Prince Charles wants to cut down the monarchy to save money, says a royal biographer Angela Levin.
Not all those born in the Royal Family get to be an active member of it. Only heirs of those in line to the throne receive the primary status and benefits. For instance, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew, aren't working members of the royal family. They also do not receive tax-payer funded security, as per Fox News. They have full-time careers and haven't had the royal family's security since 2011.
In the future, Prince Charles will seek to streamline the royal family and that would mean that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, face being "ditched" by the family. Charles wants to "cut the monarchy down" to save money, according to Daily Mail. Royal biographer Angela Levin thinks that the Sussexes, who live in an £11million mansion in California with their son Archie, face being cut off.
Charles and Prince William, the future kings, will be discussing the future of their family, which includes a decision about which family members should be working royals. A streamlined royal family could include Charles, Camilla, William, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte only. Other members of the family could be asked to take on paid work to support themselves, and they could also lose their titles and patronages.
Levin said on talkRADIO, "Prince Charles has wanted for a very long time to cut the monarchy down to save costs and to make people be worth the money that they got from the taxpayer. I imagine that might be when Harry and Meghan are ditched from being members of the royal family. I think the outer edge, which the Queen has wanted to keep together for a very long time for sentimental reasons, which at her age she didn't really particularly want change, which I think is understandable. But he wants to change and I think he will do that."
In light of that, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—who have lost their patronages—could also lose their titles. Harry has also lost his military titles. It was hoped that William and Harry would get together and sort their issues after the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip. However, Harry left a pregnant Markle at home and had to return soon.
Royal financier expert and author David McClure had also indicated that the royal family could be chopping down the lengthy branches. "It is going to be difficult as there is already talk of job cuts at the Palace and Beefeaters at the Tower of London being made redundant. On the public expenditure level, it is clearly going to eat away at them. On a broader level, if the royal family really wanted to cut costs the best way to cut costs is to have fewer working royals," he said, according to Express UK.
He said that there has "long been a debate on when Prince Charles becomes King whether we are going to have a streamlined monarchy." He also mentioned which three households could be axed.
"The Wessexes are safer than they were before but they are one. But the people who might feel the most threatened would be the Kents, Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent. The other group is the Yorks, nobody knows what is going to happen in the future in that area," he said.
He further added that the Wessex family is unlikely to go since the "Queen has effectively lost three working royals. We have had Prince Andrew stepping back and most people think that may be permanent. We have had Prince Harry and Meghan Markle withdrawing to live in America. That is three fewer royals than you had a year ago that have left a gap and have allowed the Wessexes to make an impact."
He further added that other royal households across the globe have fewer working senior members. "It is the case that most other European royal houses make do with about half a dozen working royals. In Britain, we have something like 15 to 16. If you really wanted to cut costs you would have few royals, maybe that is not going to happen under the Queen but it could happen under Charles when he is King," he added.
References:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/what-members-royal-family-do-not-get-full-protection
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Tim Rooke - Pool, (R) Jeremy Selwyn - WPA Pool
