THE Queen will “fade away gracefully” from Royal duties following Prince Philip’s death, a royal expert has claimed.
Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the monarch would step back from royal engagements going forward – with Prince Charles expected to take on a bigger role.
The Queen turned 95 last Wednesday – just four days after burying her “strength and stay” Philip.
Though Her Majesty resumed royal duties shortly after her husband’s death, to mark the retirement of her household’s most senior official, other senior royals are expected to step up in the coming months.
Mr Hunt told the New York Times: “Fundamentally, the Queen will fade away gracefully.
“Covid has helped in the sense that it has accelerated what any sensible 95-year-old woman would want to do, which is not stand on your feet all day long.”
Prince Charles is now designated as the monarch’s official “consort” – and is set to accompany his mother to the State Opening of Parliament on May 11.
Charles, 72 — who discussed the future with his father in hospital in the weeks before he died — will shoulder a greater burden of major royal duties before eventually taking over as King.
A Lords source told The Celeb Report: “It is a clear signal that the Queen does not want the crown to skip a generation and that Prince Charles will start taking on an even bigger role in royal life.”
Other royal experts have also suggested the Queen may step back from royal duties following Philip’s death.
Last week, the University of Warwick’s Professor Sarah Richardson said Philip’s funeral marked a “turning point” for the Royal Family.
She said: “I think she will step back more and more, she’s in her mid-90s.
“Seeing her there solely on her own, when she’s been accompanied by Philip for 70-odd years, I think it represents a turning point.”
Another source told The Celeb Report that Sophie, Countess of Wessex could also be lined up to do more royal engagements “after proving popular with senior royals and the public alike.”
Prince William, 38, is also stepping up and will shoulder more duties, just like his father.
Palace sources say the bold statement he made opposing football’s European Super League as president of the FA showed how much he was growing into his role.
And a palace staffer told the Mirror: “With the Duke and Duchess of Sussex out of the picture, and never likely to return, one would think, this is their time.”
