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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Maisie Bovingdon

The royal family is on the 'brink of collapse', claims research from new report

King Charles, King Charles III,

The last few years have been particularly turbulent for the royal family. As well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moving overseas and publicly sharing their experience within the monarchy, Prince Andrew was stripped of his titles following a sexual assault lawsuit set by Virginia Giuffre and Prince William and Kate Middleton faced backlash after their royal tour in the Caribbean last year. 

A report from Civitas, which has been reported in the Mirror Online, has since claimed the royals are running the risk of being on the 'brink of collapse' and there are growing fears the royal family may 'abolish itself'.

Civitas report’s author, Frank Young, told the Sunday Express: "The royal family as we know it is on the brink of collapse and risks abolishing itself by stealth if the King doesn’t take steps to boost visits that have fallen radically over the last decade.

"Through death, scandal and resignation the Royal family is increasingly reliant on a few hard-working members, with Charles, Anne and Edward, doing almost half the work.

"We now need new working royals or will have to accept a Royal Family that is more distant from the people than at any time in the past 100 years."

These fears have come to the fore as King Charles III - who will officially be crowned the King of England next month following his late mother's death in September 2022 - has become 'too distant' and absent from some public engagements of late. 

According to Civitas, there are growing predictions that without the 74-year-old royal's support, the junior royals may not always be able to support, and the monarchy could risk 'collapse'. 

Civitas' research has found UK-based engagements have dropped by almost 1,500 over an eight-year period from 2014 to 2022, which, if continues may be detrimental to the future of the royal family. 

It has been reported Princess Anne, as well as Charles, are considered the 'hardest working' royals, as they have completed the most engagements over a 10-year span from 2012 to 2022. 

Data conducted by former insurance broker Tim O'Donovan has also found royal family members over 70 years old contribute to the most royal engagements. 

However, contributing factors to this imbalance could be due to the loss of Queen Elizabeth II last year, and her late husband Prince Philip, as well as working royals stepping back or quitting the royal family such as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, as well as Prince Andrew. 

There are also fears Charles' decision to slim down the monarchy could also have a negative effect. 

Frank added: "The King’s ambition might be misplaced and potentially misjudges the true public mood."

Charles will celebrate his Coronation on 6th May at Westminster Abbey. 

Despite speculation Prince Harry will be in attendance, although his wife will stay in California, and Sarah Ferguson will also be absent

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