Line of succession to the British throne

**Succession to the British throne** is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.

King Charles III is the sovereign, and his heir apparent is his elder son, William, Prince of Wales. William's three children are next, in order of birth: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Fifth in line is Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of the King; sixth is Harry's elder child, Prince Archie. Under the Perth Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, only the first six in line of succession require the sovereign's consent before they marry; without such consent, they and their children would be disqualified from succession.

The United Kingdom is one of the Commonwealth realms, which are sovereign states that share the same person as monarch and the same order of succession. In 2011, the prime ministers of the then-16 realms agreed unanimously to amend the rules of succession. Male-preference primogeniture was abandoned, meaning that males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede females in line, and the ban on marriages to Catholics was lifted. The monarch still needs to be in communion with the Church of England. After the necessary legislation had been enacted in accordance with each realm's constitution, the changes took effect on 26 March 2015.

## Current 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-four 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.

* *King George V (1865–1936)*
	+ *King Edward VIII (1894–1972)*
	+ *King George VI (1895–1952)*
		- *Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)*
			* **King Charles III** (b. 1948)
				+ **(1)** William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982) B D W
					- **(2)** Prince George of Wales (b. 2013) B D W
					- **(3)** Princess Charlotte of Wales (b. 2015) B D W
					- **(4)** Prince Louis of Wales (b. 2018) B D W
				+ **(5)** Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984) B D W
					- **(6)** Prince Archie of Sussex (b. 2019) B D W
					- **(7)** Princess Lilibet of Sussex (b. 2021) B D
			* **(8)** Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960) B D W
				+ **(9)** Princess Beatrice (b. 1988) B D W
					- **(10)** Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (b. 2021) B D
				+ **(11)** Princess Eugenie (b. 1990) B D W
					- **(12)** August Brooksbank (b. 2021) B D
					- **(13)** Ernest Brooksbank (b. 2023) B D
			* **(14)** Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1964) B D W
				+ **(15)** James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (b. 2007) B D W
				+ **(16)** Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003) B D W
			* **(17)** Anne, Princess Royal (b. 1950) 1952 B D W
				+ **(18)** Peter Phillips (b. 1977) B D W
					- **(19)** Savannah Phillips (b. 2010) B D W
					- **(20)** Isla Phillips (b. 2012) B D W
				+ **(21)** Zara Tindall (née Phillips; b. 1981) B D W
					- **(22)** Mia Tindall (b. 2014) B D W
					- **(23)** Lena Tindall (b. 2018) B D W
					- **(24)** Lucas Tindall (b. 2021) B D
		- *Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002)* 1952
			* **(25)** David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (b. 1961) D W
				+ **(26)** Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (b. 1999) D W
				+ **(27)** Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (b. 2002) D W
			* **(28)** Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; b. 1964) D W
				+ **(29)** Samuel Chatto (b. 1996) D W
				+ **(30)** Arthur Chatto (b. 1999) D W
	+ *Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974)* 1952
		- *Prince William of Gloucester (1941–1972)* 1952
		- **(31)** Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1944) 1952 D W
			* **(32)** Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (b. 1974) D W
				+ **(33)** Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden (b. 2007) D W
				+ **(34)** Lady Cosima Windsor (b. 2010) D W
			* **(35)** Lady Davina Windsor (b. 1977) D W
				+ **(36)** Senna Lewis (b. 2010) D W
				+ **(37)** Tāne Lewis (b. 2012) D W
			* **(38)** Lady Rose Gilman (née Windsor; b. 1980) D W
				+ **(39)** Lyla Gilman (b. 2010) D W
				+ **(40)** Rufus Gilman (b. 2012) D W
	+ *Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902–1942)*
		- **(41)** Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (b. 1935) 1952 D W
			* **(42)** George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (b. 1962) M D W
				+ *Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick* (b. 1988) X D W
				+ *Lady Marina Windsor* (b. 1992) X D W
				+ **(43)** Lady Amelia Windsor (b. 1995) D W
			* *Lord Nicholas Windsor* (b. 1970) X D W
				+ **(44)** Albert Windsor (b. 2007) X? D W
				+ **(45)** Leopold Windsor (b. 2009) X? D W
				+ **(46)** Louis Windsor (b. 2014) X? D W
			* **(47)** Lady Helen Taylor (née Windsor; b. 1964) D W
				+ **(48)** Columbus Taylor (b. 1994) D W
				+ **(49)** Cassius Taylor (b. 1996) D W
				+ **(50)** Eloise Taylor (b. 2003) D W
				+ **(51)** Estella Taylor (b. 2004) D W
		- **(52)** Prince Michael of Kent (b. 1942) 1952 M W
			* **(53)** Lord Frederick Windsor (b. 1979) W
				+ **(54)** Maud Windsor (b. 2013) W
				+ **(55)** Isabella Windsor (b. 2016) W
			* **(56)** Lady Gabriella Kingston (née Windsor; b. 1981) W
		- **(57)** Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (b. 1936) 1952 W
			* **(58)** James Ogilvy (b. 1964) W
				+ **(59)** Alexander Ogilvy (b. 1996) W
				+ **(60)** Flora Vesterberg (née Ogilvy; b. 1994) W
			* **(61)** Marina Ogilvy (b. 1966) W
				+ **(62)** Christian Mowatt (b. 1993) W
				+ **(63)** Zenouska Mowatt (b. 1990) W