Succession to the British throne

The line of succession to the British throne is the order in which members of the royal family would come to the throne if the reigning king or queen died.

At present the first in line is William, Prince of Wales, and then Prince William's eldest child, Prince George of Wales.

Traditionally, males came before females in the line of succession. However, the law changed on 26 March 2015, so at present, for people born after 28 October 2011 the succession is decided only by age: older children come before younger children. This system of inheritance is called absolute primogeniture, as opposed to male-preference primogeniture. When someone who is in line to the throne has a child, that child comes after them and their older children, but before anyone else in the line of succession.

Excluded from the line of succession are Catholics and illegitimate children.

Line of succession
No official, complete version of the line of succession is maintained. The exact number, in more remote collateral lines, of the people who would be eligible is uncertain. In 2001, American genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner compiled a list of 4,973 living descendants of the Electress Sophia in order of succession without omitting Roman Catholics. When updated in January 2011, the list included 5,753.

The annotated list below covers the first part of this line of succession, being limited to descendants of the sons of King George V, King Charles III's great-grandfather. The order of the first twenty-three numbered in the list, all descendants of Queen Elizabeth II, is given on the official website of the British monarchy; other list numbers and exclusions are explained by annotations and footnotes below. People named in italics are unnumbered either because they are deceased or because sources report them to be excluded from the succession.

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 15px  (born 1948)
  William, Prince of Wales (born 1982) 
  Prince George of Wales (born 2013) 
  Princess Charlotte of Wales (born 2015) 
   Prince Louis of Wales (born 2018) 
  Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (born 1984) 
   Prince Archie of Sussex (born 2019) 
   Princess Lilibet of Sussex (born 2021) 
  Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (born 1960) 
  Princess Beatrice (born 1988) 
  Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (born 2021) 
  Athena Mapelli Mozzi (born 2025) 
  Princess Eugenie (born 1990) 
  August Brooksbank (born 2021) 
   Ernest Brooksbank (born 2023) 
  Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1964) 
  James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (born 2007) 
   Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (born 2003) 
   Anne, Princess Royal (born 1950) 
  Peter Phillips (born 1977) 
  Savannah Phillips (born 2010) 
   Isla Phillips (born 2012) 
   Zara Tindall (née Phillips; born 1981) 
  Mia Tindall (born 2014) 
   Lena Tindall (born 2018) 
  Lucas Tindall (born 2021) 

  David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 1961) 
  Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1999) 
   Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (born 2002) 
   Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; born 1964) 
  Samuel Chatto (born 1996) 
   Arthur Chatto (born 1999) 

   Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (born 1944) 
  Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (born 1974) 
  Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden (born 2007) 
   Lady Cosima Windsor (born 2010) 
  Lady Davina Windsor (born 1977) 
  Senna Lewis (born 2010) 
   Tane Lewis (born 2012) 
   Lady Rose Gilman (née Windsor; born 1980) 
  Lyla Gilman (born 2010) 
   Rufus Gilman (born 2012) 

  Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 1935) 
  George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (born 1962) 
  (born 1988) 
  (born 1992) 
   Lady Amelia Windsor (born 1995) 
  (born 1970) 
  Albert Windsor (born 2007)  
  Leopold Windsor (born 2009)  
   Louis Windsor (born 2014) 
   Lady Helen Taylor (née Windsor; born 1964) 
  Columbus Taylor (born 1994) 
  Cassius Taylor (born 1996) 
  Eloise Taylor (born 2003) 
   Estella Taylor (born 2004) 
  Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942) 
  Lord Frederick Windsor (born 1979) 
  Maud Windsor (born 2013) 
   Isabella Windsor (born 2016) 
   Lady Gabriella Kingston (née Windsor; born 1981) 
   Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (born 1936) 
  James Ogilvy (born 1964) 
  Alexander Ogilvy (born 1996) 
   Flora Vesterberg (née Ogilvy; born 1994) 
   Marina Ogilvy (born 1966) 
  Christian Mowatt (born 1993) 
   Zenouska Mowatt (born 1990) 

+ Notes and sources Mark Source for listing or note on exclusion from succession  Listed by the official website of the British monarchy, "Succession","Succession", retrieved 11 February 2025   Debrett's website (): "The Line of Succession"Debrett's, "The Line of Succession"  Whitaker's Almanack 2021Whitaker's Almanack, 2021. Oxford: Rebellion, , p. 26  These people had been excluded through marriage to a Roman Catholic. This exclusion was repealed on 26 March 2015, restoring them to the line of succession, when the Perth Agreement came into effect.  Excluded as Roman Catholics. This exclusion is not affected by changes subsequent to the Perth Agreement.

Notes

References

Other websites
British line of succession on any date in the past 200 years
Succession at the Official web site of the British Royal Family

Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom
British