King Charles goes to hospital, but who replaces him in case of emergencies?

In addition to Princess Kate Middleton, who is at London Clinic for a scheduled abdominal surgery, King Charles will also be admitted to hospital: next week he will undergo corrective surgery for a benign prostate problem who has already been treated, but will still require hospitalization.

In case of emergencies, then, who will take his place? In the event that a monarch is temporarily unable to perform his or her sovereign duties due to illness, two or more are named Counselors of State – who must be over 21 years old – to take care of the sovereign's duties. These figures are authorized to carry out most of the sovereign's official duties, such as attending meetings of the Privy Councilsign routine documents and receive new ambassadors.

The task would be up to firstly to William of England, who however, in the next few weeks, will have to assist his wife in hospital and take care of the children while Kate recovers from the surgery. Buckingham Palace, however, has already announced that does not foresee the need for Counselors of State for the period of hospitalization of King Charles.

The rules governing the appointment of Counselors of State they are part of the Regency Acts: those who can currently replace Charles are Queen Camilla and the four oldest adults in the line of succession: William, Prince of Wales, Harry, Duke of Sussex, Andrew, Duke of York and Princess Beatrice.

But in 2022, iThe king asked Parliament to add his younger brother, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and his sister Anneso that they can replace him if necessary, and this request was quickly turned into law, since Andrea is involved in the Epstein scandal and Harry lives in the United States and, for his criticism of the royal family, it is made cut off.