Thank you to Baguette Elizabeth Davies for keeping track of the British line of succession. Due to the birth of Sienna Elizabeth Mopelli-Mozzi things have changed again!
The Current State of the British Line of Succession to the Throne.
Princess Beatrice has recently announced the names of her new little girl – Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli-Mozzi. She arrived at 10th place in the Line of Succession to the throne, displacing her Aunt Eugenie.
HM now has 24 living descendants in her lifetime, more than any monarch since Queen Victoria, but not remotely challenging her late Majesty, who achieved 24 living descendants by 1869, at the age of 49, and possibly populated the whole 100 in Line of Succession by the time she passed in 1901! So the “A list” are these 24, headed by Prince Charles at #1 and with Lucas Tindall, son of Zara, holding 24th place.
After this, to be honest the list is purely academic, as nobody else is remotely likely to inherit the throne. But, as those non-reigning royals elsewhere in Europe know, it’s always good to be aware of where you are placed, just in case!
The first non-descendant of the Queen in Line of Succession is her nephew David Earl of Snowdon, who comes in at #25, by right of his descent from King George VI – the “B List”. His sister is Lady Sarah Chatto, one of our favourite brides – she is on the list at #28. Her younger son Arthur holds the are30th spot.
We then pass to the “C List” – junior descendants of King George V. First are the Gloucesters, as they descend from King George VI’s next brother, Henry. Head of that family is the current Duke, Prince Richard, #31 on the List and bringing up the rear is his grandson Rufus Gilman at #40.
After the Gloucesters come the Kents, Headed by Prince Edward Duke of Kent, at #41. Five of his descendants are barred from Succession because they are Roman Catholics, a banned religion for UK monarchs since 1688. His family line is completed by his sister Princess Alexandra’s granddaughter Zenouska Mowatt, who comes in at #60.
The next family, descended from the previous Princess Royal, Mary Countess of Harewood, have more barred members, because children born out of wedlock – which has become a very common occurrence nowadays in most circles – cannot inherit the Crown and nor can their children, even if the children are born legitimately.
So we have the current Earl of Harewood, David Lascelles at #61 and his family line ends with his cousin’s son Maximilian Lascelles at #78.
The “D List” are junior descendants of King Edward VII, descended from his daughters, Louise Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife, and her younger sister Princess Maud, Queen Consort of Norway.
David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife, heads his family group at #79, and the family is completed by his niece Amelia Etherington at #84.
HM King Harald of Norway heads his family group and is the first foreign person on the list at #85. This is in great contrast to previous times when Princesses routinely married foreign Princes, and Princes became rulers of other European nations. When Prince Harald was born in 1937, he was 16th in Line to the throne, behind his father, later King Olav, at #15, with Romanian, Yugoslavian and Austrian nationals close behind him in the top 30.
The current #100 on the list is king Harald’s niece Mrs. Ragnhild Long, nee Lorentzen, a daughter of the late Princess Ragnhild.
