Bookies suspends betting on Queen's abdication following £200 bet

A bookies has suspended betting on whether the Queen will announce her abdication by the end of the year after a large bet was placed in the Windsor area.

Coral, which has a number of branches in Windsor, slashed the odds on Her Majesty stepping down this year from 3-1 to 1-2 following the £200 gamble, before suspending betting altogether.

Spokeswoman for Coral Nicola McGeady said: "With her 88th birthday approaching, the Queen has started to relinquish a number of duties to Prince Charles, leading to major speculation about the monarch's future."

The gambling firm have placed odds as short as 1-20 that Prince Charles will take to the throne next, with Prince William at odds of 8-1.

Nicola added: "Usually, when people from Windsor have betted on the Royal Family they have been spot on, even the colour of the Queen's hat at Royal Ascot.

"Alarm bells started ringing when the bet came in from Windsor, matches like that don't attract bets of £200 so maybe somebody knows something we don't."

A spokeswoman from Buckingham Palace declined to give a comment.