BREAKING NEWS: THE QUEEN IS STEPPING DOWN.

Echoing the circumstances that brought about the sudden and unprecedented retirement of Pope Benedict in 2013, Bookmakers Coral has suspended betting on the Queen stepping down this year.

The leading bookmaker has suspended betting on the Queen announcing her abdication by the end of the year after a £200 gamble was placed in the Windsor area.

Read more from the Telegraph: Betting suspended on Queen stepping down.

The Queen, who recently turned 88, is a convicted criminal in the eyes of the International Tribunal into Crime of Church and State.

Read more: Its over for The Queen and The Pope.

Having merged her staff at Buckingham Palace, with The Prince of Wales’ press team, and having passed a number of responsibilities to younger members of the royal family in recent months including Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, speculation is strife that Queen Elizabeth II will abdicate this year.

On what is likely to be her last overseas engagement, Charles is set to accompany his mother to the Normandy beaches later this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

A French government official was reported as saying: “We have been told this will probably be the Queen’s last official foreign visit.”

Following the examples of Pope Benedict, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and the ex-Chief Constable of Sussex Police Martin Richards; Queen Elizabeth II hopes to evade justice by retiring too.

Read more: Why Martin Richards really retired early?

A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment.