What are the guidelines for the heir of the royal family in England?

Question

I am curious as to who is in line for the throne after the king or queen dies-is it the eldest son? And what if he dies?

Also, does the person who marries the current king or queen become royalty? Or is it just the king or the queen who has the title?

Answer 1

For the UK, the rules of PRIMOGENITURE apply. The heir to the throne is the eldest male,unless all of the heirs are girls. If the heir apparent dies,the nest in line wold be his sons and daughters, then his brothers and sisters.All heirs must be in communion with the Church of England as well;heirs lose their place if they are Catholic.

The Current line up is:

from http://www.royal.gov/uk

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.   Viscount Severn

9.   The Lady Louise Windsor

10. The Princess Royal

11. Mr. Peter Phillips

12. Miss Zara Phillips

13. Viscount Linley

14. The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones

15. The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones

16. The Lady Sarah Chatto

17. Master Samuel Chatto

18. Master Arthur Chatto

19. The Duke of Gloucester

20. Earl of Ulster

21. Lord Culloden

22. The Lady Davina Lewis

23. The Lady Rose Windsor

24. The Duke of Kent

25. The Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor

26. The Lady Amelia Windsor

27. The Lady Helen Taylor

28. Master Columbus Taylor

29. Master Cassius Taylor

30. Miss Eloise Taylor

31. Miss Estella Taylor

32. The Lord Frederick Windsor

33. The Lady Gabriella Windsor

34. Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy

35. Mr. James Ogilvy

36. Master Alexander Ogilvy

37. Miss Flora Ogilvy

38. Miss Marina Ogilvy

39. Master Christian Mowatt

40. Miss Zenouska Mowatt

The female who marries into the royal family assumes her husband's titles.A man who marries into the royal family does not assume his wife's titles.A man may recieve his own title as a gift. An example of this is the late Princess Margaret's husband, Anthony Armstrong-Jones,who became Earl Snowdon upon his marriage.

Answer 2

The guidelines for inheriting the British throne is governed by the Act of Settlement of 1701. 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).

- The monarch must be a Protestant at time of accession, and enter into communion with the Church of England after accession.

- Anyone who is Roman Catholic, becomes Roman Catholic, or marries a Roman Catholic is permanently excluded from the succession.

- 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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_suc...

Note: When a monarch dies, it is his eldest born son, who is usually titled as the "Prince of Wales" and heir to the throne. If the monarch does not have any sons, but only daughters, the eldest born daughter is his "Heiress Presumptive", and will not be titled as "Princess of Wales", since this title is only reserved for the wife of The Prince of Wales.

Note: The term "Royalty" is anyone who is the sovereign or the holder of a substantive peerage, meaning their title was inherited by birth and right, and not by marriage as in a "courtesy title" such as Queen Consort, Princess of Wales etc. The term "Royalty" does not include all members of the royal family who are not peers, and all members of peerage families except the actual peer: for example, Prince William of Wales, the Princess Royal, the earl of Arundel (son of a duke) are all commoners.