British royal family: Who’s who in the line to the throne
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her son Charles becomes king at the age of 73
Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96. Her eldest son, Charles, is now officially king, and will be known as Charles III. At 73, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh has automatically succeeded to the British throne, following royal protocol. although he will formally be declared as such at a later date. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles and Princess Diana, will be next in line.
This year, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, which marked the 70th anniversary of the monarch’s accession to the throne. The queen was last seen in public on Tuesday, when she met with the new British prime minister, Liz Truss, to formally ask her to form a new government. On Wednesday, however, the queen was forced to cancel a planned virtual meeting with the Privy Council, which meets weekly to discuss matters of state.
On Thursday, alarm bells rang following news that the queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence. Later that day, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, had died.
Prince Charles is now the king. This is now the line of succession.
King Charles III
Charles III is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Edinburgh. At 73 years of age, he is the oldest heir to the British throne, surpassing his great-great-grandfather, Edward VII, who acceded to the throne at the age of 60. He has been in the shadow of Queen Elizabeth since she took the throne after the death of King George VI. In 1981, he married Diana of Wales, with whom he had two sons, Prince William and Prince Henry. The couple divorced in 1996 after years of controversy. In 2005, he married Camilla Parker Bowles, who has become queen consort, as announced by Buckingham Palace.
1. Prince William
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is the eldest son of King Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997 in a traffic accident. In recent years, he has become an increasingly important figure in the British monarchy, leading to rumors that he would ascend directly to the throne. He married Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in 2011, with whom he has three children: Princes George, Charlotte and Louis of Cambridge.
2. Prince George
The firstborn son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is now second in the line of succession to the throne of the United Kingdom. At only nine years of age, the prince is the image of the distant future of British royalty: one day, he could be king.
3. Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte is the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and first female in the line of succession. At seven years old, she is the first British female princess to be third in line to the throne.
4. Prince Louis
Louis is the third child and second son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The four-year-old is fourth in line to the British throne.
5. Prince Henry
Grandson of the queen and second son of Charles and Diana of Wales, Prince Henry is fifth in line to the throne. In 2016, he began a relationship with Meghan Markle and two years later, in 2018, they married at Windsor Castle. The couple have two children, Archie and Lilibet. In 2020, Prince Henry and his wife decided to stop working for the British crown. Since then, relations with the royal family have been frosty, and the couple have stayed away from the United Kingdom and official events.
6. and 7. Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana
Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana are the children of Prince Henry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Aged three and one, respectively, they are sixth and seventh in line to the throne.
8. Prince Andrew
Andrew is the third son of Elizabeth II and eighth in line to the throne. In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson, with whom he has two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Considered by the media to be the queen's favorite son, he has been forced to withdraw from public life due to a serious sex abuse scandal stemming from his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. In 2022, he was stripped of all military titles and royal patronage.
9. and 10. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie
Daughters of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Eugenie were the first princesses born into the royal family since Princess Anne in 1950.
11. Edward, Duke of Wessex
Edward is the fourth and last son of Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. He took over his father at various royal events due to the latter's impossibility of continuing to attend them because of his advanced age. He married Sofia Rhys-Jones in 1999, and the couple had two children: James and Louise.
12 and 13. James and Louise
Viscount James and Lady Louise are the children of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones.
13. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward is the fourth and last son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. He succeeded his father when the duke was unable to attend public acts due to his age. In 1999, the prince married Sophia Rhys-Jones, with whom he has two children: James and Louise.
14. and 15. James and Louise
The children of Prince Edward, James and Louise, are 14th and 15th in the line of succession.
14, 15 and 16. Princess Anne and her children Peter and Zara
Princess Anne is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Although she is their second child, her brothers, Andrew and Edward, are ahead of her in the line of succession. As a teenager, the princess began to exercise official responsibilities on behalf of her mother. Today, she is the member of the royal family with the largest number of royal engagements and is involved in more than 200 charities. She has two children: Peter and Zara.