Quote Originally Posted by McClef View Post
All this talk about Charles being passed over in favour of William is Constitutional nonsense.

Nobody, not even the Queen, can disinherit the Heir Apparent (and indeed in the past there have been Monarchs who would happily have disinherited their eldest son if they could).

Assuming that he is still alive when Her Majesty draws her last breath, he becomes King at that very moment. So even if he did wish to stand down it would still take some time and a period of national morning would not be the appropriate time to do this. An instrument of Abdication and an Act of Parliament to put this into effect would be required.

So Charles would still require a name even if he only intended to be a temporary Monarch.
Absolutely correct Trefor! Moreover, if you could start down the path of passing over the heir to the throne then there would be no sense in maintaining the institution of a Constitutional Monarchy which (IMHO) would be a a retrograde step for either the United Kingdom as a whole or Scotland alone if it opts for independence in 2014.