Will the Queen of Australia Abdicate?

Having not been seen in public since 19 October, speculation about the longevity of the Queen’s reign continues unabated.  ABC Online ponders the options in this piece – click on link – and notes that other monarchs have abdicated in recent years. High-profile examples include Japan’s Emporer Akihito in 2019, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands in 2013 and Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihanouk in 2004. The article concludes that such a move is highly unlikely because Queen Elizabeth, as head of the Church of England is anointed by God to be the monarch and because she has pledged her whole life to the service of her country first in 1947 when 21, reiterated at her coronation in 1953.  This makes her different from other monarchs who do not also have a formal religious role. Note: the chatter about the Queen’s state of health abated somewhat in late November after she attended the christenings of two of her newest great-grandchildren in Great Windsor Park not far from her current home during Covid at Windsor Castle. [“Queen Elizabeth II probably won’t abdicate her throne for Prince Charles but, in other monarchies, it’s common” by Catherine Taylor, ABC Online 20 November 2021]

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