King Charles is seeking to amend the law so that counsellors of state are working members of the royal family, according to reports.
The counsellors of state is a position reserved for the spouse of the sovereign and the next four people in the line of succession who are over 21.
In the event a monarch cannot undertake their official duties as sovereign on a temporary basis due to illness or absence abroad, two or more counsellors are appointed by Letters Patent to act in their place.
These are Prince William, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of York, and Beatrice, 34, who can take on the monarch’s duties despite being ninth in line to the throne.
The radical shake-up would see Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice all lose their roles as official stand-ins for the sovereign.
If the law is changed, King Charles could promote the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal to the position, The Telegraph reported.
It is rare for counsellors of state to be needed. But in May, Charles and William stood in for the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament.
Prince Andrew, who is now eighth in line to the throne, has been in the role since 1981 when he turned 21.
However his connections with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, two convicted child sex offenders, has significantly soured the public’s view of him.
He no longer undertakes any royal engagements.
Meanwhile Prince Harry effectively ‘quit’ as a senior royal with his wife Meghan Markle and moved to the United States to start their own lives in Los Angeles.
