The Prince of Wales will play a crucial new role - acting as a 'Quasi King' - following the death of his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, a royal family expert has said.
Biographer Robert Jobson says Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall, will now have to step up as the "patriarch of the family" after the passing of Prince Philip.
While there is no suggestion the Queen, who will be 95 this week on April 21, will abdicate the crown, royal experts have suggested that roles and responsibilities in the family could now change, reports The Independent.
Speaking on the ABC royal HeirPod podcast, Mr Jobson - royal editor for the Australian breakfast show Sunrise as well as royal contributor for US network ABC News - said the 72-year-old Prince of Wales will take a step closer towards the role of the sovereign.
He told podcast host Omid Scobie: "The Prince of Wales will step up, in a way he’s already been doing that for the past five years, but now he truly is the patriarch of the family because the Duke of Edinburgh is dead.
“There’s no doubt the Queen will carry on…she’ll never ever abdicate the throne so there’s scope in there for the change because of course no one knows if she’s going to be mentally or physically ill or not.”
Mr Scobie commented that Charles was now sitting “in an almost in-between role now” following the death of his father.
Mr Jobson replied: "I say quasi-king, but they’d hate that of course - but you’ve got to try and spell it out to a wider audience.
"“The fact is the Queen doesn’t do state visits anymore, so when Prince Charles goes to America say, he’ll be representing the Queen – that’s pretty much a state visit even though it’s technically not.”
Meanwhile, writing in The Times, royal commentator Penny Junor said: "It may well be that we see a slight shifting of the tectonic plates in the wake of the duke’s death.
"That role now officially falls to the Prince of Wales. As the new paterfamilias, it also falls to him to hold the family together, to make the tough decisions, to discipline where necessary and to steer The Firm in the right direction, as his father did so adeptly.”
