What If: Prince Charles killed in 1994

[James G]

Prince Charles, first in line to the British throne, crashed the aircraft he was piloting in 1994. It was an RAF jet which made a hard landing on the Isle of Islay and then skidded afterwards with tyres blowing out. Say the wind had been stronger or something such as that.
He dies and the nation mourns. Princess Diana and he were still officially together at the time and they had two sons, the eldest who becomes the new heir.
Does this change Britain much? Does it change perception of the monarchy?


Article about the incident: www.heraldscotland.com/news/12737326.Pilot_Prince_plays_down_Islay_air_scare/

[lordroel]

May 12, 2018 18:39:11 GMT James G said:

Prince Charles, first in line to the British throne, crashed the aircraft he was piloting in 1994. It was an RAF jet which made a hard landing on the Isle of Islay and then skidded afterwards with tyres blowing out. Say the wind had been stronger or something such as that.
He dies and the nation mourns. Princess Diana and he were still officially together at the time and they had two sons, the eldest who becomes the new heir.
Does this change Britain much? Does it change perception of the monarchy?


Article about the incident: www.heraldscotland.com/news/12737326.Pilot_Prince_plays_down_Islay_air_scare/

Does this butterfly Diana death in 1997.

[James G]

May 12, 2018 18:42:56 GMT lordroel said:

May 12, 2018 18:39:11 GMT James G said:

Prince Charles, first in line to the British throne, crashed the aircraft he was piloting in 1994. It was an RAF jet which made a hard landing on the Isle of Islay and then skidded afterwards with tyres blowing out. Say the wind had been stronger or something such as that.
He dies and the nation mourns. Princess Diana and he were still officially together at the time and they had two sons, the eldest who becomes the new heir.
Does this change Britain much? Does it change perception of the monarchy?


Article about the incident: www.heraldscotland.com/news/12737326.Pilot_Prince_plays_down_Islay_air_scare/

Does this butterfly Diana death in 1997.

I can't imagine it not changing that. So, yes, butterfly magic.

[stevep]

Would agree. Although rumours might come out about problems with the marriage and especially probably Camilla's role you have a child heir and a charismatic and widely popular young widow who would probably be the main targets of the wave of sympathy and good will.

There may be problems between the more conservative elements of the royal family [i.e. most of it] and Diana about the bringing up of William and Harry or you might see them close ranks to some degree and keep any disputes internal.

It would put a lot more pressure on William as instead of being the 2nd in line, with his father expected to rule for possibly some decades after the current queen dies he's now only a heartbeat away while Charles's loss would emphasis the possibility of some accident or event occurring which catapults him to the throne. [True the queen is most likely to live another 2-3 decades as she has but that won't be clear to people at the time.]

[TheRomanSlayer]

I also wonder if this would also butterfly Diana's affair with Dodi Fayed, or was that already happening?

[James G]

May 14, 2018 5:33:39 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

I also wonder if this would also butterfly Diana's affair with Dodi Fayed, or was that already happening?

That was a two month thing in 1997. If the butterflies left that alone, I'll stop believing in butterflies.

[stevep]

May 14, 2018 9:00:12 GMT James G said:

May 14, 2018 5:33:39 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

I also wonder if this would also butterfly Diana's affair with Dodi Fayed, or was that already happening?

That was a two month thing in 1997. If the butterflies left that alone, I'll stop believing in butterflies.

  As James said that was later.  There are reports of earlier affairs, although not sure of the dates.  Some of them if their already occurred may come back to bite her but after Charles's death she would be a single woman again so may seek a new relationship.  However without the stress from Charles's long affair and with the need to protect her own reputation for her children's sake I suspect she would be a lot more careful.  She could well seek a new partner in later years and whoever it is may not be someone the royal family is that happy with but as long as it wasn't someone who caused major embarrassment I suspect it would work out OK.

  There is the possibility, with freedom and great public popularity she could go totally off the rails but I suspect that if nothing else the desire to protect her children would stop her doing something too rash.

[lordroel]

Well we might see this in new tabloids across the world.