It is Saturday September 10 that Charles III should be officially proclaimed king by the Council of Succession, meeting at the palace of Saint-James in London. His accession to the throne follows the rules governing the order of succession to the British throne, revised in 2011.
The 16 countries having the British sovereign as head of state had then reformed the rules of succession. With the main novelty of treating on an equal footing men and women of the same siblings. And if the order of succession still excludes Catholics, it opened access to the throne to a person who would be married to a spouse of the Catholic faith as well as to their descendants.
The order of succession now stipulates that the throne goes first to the eldest child of the sovereign, male or female, and then to his descendants. In the absence of a direct descendant, the throne goes to the brothers or sisters of the sovereign, in order of birth, then to their descendants.
The order of succession to the throne of the British royal family. / VISACTU
Prince William becomes heir to the crown
It is therefore now Prince William, eldest son of Charles, who becomes the heir to the crown. After him come his children George, then Charlotte and Louis. Prince Harry, brother of William, is fifth on the list. And his own children, Archie and Lilibet, arrive next, ahead of Prince Andrew, brother of Charles III and son of Elizabeth II.
If by chance all the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II were to die or renounce the throne, it could then fall to the descendants of the former queen’s sister, Margaret (herself deceased in 2002). Then would eventually come the descendants of the brothers and sisters of their father, King George VI. Then those of Elizabeth II’s grandfather, King George V. And so on.