'Let the Queen retire'

The Queen should be allowed to retire and Prince Charles should be able to marry Camilla Parker Bowles without asking permission, a report on the future of the monarchy says today.

The wide-ranging report by Labour think-tank the Fabian Society, which is influential with ministers and taken seriously by the Queen and Prince Charles, claims that unless the monarchy has a radical overhaul, it will cease to be relevant in modern Britain.

It proposes two Acts of Parliament to implement its central proposals in what would be the first comprehensive reform of the British monarchy for 300 years.

Among its key recommendations in the 50,000-word report The Future Of The Monarchy are:

The independent commission says a Succession Act should replace the 1701 Act of Settlement in setting out the new rules of succession. A Constitution Act would define the scope and exercise of the powers of the head of state and the royal prerogative powers currently exercised by ministers.

It urges the need to separate the private lives of the royal family from their public duties.

The report recommends allowing a monarch to "retire", rather than being required to go on till death, and reducing the number of members of the royal family receiving public funding.

It also says the various sources of income for the royal family - civil list, grants-in-aid and income from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall - should be combined into a single, transparent and accountable public revenue stream, subject to a vote in Parliament.

Ownership of the Crown Estate and the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, currently held by the sovereign and heir in trust, should be transferred formally to the nation, and ownership of all other royal assets including artworks should be clarified.

It wants royal land, buildings and art opened to the public wherever possible and says the monarch and royal family should pay tax on their private income and wealth, including inheritance tax on private properties such as Balmoral and Sandringham.

The report also recommends ending the scope for political discretion in the exercise of the sovereign's constitutional powers, such as the power to dissolve and summon Parliament, to give royal assent to legislation and to choose the Prime Minister.

David Bean, chairman of the independent commission who took a year to compile the report, said: "In every other European constitutional monarchy the role [of head of state] is clearly defined in law. It is depoliticised, and the public and private elements of royalty are kept clearly separate. The same principles should now be adopted in Britain."