crowned King of the United Kingdom. But did you know his coronation
00:11could bring his Uncle Harry back home? Before Prince George could ever be crowned King,
00:17his predecessors will need to ensure there's still a crown for him to wear.
00:21Amid King Charles III's assumption of the crown and the symbolism of Queen Elizabeth II's death,
00:26numerous questions about the future of the monarchy have been raised.
00:30Many critics have maintained that the monarchy is out of touch,
00:34too expensive to justify, and unnecessary when it comes to the betterment of Great Britain.
00:39The principle of hereditary power, I think, is absolutely abhorrent in 2022.
00:44Charles's own coronation was fraught with protesters,
00:47and the stability of the crown has never been as rocky as it is today.
00:52With that said, it's natural to ask if the monarchy will even be around by the time
00:56Prince George could become King, and MSNBC's Hayes Brown shed light on that very question.
01:03Amid the fallout of Elizabeth's death, Brown estimated that Charles and William will likely
01:08witness the centuries-old monarchy disintegrate in their lifetimes, saying,
01:13"[The crown and scepter will be costuming, allowing Charles to uphold the illusion that
01:17the monarchy still has a role to play in a modern constitutional republic."
01:22Brown elaborated that,
01:23"...while there may have been a resurgence in appreciation for the royal family given
01:28the eventful year they've had, he still predicts that Elizabeth II will likely
01:32go down in history as the last true monarch of the United Kingdom."
01:37Being born into a historic family with ties to one of the longest-lasting monarchies in Europe,
01:42Prince George's youth has played out in the spotlight.
01:46Though Prince William and Princess Catherine have done their best to give George and his
01:50siblings a normal childhood, the young prince was reportedly informed of his important role
01:55in society at just seven years old. As exposed by royal historian and author Robert Lacey in his
02:02book Battle of Brothers, the Prince and Princess of Wales have kept the details of the conversation
02:07close to their chests. However, it's likely they told him that, among the many responsibilities
02:13he'll have as an adult member of the royal family, it's likely he will eventually be crowned
02:18King of the United Kingdom. In the years since this conversation, George and his siblings have
02:24made regular public appearances alongside their parents on various occasions. One of his most
02:30notable and recent appearances was at his grandfather's coronation, where he acted as
02:35one of the king's royal pages. William and Kate have also begun giving George an early taste for
02:41philanthropy. As William told the BBC, he and Kate have tried to stress the importance public
02:47service plays in a royal's life, and encouraged their eldest son to begin pursuing social causes
02:53of his own. William elaborated that the young prince may already be following in his parents'
02:58footsteps by developing an interest in environmental preservation. Prince George will only be 10 years
03:05old by the end of 2023, but he's been in the public eye since he was born. From his trip to
03:10Australia as a baby, to his meme-worthy audience with Barack Obama, and his important role on King
03:16Charles' coronation day, George is already filling the role of the future King of England quite
03:22comfortably. With so much of his childhood on display, a lot of people have wondered how the
03:27prince feels about his fate. A royal source explained to People that Prince William and
03:32Princess Catherine realize that George is now old enough to have some appreciation for his role in
03:37the UK's future, but they hope his childhood can proceed fairly undeterred by the pressures
03:43of his royal status. However, a representative for William and Catherine further revealed that
03:49his parents were thrilled that George played such a big role at the coronation, saying,
03:54"'His parents are very excited and delighted that he is a page. It's something that his
03:59parents have thought long and hard about and are very much looking forward to,
04:03and I'm sure George is too." Meanwhile, royal author Hugo Vickers noted to The Times that
04:10George's presence at the coronation may have been a strategic move by the monarchy to begin
04:15conditioning the young man to get comfortable with major ceremonial involvement. Charles was the
04:21Prince of Wales for the majority of his time as a royal, and when he became king, he bestowed the
04:26title on to William and Princess Catherine. Titles within the royal family are a big deal.
04:31Some are allowed to be passed down, while others have to be given. The Prince of Wales title is
04:37one that must be bestowed. For this reason, it's likely that when William becomes king,
04:42he will pass down the Prince of Wales designation to George to fulfill a now decades-long precedent
04:48for the future kings of England. As Prince of Wales, George will essentially be a king
04:53in training. Despite the connection to the country of Wales, the designation is more
04:58aligned with the actual monarchy and the continuation of its traditions. As such,
05:03George will most likely shadow his father as he rules, much like William is doing now with Charles,
05:09all while carving out his own space within the non-profit sphere. With King Charles in his 70s
05:16and his expected successor, Prince William, in his 40s, there's a strong likelihood that
05:21Prince George will be well into adulthood by the time it's his turn to wear the crown.
