After King Charles, could Britain have an openly LGBTQ+ monarch?
On Saturday, Britain formally crowned 74-year-old King Charles who has said he intends to push through reforms that could radically slim the ranks of the Royal Family.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London, with millions more watching on television. But with the day dedicated to celebrating centuries of Britain’s royal heritage, could a new, modern monarchy welcome, at some point, a LGBTQ+ king or queen?
Here’s what you need to know: Is Britain ready for a gay, lesbian or transgender monarch? Overwhelmingly no, say the experts. “I think in terms of PR, we are not ready for that,” historian and archivist Robert Jarman told Openly.
In his view, the monarchy is a “uniting institution” yet some might see a gay monarch as “divisive”. There have been many gay and lesbian sovereigns over the years, not least Ludwig II of Bavaria, whose diaries and private letters revealed he was probably gay.
