What would happen if a king died and the queen was pregnant?

Question

What would happen if a king died and the queen was pregnant with their first child? Who would be the heir to the throne? The unborn child or another relative?

What if the queen was only pregnant for 2 months? or if she only had a few weeks left into the pregnancy when the king died? Who would be his successor?

Thanks

Answer 1

Where things would get really tricky would be if the king and queen already had daughters when the king died.  Where males take precedence in the line of succession, everyone would have to wait to see if the unborn child was a boy.  If so, he would be king and his oldest sister would be displaced as queen and have to stay as a princess.  

Someone started a rumor that the late Queen Mother in the UK was pregnant when her husband died.  It was not true.

Answer 2

Short Answer:  If history furnishes any precedent, the United Kingdom would be governed by regents until the child reached his/her majority.  Those governing in place of the child would either be the child's mother, a close male relative, or else a council of regents.

Examples:  

---Queen Victoria was the heiress presumptive long before she was Queen.  During the final illness of her uncle, William IV, Parliament passed the Regency Act of 1830, which provided that Victoria's mother, The Duchess of Kent, would serve as regent during her minority.  Princess Victoria turned 18 in May 1837, thus ending the regency. She awakened on 20 June 1837 to be infromed that the King was dead and she was Queen.

---Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII (1537-1553), ascended the throne at the age of nine, and so England was governed by a council of regents during all of of his reign (1547-53). Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Edward VI's maternal uncle, first led the council, but John Dudley, the Duke of Northumerland, ruled in the final year of Edward's short reign.

---During the Middle Ages, the dysfunctional Stuart Dynasty of Scotland was plagued by a series of regencies since only two of the Scottish monarchs inherited the throne as adults.  Mary Queen of Scots, for example, inherited the throne when she was only six or seven days old and was subsequently crowned at nine-months-old.  Originally, her nearest male relative, who was second in line to the Scottish throne, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, governed in her sted as regent until 1554.  Eventually, the Queen Mother, Mary of Guise, was made regent to rule in Mary's name, while she was growing up in France until Mary of Guise's death in 1560.

Incidentally, Mary's own father, James V (1512-1542) became King of Scotland when he was an infant since his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field.  First his mother, Margaret Tudor (sister of Henry VIII), acted as regent to be followed by James Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, upon her remarriage.  Finally, her husband and James' stepfather, Archiblad Douglas, Earl of Angus, took James in custody, holding him a prisoner for three years, while he governed Scotland.

Of course, since Mary Queen of Scots spent her son's childhood as a political prisoner of her cousin Elizabeth Tudor in England, Scotland was governed by a series of regents from the time James VI  (1566-1625) was a month-old infant until his minority ended in 1578, although he was crowned King of Scotland at 13 months of age.

Answer 3

She would be pregnant with possibilty.

Answer 4

Well the Queen would be Regent, then if the child was male it would be King, but have its mother rule as Regent for him until about 18 or 21. NOW if the King had a younger brother and the unborn child was a female, the brother would be King,and of course depending on the laws on succession. But if there was no brother of the king, the unborn child would either be King or Queen, like in case of Mary of Scots, who was Queen at 10 days old.

Answer 5

OK, I'm assuming from your question that there are no other children and that the Queen is not in the line of succession.

In most cases, the Queen would serve as Regent, with the aid of a council, until the male heir was old enough to assume the throne. If the baby was a girl, and not eligible to serve as monarch, the deceased king's next closest male relative would probably claim the throne. This has been the cause of multiple civil wars in the past.

Answer 6

yes the child would be heir but if the kings brother say stole the throne then he could be king and the royal bloodlines would be changed, I think this has happened in ancient egypt, france, romania

Answer 7

The unborn child would be the heir.

Answer 8

I think the Queen would assume the role of authority until the child is capable of making decisions.

Answer 9

the child would be heir

however some adult would take the role in a just functioning capacity

however historically the child would have had their lives in jepordy as happened when some insrgent took a throne  but it wouldn't happen to the uk head unless the child also died and then it would go to the next in line ..................

example   .... if the queen wasn't around when diana was pregnant will william and charles died then william would be heir ...........however if he also died before becoming an adult  then it would have fallen to prince andrew and his line

Answer 10

The Queen would be a Widow and the unborn child would grow up without a Daddy.

If a King and Queen were ruling together before the King died, obviously the Queen would be the sole ruler of the country after his death.

The unborn child would be heir to the throne and would take over the duty on the day of the Queen's death or when she relinquishes the responsibility to the child due to her inability to continue reigning (health issues).

There are always other relatives who are 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc etc "in line" to the throne if anything untoward happened to the Queen and her child but I don't know how "the pecking order" is decided to get the Top Job.