05:26However, on the off-chance that tragedy strikes and George needs to be crowned before the age of
05:3218, another member of the royal family will need to act as regent until their true king comes of
05:37age. So who would step in if Prince George became king ahead of his 18th birthday? A regent needs
05:45to be a family member close to the monarch that is already in line for the crown themselves.
05:50Bridgerton fans will recognize that King George III, who was married to Queen Charlotte,
05:55was served by a regent, his son, when he was deemed mentally unfit. His son, King George IV,
06:02assumed the throne nine years after becoming regent. With this in mind, it might come as a
06:07bit of a shock to learn that, according to University College London, if Prince William
06:12died while on the throne and George was still underage, the role of regent would fall to Prince
06:18Harry. Given that all of George's siblings are younger than him and Princess Catherine does not
06:23have a stake to the throne without her husband, Harry would be the next adult in line. This
06:28position would leave him with the obligation to step in and act as the monarch until George's
06:3318th birthday. While there's just a minuscule chance of any of that happening, George's reign
06:40could hypothetically bring Harry back into the royal fold. Season one of The Crown showed a
06:46fictional Queen Elizabeth II being asked what she would like her regnal name to be.
06:51"...let's not overcomplicate matters unnecessarily.
06:56My name is Elizabeth."
06:57While the scene gave a chilling feeling to the monumental decision, a monarch can in fact choose
07:03a different name than their given one when they take the crown. Many thought that King Charles III
07:09would choose a different name, given that King Charles II, who was on the throne back in 1660,
07:15was a bit of a mess-up by royal standards. Looking further back in time, King George VI,
07:21Queen Elizabeth II's father, was actually named Albert, but he instead chose George as his regnal
07:27name. So what will young Prince George choose to go by when he takes the crown? He could very
07:33easily become King George VII. However, he could also choose from his other monikers, given that
07:39his full name is George Alexander Louis. Time will tell what he eventually decides to do,
07:45though we can't imagine he'll have to make such a call anytime soon.
07:50While it's hard to predict whether the monarchy will actually be around by the time it's George's
07:54turn for the crown, he and his siblings will have the power to completely alter royalty's
07:59role in contemporary society. One way George could do this would be by distributing his
08:05responsibilities of the monarchy between himself and his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince
08:10Louis. As Professor Pauline McLaren, co-author of Royal Fever, The British Monarchy in Consumer
08:17Culture, described to Excess, Prince William and Princess Catherine have already implemented a
08:23similar model by sharing their royal duties between themselves. If George were to do the
08:28same with his brother and sister, it could revolutionize the monarchy. As McLaren put it,
08:34a more collective approach could be quite popular. Why just have one figurehead?
08:39Maybe the emphasis will move more towards the family side, particularly with the three Wales
08:44children. The emphasis could be less on the individual and more on the three of them.
08:49McLaren elaborated that, while there could only ever be one true monarch, a more equal distribution
08:55of royal power between George, Charlotte, and Louis could be a very fitting way to modernize
09:01royalty for the evolving political climate. We've all seen the fallout of Prince Harry's
09:06departure from royal life, and Harry seems content to remain far enough away from the
09:11crown to navigate life the way he sees fit. Prince William and Prince George, on the other hand,
09:17are directly in line for the crown. With such a significant position in the line of succession,
09:23what if George decided that he did not want to assume the throne?
09:27There are a couple of things that would happen if this were to be the case.
09:31First, George would need to abdicate the throne as King Edward VIII did in 1936. When Edward
09:37decided that he simply could not live his life without the royally disapproved Wallis Simpson
09:42by his side, he gave up the crown, married her in France, and lived the rest of his life far
09:48away from the confines of the monarchy. If George were to follow in similar footsteps,
09:53it's likely that he would be symbolically cast out of Britain, much like Edward was.
09:59The crown, meanwhile, would fall to the next in line to the throne, George's younger sister,
10:04Princess Charlotte. Due to the Succession to the Crown Act passed in 2013, Charlotte's younger
10:11brother, Louis, would not circumvent her as the next male heir in the line of succession,
10:16meaning that the responsibility would fall on her.
10:19So that in future, the order of succession should be determined simply by the order of birth.