LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee has become a party without its guest of honor. Her absence is a metaphor for the twilight of Britain’s second Elizabethan Age, an awkward limbo in which the 96-year-old queen still reigns but has, in many ways, been replaced by her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles.
After appearing Thursday on the balcony at Buckingham Palace and lighting a beacon to celebrate 70 years on the throne, the queen skipped a thanksgiving service Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The palace cited her “discomfort” and problems with mobility, which have forced her largely out of the public eye.
Charles, in what has become a familiar sight, played the understudy. He took his mother’s seat at the front of the cathedral, smiling slightly when the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said of the queen, “We are so glad you are still in the saddle. And we are all glad that there is still more to come.”
How much more, of course, is a mystery.
That lingering uncertainty poses an acute challenge to Charles, who at 73 is already the longest-serving heir in British history. His unspoken transition into the sovereign’s role amounts to a kind of soft launch, royal experts said, allowing Britons to get used to the idea of him as king. But with Buckingham Palace averse to designating him a regent, the delineation of his duties can become constitutionally tricky. » | Mark Landler | Saturday, June 4, 2022
