Andrew and Anne Question?

Question

I am American so i don't know - Prince Andrew is 4th in line for the thrown but Princess Anne is older. Why is she skipped over? If it is because of her gender isn't that a little . . . well, outdated. After all, the Brits are a modern people.

Answer 1

It is very outdated and yes - it is because of gender. Equality should count!

Answer 2

I say lets have King Ralph lol

Answer 3

Princess Anne is not older, she is the youngest in the family and yes, Britain still has a preference for male heirs over the females. For a female to be ahead of any men in the British line is more out of pure luck and fate and destiny having their way.

Answer 4

Yes, it is gender. It has now been fixed but only for future generations. The next two will be:

Charles

William

If William ( God love him and preserve him so we don't have to have a sordid scramble like the French and the Yanks ) has a daughter first she will be Queen.

Answer 5

It's a hang over from 2 or 3 hundred years ago where the Monarch of Great Britain had to be the oldest male child of a Queen of the Elector of Hanover. You know the Georges that lost us our colony in the New world. Any female was passed over for any male child of the Monarch.

Answer 6

The line of succession is based on male preference. Even though Princess Anne is the Queen's 2nd child, she is 9th in the line. Her children are 10th and 11th. I thought I read

Answer 7

The children/grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth are in line for the throne before her siblings. So, in order, Charles, William, Henry, Andrew etc etc

Great explanation here: http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5655....

Answer 8

It is because of her gender.This has now been changed and prince William's first born will become monarch regardless of the child's s*x

Answer 9

As some others have said, it is to do with the laws of primogeniture. However, a few years ago the queen proclaimed that henceforth primogeniture would no longer prevail in the ruling House. Thus if William should have first a daughter and then a son, the girl would acceed as queen.

Answer 10

It is a left over from centuries of tradition.  Joni is correct about the law being changed.  Prince Charles fought very hard for the change he feels that it is extremely unfair and I hear is pleased that the law was changed.

Answer 11

I do not know why that is. But my assumption would be concerning the European history that most likely only male's can assume and acent to the throne. Not for certain whether Britain has changed their throne law or not.

Answer 12

It's because we still have male primogeniture, where males inherit before females. The Queen came to the throne because her father only had two daughters.  It is outdated but since the Queen can trace her ancestry back past William The Conqueror it's an ancient tradition, however, some European monarchies are changing the laws of succesion so females have equal status. The question in the UK is largely academic at the moment since the first three people in the line of succession are all males and all the eldest (or second-eldest in Harry's case) children. The question will remain academic until William has children and then only if he has a daughter first.

There have been discussions on changing the law of succession but this would make very little difference at present with only Anne and her children moving up.

Despite the male Primogeniture, Since 1837, Queens have reigned for over 118 years (out of 170) whereas kings have ruled for the other 54 or so.

Answer 13

When Princess Royal Anne married Captian Mark Phillips, she in essence became a commoner and therefore it knocked her down the line of succession even though she is of a higher birth rank than Andrew.

Plus the fact that the british monarchy still practices the tradition of males of the family being preferred to inherit the throne of Great Brittian. (I know I mis-spelled, it's late and I'm rather wired on coffee!)

Answer 14

Would you want to see Princess Anne on the throne?

Answer 15

coz she is a woman and probably coz they not sure she is human...neigh...neigh...neigh

Answer 16

Just to put something right here Anne is the Queens eldest daughter - not her sister! The British monarchy is male orientated so Charles, William, Harry come first followed by Andrew, etc. Anne went down the line with her marriages which also affected her royal standing. Once she married Captain Mark Phillips she had in effect become a commoner which is why the title of Princess Royal was created. As for her looks - who the heck cares? I would rather she became Queen than Charles King. At least with Anne you know a spade is a spade cos she doesn't quibble and will tell it like it is. I personally reckon she is the best of the royals at present !

