What would happen if the succession law were to be applied retroactively?

What's the deal for other British royal other than Prince Charles, Prince of Wales regarding the succession?

  • I just figured out that the new rule to the Commonwealth realms succession is only applied to Charlie's descendants. Does it mean his entire relatives excluding him and his descendants will still to follow the male primogeniture? It's a good news, isn't it? Say, there had a royal wipeout and the nearest to line of succession to the throne were Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex's children, who would take the crown? The elder daughter or the younger son since the new law only applied to Prince Charles descendants and he had no legitimate surviving descendants left? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne

  • Answer:

    The succession-law changes apply to the children born to Princes William and Harry. The succession for all the others remain as-is. Thus, if Princes Charles, Andrew, and Edward (along with their children) were eliminated, it would be James (Viscount Severn) who would be the next King (with Princess Anne as Regent if he were underage). So the new succession reads thus: Charles (Prince of Wales) William William's oldest child Willliam's younger child Harry Harry's oldest child Harry's younger child Andrew (Duke of York) Beatrice Eugenie Edward (Earl of Wessex) James Louise Anne (Princess Royal) Peter Savannah (child due next year) Zara

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Yes, while the descendants of Prince Charles will enjoy Equal Primogeniture, other members of the Royal Family are still bound by Male Primogeniture. Assuming something terrible happens, and William, Harry, Beatrice and Eugenie all die without leaving legitimate descendants, the Throne would go eventually go to James, Viscount Severn and NOT Lady Louise - his elder sister. Firstly, the laws (even if they did concern all members of the Royal Family) are not retroactive, so Louise and James' positions wouldn't change in any case. Secondly, since members of the Royal Family other than the descendants of Prince Charles would still be governed by Male Primogeniture laws, James would always be ahead of his sister. Of course, should the aforementioned scenario actually come to life, there is little doubt that all countries of the Realm will issue further declarations or Acts of Parliament to establish equal primogeniture among Prince Edward's descendants as well; in that case, who would ascend to the Throne would depend on whether the changes are retroactive, or not. - If they are retroactive, Lady Louise will move ahead of her brother in the Line of Succession. There is a precedence; when Equal Primogeniture was adopted in Sweden, it was made retroactive for the King's descendants, so Prince Carl Philip (who was born a Crown Prince as the only son of the King) lost his place in favour of his elder sister Victoria. - If the changes are not retroactive, than James would ascend to the Throne. There is a precedence for this as well; when Equal Primogeniture wad adopted in Norway, it was not made retroactive, so Crown Prince Haakon didn't lose his place in favour of his older sister, Princess Martha Louise.

It means that the order of the succession will remain as it was for everyone except future descendants of Prince Charles via his sons William and Harry. In other words, though the law is changing, the people to whom the change will apply have not yet been born. Your question regarding a royal wipeout is a good one. I pointed out yesterday that if William and Harry both died without producing children, the succession would presumably jump to Prince Andrew, just as it always would have, even though Princess Anne is older, because the change is not retroactive. In your scenario, Parliament would have to decide what to do. My guess is that Lady Louise would be chosen to succeed and that the law would be rewritten for her sake and to ensure absolute primogeniture for her descendants and those of her younger brother should she have no children of her own.

Lili

They talk about equality... which is laughable And the politicians talk about modernising the Royal family... how about abolishing it

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