With the accession of King Charles III on Thursday, 8 September 2022, there has been a considerable shift in the line of succession.
The order of succession is the order of members of the Royal Family where they currently stand in line to the throne.
- Prince William now Prince of Wales
- Prince George
- Princess Charlotte
- Prince Louis
- Prince Harry Duke of Sussex
- Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor
- Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor
- Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
- Miss Sienna Mapelli
- Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank
- Master August Brooksbank
- Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex
- James, Viscount Severn
- Lady Louise Windsor
- The Princess Royal
- Mr Peter Phillips
- Miss Savannah Phillips
- Miss Isla Phillips
- Mrs Zara Tindall
- Miss Mia Grace Tindall
- Miss Lena Tindall
- Master Lucas Tindall
- David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon
- Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley
The Act of Settlement 1701
The succession to the throne is not only through descent but also by a Parliamentary statute, the Act of Settlement, which dates back to 1701.
A constitutional crisis arose in England following the death of Queen Anne’s heir, Prince William Duke of Gloucester, aged 11, in 1700.
The Act of Settlement stipulated that only Protestants could inherit the English throne so Electress Sophia of Hanover – a granddaughter of King James I through his daughter Elizabeth the Queen of Bohemia – became the heir.
However, Sophia died two months before Queen Anne, so her son, George, ascended the throne as King George I.
The monarch must preserve the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, and uphold the Protestant succession.
Roman Catholics were barred from the succession.
Any member of the Royal Family who married a Roman Catholic was also disqualified.
The Succession to the Crown Act (2013) amended the Act of Settlement to end male primogeniture (younger sons displacing older daughters) for those born after 28 October 2011.
Changes meant that anyone who did marry Roman Catholics was no longer disqualified from the line of succession.
These changes came into force in all sixteen Realms, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, in March 2015.
