A debate about Prince Harry and Prince Andrew's positions as the Counsellors of State is now ongoing. As the two have stepped down as senior royals and from their royal duties, will they still be part of it following Queen Elizabeth II's passing and now that King Charles III is reigning?
A lot is needed to be changed now that the U.K. has a new king, including the appointment of Counsellors of State, whom the monarch can delegate on his behalf. There's a debate in the House of Lords if Prince Harry and Prince Andrew should continue to hold their positions despite being non-working senior royals.
Hansard, Viscount Stansgate, asked if His Majesty's government ever plans to amend the Regency Act 1937, which outlines the regency arrangement and Counsellors of State's appointment. The law has been amended to effectively support the sovereign and ensure the constitutional arrangements' resilience.
However, the Viscount can't help but ask if it's the right time to tell the monarch about its potential amendment, specifically Clause 6, which defines regents through their line of succession to the throne. He also questions if the government is fine if the Duke of Sussex and Duke of York continue to have the state counsel and regency powers, knowing the former has left his public life, and the other has left the country.
When Queen Elizabeth was still the sovereign, the Counsellors of State included the then-Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, and Prince Andrew. Now that there's a new monarch, there are suggestions to change it to Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Kate Middleton, and Sophie Wessex.
Royal commentator Angele Levin agrees and tweets that they can't have Counsellors of the State who "aren't working royals or living far away." "Counselors need to be close and know what's going on to stand in for a royal," she said.
Meanwhile, in her talk on Bloomberg's "In the City" podcast, royal author Tina Brown claimed that King Charles had been warned that his son, Prince Harry, is a much bigger threat to his ruling than his brother, Prince Andrew.
She claimed that it was distressing to see Princess Beatrice and Eugenie's father's role at Prince Philip's memorial service last year. In the interview recorded after Queen Elizabeth's demise, the talks about Prince Andrew's future had been set aside, as the public probably understood that Her Majesty might want her son next to her every so often.
That said, Brown found Meghan Markle's husband "more of a problem" as nobody knew what he planned to do next. "He keeps them all on the back foot, wondering where the bombs come from," she said.