Answer 11

if the husband was the true king and his queen was only queen because she maried him then the next in line closest to the king would take over the thrown until that person died. then the orignal kings son if the age of 18 or over would be the next in line to be king... until then he would be the prince....

in the case of the queen of england, if the queen dies then her husband would NOT be king. the queens son Charles would be until his death and then his eldest con william would be come king...

williams mother Dianna would have become queen if charles was king until he died and then she would no longer be queen as her son william would be king and rule ...

when william marries kate she will be a princess by marrage and then queen by marrage but never be a ruler of england as she is not a direct decendent of the queen....

i hope this all makes sence and you understand it...

cheers

mystic

Answer 12

Then the child, assuming it was the first child of the king, would be the next monarch.  And, yes, the queen would, most likely, be regent.

Happened in Spain.  Alfonso XII died while María Cristina was ab out 3 months pregnant with Alfonso XIII.  He became king (fully) upon reaching the age of Majority, which I believe was 16 at the time.  It was about 1900, when he was born.  He was the grandfather of King Juan Carlos, the current king of Spain.

Don't know where Zena e got her information, but just scanning over her info on Isabel, she's WAY wrong.

Isabel II WAS the queen of Spain, not a regent.  REGNENT means that she was, in fact the MONARCH.  (yeah, I guess she's the only one who has ever reigned in her own name) However, that had nothing to do with carrying a child, or being widowed.

However, María Cristina was the regent until 1902, when he reached the age of 16.

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

Answer 13

In the United Kingdom, the Queen would function as Regent as soon as the King died (if the King was the one who inherited the throne). If the child was an only child, or if it was the first boy, as soon as it was born, it would be declared Sovereign. Once he or she turned 18, he or she would enter his or her majority and the Queen would no longer be Regent.  

Answer 14

there would be a regent until the child was old enough to rule and then presumably the king's kid would become monarch.

Answer 15

It depends on the line of succession and rules which thereby apply.  

Some Royal families only allow male heirs (eg Japan) or male heirs above a female heir.

  

Answer 16

I'm fairly sure the Queen would be the heir until the child reached the age of 18, but I could be wrong.

Answer 17

It depends on the custom of the kingdom. If you want it fair and square, the queen should take over the throne first and when the first child born, he or she will be the successor.

Answer 18

The next royal who is in line would Take over until the Heir/Heiress is

or legal age.  ( The Next in Line will take over until Heir/ Heiress is of legal age

Queen Victoria became Queen through an act of Parliament.

(as there weren't any male heirs, Thus ammendmends are always made in succession when the need arises..

http://www.angelfire.com/moon/ipw_histor...

STILL HEIR..UNTIL AGE THAT HEIR COULD BE KING..IN ENGLAND ITS 18 ( VICTORIA  WAS 18 WHEN SHE BECAME QUEEN UNDER ACTO OF PARLIAMENT

The Bruce dynasty still claimed the Scottish throne; but in 1506, nominal king Daibidh V died, and his heir was just three years old. The nobles used the opportunity and set up a nobles' Republic similar as Aragon. They planned to kill the prince, but he was smuggled by some loyal Scottish followers out of Norway; they first fled to Denmark, later to the Netherlands and FranceThe Bruce dynasty still claimed the Scottish throne; but in 1506, nominal king Daibidh V died, and his heir was just three years old. The nobles used the opportunity and set up a nobles' Republic similar as Aragon. They planned to kill the prince, but he was smuggled by some loyal Scottish followers out of Norway; they first fled to Denmark, later to the Netherlands and France

http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Scotlan...

PRINCE ALASAIR IV .. WON BACK HIS RIGHTFULTHRONE AND SEVERALOTHER THRONE.

)In the peace of Barcelona 1547 the Quadruple Monarchy had to accept the independence of Scotland-Ireland under new king Alexander / Alasdair IV in Europe. Prince Alasdair later also won his throne of Norway back in 1562, plus several other thrones.

http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Scotlan...

IN SPAIN(

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

Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – April 10, 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was Queen regnant of Spain ("Queen of the Spains" officially from August 13, 1836, Isabella II the "queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon,...") She was Spain's first and so far only queen regnant, although she is sometimes considered the third Queen Regnant of Spain, as previous regents of Leon and Castile were counted as kings and queens of Spain.

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

HOWEVER NOT ALL COUNTRIES WOULD ACT AS THE SPANIARDS DIO MOST WOULD TAKE  THE NEXT ROYAL HEIR  IN LINE.) ROYAL BLOOD)NOT ALL QUEENS HAVE "ROYAL BLOOD" IN THEIR VEINS."

Answer 19

.".their first child ? "  begorra on established record they would NEED to check DATES?

Answer 20

you should ask thid question from UNIQUE PRINCESS because she is real princess so she knows about it.