page_title: Head of state
section_title: By hereditary succession
hierarchical_section_title: Head of state / Legitimacy / By hereditary succession
caption_attribution_description: English: A very well-known picture in danish history books. The line to the throne after Christian IX is starting to be a little crowded. Christian IX, Prince Christian (X), Crown Prince Frederik (VIII) and the little Prince Frederik (IX) in 1903. Dansk: Fire konger, der fik stor betydning for det danske folkestyre: Christian 9. øverst til venstre administrerede 1866-grundloven i samarbejde med partiet Højre, Frederik 8. øverst til højre accepterede Systemskiftet, Christian 10. øverst i midten forsøgte sig med et mislykket statskup (Påskekrisen), mens Frederik 9. blev den første, der accepterede kongehustes rolle under et folkestyre.
context_page_description: A head of state is the public persona who officially embodies a state in its unity and legitimacy. Depending on the country's form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.
  In a parliamentary system, such as India and Pakistan, the head of state usually has mostly ceremonial powers, with a separate head of government. However in some parliamentary systems, like South Africa, there is an executive president that is both head of state and head of government. Likewise, in some parliamentary systems the head of state is not the head of government, but still has significant powers, for example Morocco. In contrast, a semi-presidential system, such as France, has both heads of state and government as the de facto leaders of the nation. Meanwhile, in presidential systems such as the United States, the head of state is also the head of government.
  Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, said that the head of state should embody l'esprit de la nation.
context_section_description: The position of a monarch is usually hereditary, but in constitutional monarchies, there are usually restrictions on the incumbent's exercise of powers and prohibitions on the possibility of choosing a successor by other means than by birth. In a hereditary monarchy, the position of monarch is inherited according to a statutory or customary order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin through a historical dynasty or bloodline. This usually means that the heir to the throne is known well in advance of becoming monarch to ensure a smooth succession. However, many cases of uncertain succession in European history have often led to wars of succession.
  Primogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system in hereditary monarchy. The order of succession is usually affected by rules on gender. Historically "agnatic primogeniture" or "patrilineal primogeniture" was favoured, that is inheritance according to seniority of birth among the sons of a monarch or head of family, with sons and their male issue inheriting before brothers and their issue, and male-line males inheriting before females of the male line. This is the same as semi-Salic primogeniture. Complete exclusion of females from dynastic succession is commonly referred to as application of the Salic law (see Terra salica).
  Before primogeniture was enshrined in European law and tradition, kings would often secure the succession by having their successor (usually their eldest son) crowned during their own lifetime, so for a time there would be two kings in coregency – a senior king and a junior king.  Examples include Henry the Young King of England and the early Direct Capetians in France.
  Sometimes, however, primogeniture can operate through the female line. In some systems a female may rule as monarch only when the male line dating back to a common ancestor is exhausted.  In 1980, Sweden, by rewriting its 1810 Act of Succession, became the first European monarchy to declare equal (full cognatic) primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other European monarchies (such as the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990 and Belgium in 1991) have since followed suit. Similar reforms were proposed in 2011 for the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, which came into effect in 2015 after having been approved by all of the affected nations. Sometimes religion is affected; under the Act of Settlement 1701 all Roman Catholics and all persons who have married Roman Catholics are ineligible to be the British monarch and are skipped in the order of succession.
  In some monarchies there may be liberty for the incumbent, or some body convening after his or her demise, to choose from eligible members of the ruling house, often limited to legitimate descendants of the dynasty's founder. Rules of succession may be further limited by state religion, residency, equal marriage or even permission from the legislature.
  Other hereditary systems of succession included tanistry, which is semi-elective and gives weight to merit and Agnatic seniority.  In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority).
caption: Four generations of Danish kings in 1903: King Christian IX (left), Christian (X) (back), Frederick (VIII) (right), and Frederick (IX) (front)
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