Actor Vinnie Jones believes King Charles should have stepped aside for Prince William and Kate Middleton after Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The actor also commented that King Charles’s marriage to Camilla was a departure from the traditional royal rules.
The actor thinks the royal succession should have unfolded differently
A self-described royalist, Jones appeared on The Louis Theroux Podcast and revealed his views about the royal succession. The actor was also questioned about his decision to get a tattoo of Winston Churchill rather than King Charles. The conversation steered to royal family rules, King Charles’s divorce and remarriage.
“I was hoping that he would have done the right thing and said, ‘Thank you very much. We’re going to step aside,’ and William and Kate are going to be the king and queen,” Jones said. “That, to me, was my Britain.”
He also criticized King Charles’s marriage with Camilla, saying that the royals have moved away from royal traditions. “You see, I think [Charles] went against the grain,” he told Theroux. “I think they moved the goalposts for him with Camilla, and I’m a William and Kate supporter now. I think they’ve done it right.”
Charles married Princess Diana in 1981, with their divorce finalised in 1996. Camilla was previously married to Andrew Parker Bowles before marrying Charles in a civil ceremony in 2005.
Jones’s comments do not align with the Church of England’s changes to its rules on remarriage. In 2002, the Church accepted that divorced people may remarry under certain circumstances while their ex-spouse was living. However, the rules do not make this a ticket to the throne.
According to RadarOnline, there is also a constitutional distinction for such cases. Charles did not need to choose whether to take the throne after Elizabeth’s death. The law of succession makes the heir sovereign after the reigning monarch dies.
Jones’s opinions, therefore, do not corroborate royal policies and can be treated as an argument about tradition and royal leadership. Prince William remains the first in line to the throne, followed by his eldest son, Prince George.
