Mr MacMarthanne added: “The 1937 Regency Act changed this and set the future framework of a regency should it be required.
“Amendments were made in 1953 but the main thrust of the 1937 Act remained intact.
“Throughout her tenure speculation has always been rife that the Queen would either abdicate or, especially in later years, invoke the Regency Act.
“Much of this, it seems, has been driven by the fact she is a woman and the erroneously perceived notion that being a sovereign is the business of a man.
“Since Prince Charles attained his majority her pending abdication has been a persistent narrative that has adjoined her reign, beginning in earnest at the time of her Silver Jubilee some forty or more years ago.”
Mr MacMarthanne dismissed reports of the Queen’s intentions to abdicate or invoke the Regency Act as “pure speculation.”
The expert said: “The Queen does not really speak, she is not given to proffering her thoughts or feelings, and unless someone has been privy to the private conversations between her and her private secretary and prime minster then discussions about an abdication, or an application to invoke the Regency Act, is pure speculation.”
Mr MacMarthanne claims the Queen’s previous statements in regards to her role as sovereign heavily suggest it is one she intends to hold for life.
He said: “What is known is that aged twenty-one the Queen dedicated her life to the service of her people however long or short her life may be, and has, on subsequent occasions, returned to that dedication and remade it.
“She is known to be a religious woman who believes that at the time of her Coronation an Oath was taken which tied her to being Queen for the remainder of her natural life.”
