The succession to the throne of the royal family of England is born of tradition and regulated by Parliamentary statute.
The order of succession, or the sequence in which members of the Royal Family would ascend to the throne, was determined in the constitutional developments of the English Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Settlement (1701), according to the royal family’s website.
The Act of Settlement says that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia — the Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I — are eligible to succeed. A Roman Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne.
The Succession to the Crown Act, which was passed in 2013, amended the provisions of the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement to end the system of male primogeniture. That system allowed a younger son to displace an elder daughter in the line of succession.
The Act also ended the provisions by which those who marry Roman Catholics are disqualified from the line of succession.
Here is the line of succession for the royal family of England:
Elizabeth II, Queen of England
1. The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles)
2. The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William)
3. Prince George of Cambridge
4. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
5. Prince Louis of Cambridge
6. The Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry)
7. Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor
8. Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor
9. The Duke of York (Prince Andrew)
10. Princess Beatrice, Mrs. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
11. Miss Sienna Mapelli Mozzi
12. Princess Eugenie, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank
13. Master August Brooksbank
14. The Earl of Wessex (Prince Edward)
15. Viscount Severn
16. The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
17. The Princess Royal (Princess Anne)
18. Mr. Peter Phillips
19. Miss Savannah Phillips
20. Miss Isla Phillips
21. Mrs. Michael Tindall
22. Miss Mia Tindall
23. Miss Lena Tindall
24. Master Lucas Tindall
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