Including The Queen's namesake baby Lilibet.
8 September 2022
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Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96, she is succeeded by her firstborn son, King Charles III, who will reign with his wife Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall as Queen Consort.
Her Majesty The Queen was the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrating the historic milestone of 70 years on the throne at her Platinum Jubilee earlier this year, before passing away on the 8th September 2022. She was crowned The Queen on 6 February 1952, after the death of her father, King George VI, following the royal line of succession.
According to the Royal Family website, the royal line of succession is “regulated not only through descent, but also by Parliamentary statute,” and is officially defined as "the sequence of members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne.” The Succession To The Crown Act was amended in 2013, the year Kate Middleton was pregnant with their first child (Prince George). The Act replaced male preference primogeniture, which means that the eldest child, regardless of sex, succeeds to the throne.
King Charles III was married to Lady Diana Spencer, the Princess of Wales, from 1981 to 1996. He had two children, Prince William and Prince Harry, with Diana. Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall on 9 April 2005. She did not take the title of Princess of Wales out of respect for the late Princess Diana.
King Charles III will be succeeded by his firstborn Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, followed by Prince William's firstborn, Prince George. But where do the rest of the royals, such as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, fit into the equation? Along with The Queen's grandchildren, here's the royal line of succession:
Chris Jackson
Prince William is now first-in-line to the British throne. He married Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, on 29 April 2011 and they share three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
When Prince William becomes King, Kate Middleton will be known as Queen Consort.
Prince George is second in line to the throne, after his father. He was born on 22 July 2013.
Princess Charlotte, born on 2 May 2015, is the third in line to the throne.
Prince Louis, born on 23 April 2018, is the fourth in line to the throne.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex is fifth in line to the British throne. He married US actress Meghan Markle on 19 May, 2018, at Windsor Castle. They share two children: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Archie, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first child, was born on 6 May 2019. He is sixth in line to the throne.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's second child, Lilibet, was born on 4 June 2021. The name Lilibet is a nod to the Royal Family's nickname for Queen Elizabeth II, and her middle name is Diana, after Harry's late mother, Princess Diana. Lililbet is seventh in line to the throne.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is currently eighth in line to the throne. He is the Queen's third child and married Sarah Ferguson, who became Duchess of York, in 1986. Although they divorced in 1996, they share two daughters: Princess Beatrice (born in 1988) and Princess Eugenie (born in 1990).
In October 2021, the Metropolitan Police dropped an investigation into allegations that Prince Andrew sexually abused Virginia Giuffre. He has denied the allegations.
However, in January 2022, it was confirmed that Prince Andrew will face a civil trial in the USA over the claims. On Thursday 13 January, Buckingham Palace released the following statement:
"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen.
“The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”
Princess Beatrice (full title: Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York) is ninth in line to the throne. She married property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020, and welcomed a daughter, Sienna Elizabeth, with him in September 2021. She's also stepmother to Edoardo's son Christopher Woolf, known as Wolfie, from his previous relationship with Dara Huang.
Princess Beatrice's daughter Sienna, born on 18 September 2021, is 10th in line to the throne.
Princess Eugenie, full title: Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie of York, is 11th in line to the throne. She married her boyfriend Jack Brooksbank 12 October 2018. Their son, August, was born on 9 February 2021.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's son, August, is 12th in line to the throne.
Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999. He is currently 13th in line to the throne. He has two children with Sophie: Lady Louise, born in 2003 and James, Viscount Severn, born in 2007.
James, Viscount Severn, is 14th in line to the throne.
Lady Louise is 15th in line to the throne. Although she is older than her brother James, she still falls behind him in the royal line of succession. This is because she and James were born before the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013 – which determined that “the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or that person’s descendants, precedence over any other person (whenever born).”
Anne, Princess Royal is the Queen’s second child and only daughter. She is 16th in line to the throne. She has married twice: first to Captain Mark Phillips, with whom she had her two children, Peter and Zara, while she is now married to Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence.
The eldest of the Queen’s grandchildren, Peter Phillips is 17th in line to the throne. He does not have a royal title because, as the Princess Royal’s son, he’s descended from the female line. He and his sister Zara Tindall don’t have courtesy titles as their father, Mark Phillips, turned down an earldom when he married Princess Anne.
He married Autumn Kelly in 2008 and together they share two daughters, Savannah, born in 2010, and Isla, born in 2012. They announced their divorce in February 2020.
Born in 2010, Savannah Phillips is 18th in line to the throne.
Born in 2012, Isla Phillips is 19th in line to the throne.
Zara Tindall, Princess Anne’s daughter, is 20th in line to the throne. She married English rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011 and they had their first child, Mia Grace, in 2014, their second, Lena Elizabeth in 2018, and their third, Lucas, in 2021.
Born in 2014, Mia Grace Tindall is 21st in line to the throne.
Born in 2018, Lena Elizabeth Tindall is 22nd in line to the throne.
Born in 2021, Lucas Tindall is 23rd in line to the throne.