Queen Elizabeth’s Health Woes Raise Troubling Question on Royal Family’s Future

Queen Elizabeth’s recent health trials, hospital stay, and amended schedule give into a stressful reality for the UK and the Royal Family. The world was unaware the Queen was hospitalized for 24 hours, raising questions about the messaging behind a genuine issue royal staff will be dealing with at some point. Despite being advanced in age and long serving in the position, the queen still won’t live forever.

As outlined over at The Daily Beast, the delay in revealing the hospital visit creates speculation around what is hidden or delayed. Combined with recent news about her health and receding duties, some question if she would be willing to step down and allow Prince Charles to take her place as prince regent until his mother’s passing.

That doesn’t seem to be an option for Queen Elizabeth, and she continues to carry on daily, rushing back to her duties mid-pandemic. This included 15 formal engagements in October alone, keeping busy in the wake of the loss of husband Prince Phillip and the controversy with grandson Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle.

The relationship with her grandchildren seems warmer still than the one she has with Charles and wife Camilla, who she is adamant doesn’t receive the title of Queen despite the prince making his intentions clear if he becomes king.

As the column at The Daily Beast and other outlet’s reports, Charles and the growing divide within the nation could be the major driving factors behind her staying in the job until the last moment. Brexit, the pandemic and the ever-increasing climate change crisis has left Queen Elizabeth as the central figure that isn’t wavering amid the choppy waves of history.

On top of all this, the scope of what is required if Queen Elizabeth were to pass away. As outlined in The Guardian in 2017, her demise would bring the UK to a halt in a way that makes the current pandemic seem tame. It’s also likely to make the information pathway from the palace even more closed off than during the hospital scare. “The Queen is suffering from great physical prostration, accompanied by symptoms which cause much anxiety,” The Guardian writes, quoting Sir James Reid in the wake of Queen Victoria’s passing.

What will become of Queen Elizabeth? Will she continue onward and upward until she turns back into dust and clay? A recent attempt to award the monarch as Oldie of the Year in Oldie magazine was “gracefully turned down” by her staff. “Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such the queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept, and hopes you will find a more worthy recipient.”