The Royal Family Issues Rare Response to Queen Retirement Rumors
Although the royal family rarely responds directly to rumors about them in the press, The Firm made an exception this week to formally deny rumors that Queen Elizabeth II plans to retire at 95.
Recently, there was significant speculation that the queen would appoint her oldest son, Prince Charles, to a regency role, handing day-to-day management of the royal family to him sometime around her 95th birthday.
Queen Elizabeth II is not stepping down from her role as monarch any time soon, in spite of a flurry of recent rumors to the contrary.
The royal family face a mountain of rumors at all times. Usually, they don't even dignify those rumors with a response, but The Firm made an exception this week and addressed rumors that the queen plans to retire at 95.
"There are no plans for any change in arrangements at the age of 95 — or any other age," a spokesperson for Prince Charles told People of the rumors this week.
Following Prince Charles's reportedly significant role in managing the fallout surrounding Prince Andrew's televised interview about Jeffrey Epstein and subsequent decision to step away from public life, many speculated that the Prince of Wales would soon assume a modern-day Prince Regent role and take over day-to-day management of the monarchy.
Many pointed to the queen's upcoming 95th birthday (which is still about a year and a half away) as a possible transition point, citing the fact that Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, was 95 when he announced his own retirement from life as a working royal.
The claim was also floated last year in Charles At Seventy, a respected biography of Prince Charles written by Robert Jobson. The author writes that it's likely the sovereign will, at some point, "trigger a period of regency," in which she will grant Charles the "full power to reign," although she would still retain her title as monarch.
"One senior aide told me that the Queen has given the matter of her passing hears considerable thought and believes, that, if she is still alive at ninety-five she will consider passing the reign to Charles," Jobson says in the book.
In spite of the longstanding rumor, however, the royal family insists that Elizabeth has no plans to retire any time soon.
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