Queen Elizabeth will not stand down for Charles

BRITAIN: Queen Elizabeth II has no intention of stepping aside for Prince Charles and insists it is ‘‘duty first, nation first, I’m going to be there’’, according to sources close to the monarch.

Royal insiders said Elizabeth, the world’s longest-reigning living monarch, remained as committed as ever to her duty. They dismiss claims that she will request that the Regency Act come into force in the foreseeable future.

Neither Buckingham Palace nor Clarence House is planning for a regency, three separate senior sources told The Sunday Times.

Palace officials have not commented but refer to the Queen’s pledge on her 21st birthday: ‘‘I declare ... that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.’’

Under the 1937 Regency Act, the monarch can cede power to the heir apparent ‘‘in the event of incapacity of the sovereign through illness, and for the performance of certain royal functions in the name and on behalf of the sovereign in certain other events’’.

It states that the monarch’s duties can be performed by a regent if the monarch is declared in writing to be incapable of performing royal functions by three or more of the sovereign’s consort, the lord chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the master of the rolls.

However, both the royal households have moved to quash speculation since the Duke of Edinburgh retired from public life early this month.

It was suggested last week that the Queen had told her inner circle that she would step aside if she was still on the throne in four years at the age of 95.

Both Spanish and Dutch monarchs have recently passed the crown to their sons.

One source said: ‘‘The Queen has always been so vehement that there will never be a regency unless she was sick to the point of being unable to perform her duties.

‘‘As long as she’s healthy, regardless of her age, I don’t see a regency.

‘‘Other members of the royal family can just do more.’’

- Sunday Times