Inside Prince Charles’ Plans If Queen Elizabeth Steps Down

Looking ahead! Prince Charles is ready to becoming the King of England whenever his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, decides to step down from the throne.

“Charles will serve as king with Duchess Camilla by his side,” a source exclusively says in the new issue of Us Weekly. “This is something he’s dreamed about his entire life — he sees it as his birthright, and Her Majesty would find it extremely difficult to deprive him of that.”

The Prince of Wales, who turns 72 on Saturday, November 14, has already determined his first order of business too.

“Charles has made it quite clear that he intends to slim down the monarchy and reduce the number of full-time working members of the family to those in the immediate line of succession,” Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell tells Us.

Charles is first in line to the throne — which the queen, 94, has held since 1952 — followed by his eldest son, Prince William, and the Duke of Cambridge’s three children with Duchess Kate: Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2.

For more details on the eventual transition from Elizabeth to Charles, watch the video above and pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now!

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