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Line of Succession to the British Throne (2026)

Updated 1 November 2026. Order taken from the Royal Family website (royal.uk) [1].

The Current Line of Succession

The sovereign is King Charles III, who has reigned since 8 September 2022 [3]. The Royal Family website (royal.uk) lists the first 26 in line as follows [1]:

1. The Prince of Wales (William)
2. Prince George of Wales
3. Princess Charlotte of Wales
4. Prince Louis of Wales
5. The Duke of Sussex (Harry)
6. Prince Archie of Sussex
7. Princess Lilibet of Sussex
8. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
9. Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
10. Miss Sienna Mapelli Mozzi
11. Miss Athena Mapelli Mozzi
12. Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank
13. Master August Brooksbank
14. Master Ernest Brooksbank
15. Miss Adelaide Brooksbank
16. The Duke of Edinburgh (Edward)
17. Earl of Wessex (James)
18. The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
19. The Princess Royal (Anne)
20. Mr Peter Phillips
21. Miss Savannah Phillips
22. Miss Isla Phillips
23. Mrs Michael Tindall (Zara)
24. Miss Mia Tindall
25. Miss Lena Tindall
26. Master Lucas Tindall

The first names in brackets are added for clarity. The published list uses titles only.

Government position (2026). On 23 February 2026, the government told the House of Commons that it was "not ruling out action in respect of the line of succession at this stage" and would "consider whether any further steps are required in due course", after first allowing police investigations to proceed [6]. Removing someone from the line would require an Act of Parliament [7]. No such Act appears on legislation.gov.uk: as of 1 November 2026, the only Act with "succession" in its title since 2011 is the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 [5]. The published list still shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 8th place [1].

How Is the Order Decided?

Succession is regulated not only by descent but also by Act of Parliament [1]. The rules come from the constitutional settlement of the 17th century:

• The Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Settlement (1701) restrict the throne to the Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I [1][4].
• Roman Catholics are specifically excluded. The sovereign must be in communion with the Church of England and swear to preserve the established Churches of England and Scotland [1].
• After James II fled in 1688, Parliament declared the throne vacant and offered it to William and Mary jointly. This established that Parliament can regulate the succession [1].

The 2013 Reform: Equal Primogeniture

The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 ended male-preference primogeniture for anyone born after 28 October 2011, so a younger brother no longer displaces an elder sister. It also ended the rule disqualifying anyone who marries a Roman Catholic [1][5]. The changes took effect in all the Commonwealth realms in March 2015 [1]. Wikipedia gives the date as 26 March 2015 [2].

This is why Princess Charlotte (3) stays ahead of her younger brother Prince Louis (4).

Consent to Marry

Under the Perth Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, only the first six in line need the sovereign's consent to marry. Without it, they and their children are disqualified [2][5].

The Commonwealth Realms

The UK is one of the Commonwealth realms, sovereign states that share the same monarch and the same order of succession [2]. Changing the rules therefore requires agreement across all of them, as happened in 2011–2015 [2].

How Long Is the Line?

No complete public list is maintained [2]. In 2001 the American genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner compiled 4,973 living descendants of Electress Sophia, listed in order of succession and without leaving out Roman Catholics. His January 2011 update had 5,753 [2].

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is next in line to the British throne? William, Prince of Wales, the King's elder son [1][2].

Is Prince Harry still in line? Yes. The Duke of Sussex is fifth, and his children Archie and Lilibet are sixth and seventh [1].

Can a Catholic become monarch? No. Since 2015, however, marrying a Catholic no longer disqualifies a person [1].

Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is shared under the same licence. Royal.uk material is summarised and paraphrased, not reproduced.