Update 9:48 a.m. ET May 6, 2019: Prince Harry and Megan Markel became the parents of a 7-pound boy today. The baby's name has not been announced. The baby is now seventh in line to the throne of England.
Update 10 a.m. ET Oct. 15, 2018: With the announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting a child in the spring of 2019, the line of succession to the British throne will look different. Here is a look at how the line will change when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's child is born.
Original story: A new British prince was born on Monday and that means a new line of succession to the British throne.
Move over, Prince Harry, your new nephew -- Louis Arthur Charles - will bump you one step down the line, and shake up everyone who follows you.
The British line of succession was established in the 17th century after James II left the country and the throne in 1688. By 1701, the Act of Settlement established that the country’s Parliament could determine who would rule the country.
The act said that only Protestants could rule – no Roman Catholics could be considered and those in line for the throne could not marry a Catholic. In 2013, the Succession to the Crown Act ended the provision against marrying a Catholic. However, a Roman Catholic may not rule the country.
The law also stated that male heirs, no matter where they fell in the birth order, would displace female heirs in the line of succession. In other words, a younger brother would jump over an older sister in the succession line.
The Succession to the Crown Act amended that portion of the Act of Settlement by ending the practice of moving sons to the front of the line – called male primogeniture. The act applies to those born after Oct. 28, 2011. Princess Charlotte, the daughter of Prince William, is the first female in the line of succession who will not be skipped over by a younger sibling.
Here is the line of succession as it stands after the birth of the new prince:
The line of Succession (updated)
- The Prince of Wales – Prince Charles (Elizabeth's first child)
- The Duke of Cambridge – Prince William (Prince Charles' son)
- Prince George of Cambridge – William's son
- Princess Charlotte of Cambridge - William's daughter
- Prince Louis of Cambridge – brother to George and Charlotte
- Prince Henry, Duke of Sussex – Prince Harry (William's brother; Charles second child)
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son (born May 6, 2019)
- The Duke of York – Prince Andrew (Elizabeth's third child)
- Princess Beatrice of York – Andrew's daughter
- Princess Eugenie of York – Andrew's daughter
- The Earl of Wessex – Prince Edward (brother of Prince Charles; Elizabeth's fourth child)
- James, Viscount Severn – (Prince Edward's son)
- The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor – (Prince Edward's daughter)
- The Princess Royal – Princess Anne (daughter of Queen Elizabeth; her second child)
- Peter Phillips – son of Princess Anne
- Savannah Phillips – daughter of Peter Phillips
- Isla Phillips – daughter of Peter Phillips
- Zara Tindall – daughter of Princess Anne
Credit: Chris Jackson
Credit: Chris Jackson
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