The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday set off a shift in the line of succession to the throne, starting with her oldest son, now King Charles III.
Thanks to a rule created by King George in 1917, Charles’ ascension to the throne also means Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, the children of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, now technically hold the titles and ranks of prince and princess.
The rule is known as the George V Convention, or the 1917 Letters Patent. It stipulates that the children of the Sovereign – the king or queen – can be called princes and princesses, as can children whose fathers are sons of the Sovereign, explained law professor Craig Prescott in an article on the U.K. Constitutional Law Association website.
“Under the 1917 Letters Patent, (Archie and Lilibet) will become prince and princess respectively when Prince Charles becomes King, as their father is then a ‘son of the Sovereign,’” Prescott wrote in 2021.
Archie and Lilibet live in the United States with their parents, so it’s not clear what functional roles they will have within the Royal Family, if any, but they now sit sixth and seventh in line for the throne.
Other members of the Royal Family have also assumed new titles, ranks and roles with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles’ wife, Camilla, the former Duchess of Cornwall, is now Queen Consort.
The Duchy of Cornwall has passed to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, who confirmed their new titles on Thursday, updating their social media accounts to read Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall.
According to Peter Russell, political science professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, William is expected to assume another new title: the Prince of Wales.
“He's now the Prince of Wales, and he’s the heir whenever his father, King Charles, dies,” Russell told CTVNews.ca in an interview over the phone on Thursday.
The new order of succession for Britain's monarchy is as follows:
- Prince William, the eldest son of Charles and the late Princess Diana. He is married to Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Their three children follow him in the line of succession.
- Prince George of Cambridge, born in July 2013
- Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, born in May 2015
- Prince Louis of Cambridge, born in April 2018
- Prince Harry, the younger son of Charles and Diana
- Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, born to Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in May 2019
- Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, born in June 2021
- Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's second-eldest son
- Princess Beatrice, elder daughter of Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.
- Sienna Elizabeth, daughter of Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, born in September 2021
- Princess Eugenie, Andrew and Ferguson's younger daughter
- August Brooksbank, born to Eugenie and James Brooksbank in Feb. 2021
- Prince Edward, The Queen and Philip's youngest child
- James, Viscount Severn, the younger child of Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex
- Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Edward and Sophie's daughter
The British royal family tree, starting with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. (AP)
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