The Line of Succession to the British throne is governed by laws centuries old. It was the Act of Union in 1800 (restating the 1701 Act of Settlement William and Mary’s Bill of Rights in 1689) that meant only Protestant heirs of Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I, were eligible to succeed. Royal History
King Charles III of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will currently be succeeded by…
1.Prince William, The Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay and Cambridge, Earl of Chester and Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus (b. 1981) (= Catherine, The Princess of Wales, m. 2011)
3. Prince George of Wales (b. 2013)
4. Princess Charlotte of Wales (b. 2015)
5. Prince Louis of Wales (b. 2018)
6. Prince Henry, The Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel (b. 1985) (= Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, m. 2018)
7. Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2019)
8. Unborn daughter Mountbatten-Windsor (2021)
9. Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh (b. 1960) (= Sarah, Duchess if York, m. 1986, div. 1997)
10. Princess Beatrice of York, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (b.1988) (= Edo Mapelli Mozzi, m. 2020)
11. Sienna Mappelli Mozzi (2021)
12. Princess Eugenie of York, Mrs Jack Brooksbank (b.1990) (= Jack Brooksbank, m. 2018)
13. August Brooksbank (b.2021)
14. Unborn child (2023)
15. Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Wessex, Viscount Severn (b. 1964) (= Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, m. 1999)
16. James, Earl of Wessex (b. 2007)
17. The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003)
18. Princess Anne, The Princess Royal (b. 1950) (= Sir Tim Lawrence, m. 1973)
19. Peter Phillips (b. 1977) (= Autumn Phillips, m. 2004, div. 2020)
20. Savannah Phillips (b. 2010)
21. Isla Phillips (b. 2012)
22. Zara Tindall (b. 1981) (= Mike Tindall, m. 2011)
23. Mia Tindall (b. 2014)
24. Lena Tindall (b. 2018)
25. Lucas Tindall (b. 2021)
26. David, The Earl of Snowdon (b.1961) (= Hon. Serena Alleyne Stanhope, m. 1993, div. 2019)
27. Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (b.1999)
28. Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (b.2002)
29. Lady Sarah Chatto (b.1968) (= Daniel Chatto, m. 1994)
30. Samuel Chatto (b.1996)
31. Arthur Chatto (b.1999)
32. Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester (b.1944) (= Birgitte, The Duchess of Gloucester, m. 1972)
33. Alexander Windsor, The Earl of Ulster (b.1974) (= )
34. Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden (b. 2007)
35. Lady Cosima Windsor (b. 2010)
36. Lady Davina Windsor (b. 1977)
37. Senna Lewis (b. 2010)
38. Tāne Lewis (b. 2012)
39. Lady Rose Gilman (b. 1980)
40. Lyla Gilman (b. 2010)
41. Rufus Gilman (b. 2012)
42. Prince Edward, The Duke of Kent (b. 1935) (= Katharine, The Duchess of Kent, m.1968)
Due to The Duchess’ conversion to Catholicism, two of the couple’s children subsequently converted, and have raised their children in the Church of Rome, and are therefore barred from the Line of Succession.
43. George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (b. 1962) (= , m. 19)
44. Lady Amelia Windsor (b. 1995)
45. Albert Windsor (b. 2007)
46. Leopold Windsor (b. 2009)
47. Louis Windsor (b. 2014)
48. Lady Helen Taylor (b. 1964)
49. Columbus Taylor(b. 1994)
50. Cassius Taylor (b. 1996)
51. Eloise Taylor (b. 2003)
52. Estella Taylor(b. 2004)
53. Prince Michael of Kent (b. 1942)
54. Lord Frederick Windsor (b. 1979)
55. Maud Windsor (b. 2013)
56. Isabella Windsor (b. 2016)
57. Lady Gabriella Kingston (b. 1981) (= Thomas Kingston, m. 2019)
58. Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (b. 1936) (= Angus Ogilvy, m)
59. James Ogilvy (b. 1964) (=)
60. Alexander Ogilvy (b. 1996)
61. Flora Ogilvy (b. 1994)
62. Marina Ogilvy (b. 1966) (= )
63. Christian Mowatt (b. 1993)
64. Zenouska Mowatt (b. 1990)
The Sovereign must be in communion with, i.e. a member of, the Church of England. To sit on the throne, one must swear to preserve the Church of England and the Church of Scotland and uphold a Protestant succession.
The 2013 Succession to the Crown Act made amendments to the aforementioned Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement: it replaced primogeniture with absolute primogeniture (the eldest child takes precedent, regardless of sex) and stated that any Royal who marries a Roman Catholic, so long as they remain Protestant themselves, may remain in the line of succession. Before this, those who married a Catholic were disqualified; this Act applies to anyone born from the 28th of October 2011 onwards, and was effected in March 2015.
Following the laws of Great Britain, The Prince of Wales will take the throne, and this is only right. The King will not abdicate since he took the vow he made to her people at his coronation very seriously, and passing over a legitimate heir would cause countless problems for the UK.