What would happen in this situation ?

Question

Let's fast forward thirty years and say that both Her Majesty and Prince Charles have died and that Prince William of Wales is now HM King William V. William has a daughter but no sons. William dies and his daughter assumes the throne. A few weeks into his daughter's reign, a discovery is made- William's widow is pregnant with a son that William fathered before he died. What would happen when the baby was born? Would he become King and displace his sister from the throne? Thanks for your input.

Answer 1

It all depends if the British line of succession law is still Cognatic primogeniture or changed to Equal primogeniture at the time of his daughter's birth.

Succession to the British Throne is governed both by common law and statute. Under common law the crown is passed on by male-preference primogeniture. In other words, an individual's male children are preferred over his or her female children, and an older child is preferred over a younger child of the same gender, with children representing their deceased ancestors.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was actually named "Heiress Presumptive" before her accession to the throne. An heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honor, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the throne.

If the succession law remain unchanged at the time of King William, then according to its current law, his daughter will be named "Heiress Presumptive". If the widow Queen was pregnant with a male heir, then the crown will be passed unto the new born boy.

If the succession law changed to Equal primogeniture then the eldest child is heir regarding its gender. Currently there are only four European nations that changed the succession law to Equal primogeniture including Kingdom of Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland born 14 July 1977 is the heiress apparent to the Swedish throne. She is currently the world's only female heir apparent to a royal throne after her father King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland born 13 May 1979 is the second child of three children and only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. Born Crown Prince of Sweden, he retained his title and first place in succession for seven months until 1 January 1980. On that date, he was stripped of both due to a change in the Act of Succession to introduce equal primogeniture. Since then, Prince Carl Philip has been second in the line of succession, after his elder sister, Crown Princess Victoria. However, in the line of succession to the British throne, Prince Carl Philip is ahead of his elder sister due to the UK still operating male primogeniture.

He is apparently the only Prince in modern time to be stripped of his title as crown prince in favourite of his older sister!

Answer 2

No she would not, since the boy was not alive at the time of his death.    There can be no period without a monarch, and if the boy is still in the womb, then he is not deemed alive enough to rule.

She would remain queen.

Answer 3

As it stands now, if William's widow was pregnant, the daughter would not be crowned until after the baby was born.  At that point, if the baby was a boy, she would drop down to HIS heir presumptive, and he would be named king.  In that case, his mother would be most likely to serve as Queen Regent until he reached his majority, since she would have been Queen Consort for a few years at that point. (It's quite a stretch, that, assuming that 30 years from now, William will be in his mid-50's, and presumably his Queen will be close to that, too -- a little old to be punching out babies!)  Or else Parliament would appoint a Regency Council to run things until the kid grew up -- and his big sister and his mom would probably be on the Council.

Answer 4

lol, no, she would STILL be Queen (or at LEAST) Queen Regeant (meaning she would rule in her Brothers name until he reached adulthood (usually 18 or 21)) when HE would take the Throne.

PS HRH Prince Philip's Uncle was the last Viceroy of India and ruled India in the name of Queen Victoria for a long time.  Because India was so very far away (then), this was done to make life for British citizens and Indians easier.  They could get an answer now isntead of waiting for a message from the Queen, which could take months.

Answer 5

He would be placed next in line to the throne upon his older sister's death.

Answer 6

If the current primogeniture rules are still standing,the daughter would act as Regent until her baby brother was old enough to rule(the widow may also act as co-council as well as other appointees).He would become King when he reached the age of majority.