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Succession to the British throne

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Succession to the British throne

Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible. King Charles III has been the sovereign since 2022, and his heir apparent is his elder son, William, Prince of Wales. William's three children are next, in order of birth: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Fifth in line is Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of the King; sixth is Harry's elder child, Prince Archie. Under the Perth Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, only the first six in line of succession require the sovereign's consent before they marry; without such consent, they and their children would be disqualified from succession. The United Kingdom is one of the Commonwealth realms, which are sovereign states that share the same person as monarch and the same order of succession. In 2011, the prime ministers of the then-16 realms agreed unanimously to amend the rules of succession. Male-preference (cognatic) primogeniture was abandoned, meaning that males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede females (elder sisters) in line, and the ban on marriages to Catholics was lifted. The monarch still needs to be in communion with the Church of England. After the necessary legislation had been enacted in accordance with each realm's constitution, the changes took effect on 26 March 2015.

Tables

Notes and sources · Current line of succession
B
B
Mark
B
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
Listed by the official website of the British monarchy, "Succession", as of February 2025[update]
D
D
Mark
D
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
Debrett's website (as of 29 January 2025[update]): "The Line of Succession"
W
W
Mark
W
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
Whitaker's Almanack 2021
M
M
Mark
M
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
These people had been excluded through marriage to a Roman Catholic. This exclusion was repealed on 26 March 2015, restoring them to the line of succession, when the Perth Agreement came into effect.
X
X
Mark
X
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
Excluded as Roman Catholics. This exclusion is not affected by changes subsequent to the Perth Agreement.
Mark
Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession
Current monarch
Previous monarch
B
Listed by the official website of the British monarchy, "Succession", as of February 2025[update]
D
Debrett's website (as of 29 January 2025[update]): "The Line of Succession"
W
Whitaker's Almanack 2021
M
These people had been excluded through marriage to a Roman Catholic. This exclusion was repealed on 26 March 2015, restoring them to the line of succession, when the Perth Agreement came into effect.
X
Excluded as Roman Catholics. This exclusion is not affected by changes subsequent to the Perth Agreement.

References

  1. Males born on or before 28 October 2011 precede their elder sisters in the line of succession.
  2. Albert and Leopold Windsor were listed on the official website of the British monarchy until 2015 and in the 2013 editio
    https://www.royal.uk/succession
  3. Neither the Legitimacy Act 1926 nor the Legitimacy Act 1959 changed the Law of Succession.
  4. Per the His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936.
  5. A letter from Tony Newton as Lord President of the Council to Tony Benn indicated this was the effect of the Act of Sett
  6. This declaration was similar to what members of both Houses of Parliament were originally required to take by the Test A
  7. Official website of the British monarchy
    https://www.royal.uk/succession
  8. Bogdanor (1995), p. 55.
  9. wargs.com
    http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2001.html
  10. wargs.com
    https://web.archive.org/web/20110517155140/http://www.wargs.com/essays/succession/2011.html
  11. Wall Street Journal
    https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576276502793788310.html
  12. "Succession", retrieved 11 February 2025
    https://www.royal.uk/succession
  13. debretts.com
    https://debretts.com/royal-family/line-of-succession/
  14. Whitaker's Almanack, 2021. Oxford: Rebellion, ISBN 978-1-7810-8978-1, p. 26
  15. Commentaries on the Laws of England, book 1, chapter 3: "Of the King, and His Title" (1765-69), Sir William Blackstone
    https://lonang.com/library/reference/blackstone-commentaries-law-england/bla-103/
  16. 7 Hen. IV. c. 2
  17. Henry VII
    https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=db8JCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA50
  18. "Rotuli Parliamentorum A.D. 1485 1 Henry VII"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20160306014901/http://partyparcel.co.uk/information/price-guarantee.html#annullment
  19. History of the English Parliament
    http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015024035605?urlappend=%3Bseq=332
  20. Morvern French, 'Ostentatious by nature: Flemish Material Culture at the Marriage of James IV and Margaret Tudor', Inter
    https://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/index.php/irss/article/view/6575
  21. Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stuart: The Regime Change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford, 2024), p. 13.
  22. Marcus Merriman, The Rough Wooings (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2000), pp. 6–10.
  23. Michael Lynch, Scotland, A New History (Pimlico, 1991), pp. 221–222.
  24. Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 110.
  25. "Succession to the Crown Act 1603" Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
    https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_Crown_Act_1603
  26. www.parliament.uk
    https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/revolution/collections1/parliamentary-collections/princess-sophia-act
  27. "Prince of Wales proclaimed King Edward VIII"
    http://www.upi.com/Archives/1936/01/21/Prince-of-Wales-proclaimed-King-Edward-VIII/7807693511214
  28. "Girls equal in British throne succession"
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15492607
  29. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (Commencement) Order 2015 Archived 29 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine legislation.g
    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/894/made
  30. Debrett's
    https://debretts.com/royal-family/line-of-succession
  31. Blackstone (1765).
  32. "Succession to the Crown Act 2013" Archived 9 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. UK Parliament. Section 3.
    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/20/section/3
  33. His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, section 2
  34. "Article II of the Treaty of Union in the Union With Scotland Act 1706"
    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Ann/6/11/part/2
  35. Act of Settlement, section 3
  36. A History of the Book of Common Prayer and Other Books of Authority
    https://archive.org/details/ahistorybookcom00lathgoog
  37. Bill of Rights Archived 26 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine section I
    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2
  38. Bill of Rights, section I; Act of Settlement, preamble
  39. "Accession" Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Official website of the British monarchy. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
    https://www.royal.uk/accession
  40. Bogdanor (1995), p. 45.
  41. "Gun Salutes" Archived 1 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Official website of the British monarchy. Retrieved 7 May 20
    https://www.royal.uk/gun-salutes
  42. Accession Declaration Act 1910, schedule
  43. Union with Scotland Act 1706, article XXV. "...And Lastly that after the Decease of Her Present Majesty (whom God long p
  44. Regency Act 1937, section 1(2)
  45. Official website of the British monarchy
    https://www.royal.uk/coronation
  46. The Royal Family
    https://www.royal.uk/counsellors-state
  47. "Counsellors of State Act 2022"
    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/47/enacted
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