The Royal Transition: new roles, new titles and new responsibilities
Rebecca Speare-Cole looks at how all the pieces of the monarchy have moved around after the Queen’s death...
THE Queen’s death marks a huge moment of transition for members of the royal family as they take on new roles, titles and responsibilities.
Following the late sovereign’s state funeral and burial on Monday, the national period of mourning came to an end and the royal mourning period of seven days began.
Royal family members are not expected to carry out official duties until after Monday September 26.
The details of future engagements that working members of the royal family will undertake are not yet clear.
But here we look at everything we know so far about what happens next and how the royal family members’ lives have changed.
King Charles III
The King is now the Head of State for the United Kingdom, as well as numerous Commonwealth realms, head of the armed forces and head of the Church of England.
Charles will now undertake constitutional and representational duties which have developed over 1,000 years of history.
As Head of State, he is a non-political figurehead and must remain strictly neutral. He will not be able to air his opinions or try to meddle in politics, as he was known to do when he was Prince of Wales.
Charles’s focus will also pivot away from on his charities but he said this work “will go on in the trusted hands of others”.
It is not yet clear how this work will be delegated.
The Queen’s patronage of charities will also not necessarily be adopted by the King but may be allocated to other senior royals.
In terms of his official residence, the King will use Clarence House as his home for the time being, with major building work at Buckingham Palace – considered Monarchy HQ – yet to be completed.
Charles is expected to inherit his late mother’s beloved private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham.
He will inherit the Crown Estate – land owned by the sovereign and not the private possession of the King.
In exchange for the Sovereign Grant, the King will surrender the annual revenue from the Crown Estate to the Government.
A date has not yet been set for Charles’s coronation, but it likely will not be for months.
The Queen Consort
As wife to the King, Camilla automatically became Queen Consort and is no longer the Duchess of Cornwall.
There had been much controversy over whether Camilla would use the title Queen Consort.
But Elizabeth II delivered a masterstroke on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee in February 2022, when she endorsed the Duchess of Cornwall to be known as Queen when the time came.
Camilla will be crowned at Charles’s side at his coronation, just as the last Queen Consort, the Queen Mother, was.
The Prince of Wales
William has become the heir apparent, to be known as the Prince of Wales, following the death of his grandmother, Elizabeth II, and the accession of his father, Charles.
He also immediately inherited the title Duke of Cornwall and is now the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge.
Now first in line to the throne, William’s role within the royal family will change significantly.
As a king-in-waiting, William is a step closer to becoming sovereign himself and preparations for this duty will intensify.
He will be required to carry out more official engagements at home and abroad in reflection of his seniority and to support the new monarch.
William’s financial situation has also changed substantially.
As the 25th Duke of Cornwall, he is entitled to the annual net surplus from the Duchy of Cornwall landed estate – which comes to £23 million a year.
The income will cover the cost of both his public and private life.
He already received money from the duchy through his father, but now, as heir to the throne, he is entitled to take over its management.
The landed estate is valued at more than £1 billion and is one of the largest and oldest in Britain.
William and the Princess of Wales moved recently to the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage in Windsor’s Home Park, to offer their children more freedom away from central London, amid a start at a new school.
It has been reported they will move to Windsor Castle or another larger property in Windsor in the future, but a source insisted: “Right now the focus is the mourning of Her Majesty the Queen.”
The Princess of Wales
William’s wife Catherine is now the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge.
Kate is a queen in waiting and will play a key role as one of the Windsors’s most senior women.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
After the death of his great-grandmother, George is now second in line to the throne, Charlotte third, and Louis fourth.
As their parents inherit the title of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the three young royals also become “of Cornwall and Cambridge”.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex
The Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’s titles have not changed, and, although the duke has moved up from sixth to fifth in line to the throne, he is still too far down the line of succession to ever be expected to be King.
Harry and Meghan appeared to have invested their time developing their bond with the Queen after they quit as working royals in 2020.
But their relationship with Charles and William has been greatly troubled.
As the new head of the Windsors,
Charles could, if he sees fit, offer to welcome Harry and Meghan back as parttime working royals.
However, this could conflict with their Netflix and Spotify commercial deals and a new life away from the monarchy.
Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor
The Sussexes’s children, Archie and Lili, are now, as the grandchildren of a monarch, a prince and a princess.
But it is not known whether they will use the titles, which they were not entitled to when they were born.
The rules set out by King George V in 1917 mean Archie and Lili – as the children of a son of a sovereign – also now have an HRH style if they choose to use it.
Duke of York
The Duke of York will likely remain out of the public eye after he stepped down as a working royal over allegations of sexual assault and his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, will look after the Queen’s beloved corgis following her death.
Earl of Wessex
The Duke of Edinburgh always wanted his youngest son the Earl of Wessex to inherit his title, but the decision now lies with Edward’s older brother – Charles, the new King.
But despite agreeing to his father’s wishes in 1999, Charles’s thinking was said to have shifted over the years as he reassessed his plans for the future.
He is known to be in favour of a slimmed-down monarchy.
If Edward becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, his wife the Countess of Wessex will become the Duchess of Edinburgh – a courtesy title which was held by the Queen following her marriage.