Did the queen "surprise everyone by declaring new king and queen"? No, that's not true: Queen Elizabeth, the 96-year-old British monarch, has not decided that her son Charles and his wife Camilla will be skipped over in favor of Prince William and Kate Middleton becoming the next king and queen of England. Queen Elizabeth issued a statement declaring the exact opposite of the claim on a royal family fan page -- she told her subjects that when Charles becomes king Camilla will become queen consort.
The claim appeared in a video on Facebook on May 1, 2022. It opened:
BREAKING NEWS!, Queen Surprise everyone By Declaring NEW KING AND QUEEN, Sussexes Seething In ENVY.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue May 3 17:59:57 2022 UTC)
The 4-minute, 26-second video opened with a British voice claiming that the queen had altered the line of succession to make William and Kate the next king and queen of England and that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, known as the Sussexes, were jealous. The opening line in the video made the false claim, which was not supported by any facts throughout the video.
On February 5, 2022, the queen released a letter to her subjects about her desire that Camilla be known as queen consort upon her death and his ascension to the throne.
✍️ On the eve of the 70th anniversary of her Accession to the throne, The Queen has written a message thanking the public and her family for their support, and looking forward to #PlatinumJubilee celebrations over the coming year. #HM70 pic.twitter.com/U6JfzeZMLn
-- The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 5, 2022
The video references a poll published in the British news outlet Express that asked, "Should the monarchy skip Charles and Camilla and go straight for King William and Queen Kate?"
The line of succession is clearly stated on the royal family website. The monarch does not have the power to change the order of succession:
The succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by Parliamentary statute. The order of succession is the sequence of members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne.
The video acknowledged the queen had revealed her wishes that Camilla become queen consort, which negates the claim that she declared she would be skipping over her son and his wife for William and Kate:
Indeed, the Queen is likely to agree -- Her Majesty used her Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of her reign, to express her wish for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 74, to be known as Queen Consort when Charles becomes King.
Lead Stories debunked an earlier claim regarding Prince Charles and Camilla, you can read that here.
