Princess Charlotte’s Advantage Over Lady Louise And Princess Anne
Princess Charlotte, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s daughter became a pioneer only at the age of two when her younger brother Prince Louis was born in April 2018.
This is because Princess Charlotte was the first one to be affected by the change to the royal rules for succession. In 2013 The Succession to the Crown Act was changed, making Princess Charlotte keeping her place as fourth-in-line to the throne in front of Louis, as the change only applies to those born after October 2011.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s only daughter Princess Anne are much further down the line of succession than her younger brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Andrew. At the moment Princess Royal, who turned 70 this August, is 14th in line to the British throne, just behind her niece Lady Louis Windsor.
If the rules had been changed before her birth in 1950, both her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, would be much closer to the throne than their cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who are currently ninth and tenth respectively.
Lady Louise Windsor, 16, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, was also overtaken by her younger brother James, Viscount Severn in the line of succession after his birth in 2007, taking her spot at 12th and bumping her down to 13th.
So far, Charlotte is the only one who has benefited from this change, however that might change if Princess Eugenie gives birth to a daughter in early 2021 and her next child is a son, she would be next.
There are also other monarchies, unfortunately, that have also done away with the rule, like Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium, where the eldest is heir, regardless of gender, while in Spain and Monaco, males still take precedence over females.
For example, Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Charlene’s son Prince Jacques is the heir to the throne, despite him being two minutes younger than his sister, Gabriella.