Once the throne is empty, a new monarch needs to take the seat. On september 8th, the current queen, Elizabeth II died leaving an empty seat in the monarchy. But what happens now? Who is the next in line of succession? How is the hierarchy now set?
The line of succession determines who will be the next one to heir the crown. By rule, the first one is the monarch´s eldest son or daughter. In the Britain Royal family, the eldest son of the queen is Charles III who now receives the King title. With the new change, the line now counts with 23 members, from the queen’s grandchild to great grandchild.
In case the 73 years old current king dies, the next heir is Prince William, the son of Charles and the deceased Diana. In an interview to CNN, Fernanda Magnotta, a Phd in International Relations, says that the future king has a higher popularity and capacity to renew the British monarchy and thinking on longevity, therefore he was a better option. But because the line must be followed, that didn’t happen.
Continuing the line, after William we have his oldest son Prince George, who is nine years old. Followed by his sister Princess Charlotte, 7 and the youngest child Prince Louis ,4. Until 2015, men had preference in the line, even being born after, but the countrie implemented the absolute primogeniture, which guarantee that gender doesn’t affect the heirs. This rule only affects people born after october 2011.
Even though Prince Harry is no longer in royal duty, he remains in 5th at the line of succession. Married to the american actress Meghan Markle, the couple had two kids so far. Archie Harrison, born in 2019, London and Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor born in California two years later. The kids are currently in 6th and 7th in line.
After all of King Charles decenteds, there is Prince Andrew Albert, the third child of Elizabeth II and Philip. Followed by Prince Edward, who is 58 years old and the last direct descendant of the queen is Princess Anne. Even though she is the second child of the couple, the absolute primogeniture rule doesn’t apply to her. Until now, the last one in line is Lucas Tindall, the youngest son of Zara Tindall, daughter of Princess Anne.
The current queen or king is the head state of the United Kingdom, meaning it must have neutral political positions, and must attend some obligations, such as: weekly meetings with the prime minister to discuss and be informed of governmental decisions, welcome foreingns states chiefs, and is also the Chief of Commonwealth, an association of 53 countries that once belonged to the British Empire. The organization has goals such as global peace, free trade,human rights and many others.
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The article above was edited by Isadora Noronha.
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