Answer 17

it is because she is the queens sister

now the queen has her own family the

throne is passed down

if the queen did not have a family of

her own then Anne would be next in line

for the throne

Answer 18

The line of succession to the British Throne is an ordered list of the people in line to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom. The succession is regulated by the Act of Settlement 1701, which limits it to the heirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, as determined by male-preference primogeniture, religion, and legitimate birth:

- A person is always immediately followed in the succession by his or her own legitimate descendants (his or her 'line'). Birth order and gender matter: older sons (and their lines) come before younger sons (and theirs); a person's sons (and their lines), irrespective of age, all come before his or her daughters (and their lines).

- Anyone who is Roman Catholic, becomes Roman Catholic, or marries a Roman Catholic is permanently excluded from the succession; this provision removing "papists" from the succession has never been tested.

- A person born to parents who are not married to each other at the time of birth is not included in the line of succession. The subsequent marriage of the parents does not alter this.

Answer 19

Depending how far  Prince Andrew was thrown, because Princess  Anne has been many times, horse riding.

And lets face it....we are only being  very British about it all!!

Answer 20

in the UK we have a terrible out dated sexist system which favours males.  Its about time the system and the monarchy were abolished

Answer 21

It's quite simple; the UK follows the laws of primogenitor,which favors males over females.Yes,it's very old fashioned,but have you noticed that the institution of monarchy seems to be very slow to change? In Sweden, it's just the first born child,while others follow the males-first rule. Perhaps Parliament will change the rules one day.(I am American,too, and find the royals of the world quite interesting).

Princess Anne is quite capable of ruling,but because of the males-first rule has gone down the line in favor of her brothers and their off-spring. Her marrying a commoner in no way affects her royal status: she  isThe Princess Royal, a special title signifyng her status as the eldest royal daughter as well as her service to the monarchy.

Here is the current line of sucession which can be found at http://www.royal.gov/uk

the official site of Buckingham Palace :

Line of succession

Sovereign

1.   The Prince of Wales

2.   Prince William of Wales

3.   Prince Henry of Wales

4.   The Duke of York

5.   Princess Beatrice of York

6.   Princess Eugenie of York

7.   The Earl of Wessex

8.   The Lady Louise Windsor

9.   The Princess Royal

10. Mr. Peter Phillips

11. Miss Zara Phillips

12. Viscount Linley

13. The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones

14. The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones

15. The Lady Sarah Chatto

16. Master Samuel Chatto

17. Master Arthur Chatto

18. The Duke of Gloucester

19. Earl of Ulster

20. Lord Culloden

21. The Lady Davina Lewis

22. The Lady Rose Windsor

23. The Duke of Kent

24. The Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor

25. The Lady Amelia Windsor

26. The Lady Helen Taylor

27. Master Columbus Taylor

28. Master Cassius Taylor

29. Miss Eloise Taylor

30. Miss Estella Taylor

31. The Lord Frederick Windsor

32. The Lady Gabriella Windsor

33. Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy

34. Mr. James Ogilvy

35. Master Alexander Ogilvy

36. Miss Flora Ogilvy

37. Miss Marina Ogilvy

38. Master Christian Mowatt

39. Miss Zenouska Mowatt

40. The Earl of Harewood

Anne is now number 9;in December she will drop down another rung(as will those behind her after the birth of her younger brother, Edward's next child. He has a daughter;if he has a son, the son will go in line ahead of the daughter.

Answer 22

She was skipped over because of her gender. If I'm not mistaken, they have since changed the law where the gender does not matter any longer.

Answer 23

Unfortunately, it is because of her gender. In the UK, they use male primogeniture, which means all males (and their lines) are first in line to the throne. This is the current line of succession:

Prince Charles

Prince William

Prince Harry

Prince Andrew

Princess Beatrice

Princess Eugenie

Prince Edward

Lady Louise

(Prince Edward's wife is currently pregnant. If she gives birth to a boy, he will move ahead of Lady Louise in the line. If it's a girl, she'll be behind Lady Louise)

Princess Anne

Peter Phillips

Zara Phillips

P.S. It is possible, if William's first child is a girl, that the current model will be revised.

Answer 24

it's throne, not thrown.

Princess Anne is the Princess Royal, and she is in line for the throne, but has brothers and nephews before her. It's an old custom, and it's their custom.