Succession to the British throne

The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England".

Male-preference (cognatic) primogeniture was abandoned, meaning that males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede females (elder sisters) in line, and the ban on marriages to Catholics was lifted.

In 2001, American genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner compiled a list of 4,973 living descendants of Electress Sophia of Hanover, in order of succession without omitting Roman Catholics.

The line of succession was governed by the common law rule of primogeniture until the fourteenth century, when Parliament first began to legislate on the subject.

[9][10] Decades later, the rival House of York, which was descended from Edmund's sister Anne de Mortimer, seized the throne from Henry's grandson during the Wars of the Roses.

[11] Sir William Blackstone called Henry's hereditary claim "the most remote and unaccountable that was ever set up," and said that his subsequent marriage to Richard's niece Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, was "his best title to the crown.

Though his father descended from the Lancastrians, Henry VIII could also claim the throne through the Yorkist line, as his mother Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward IV.

In 1542, Henry also assumed the title King of Ireland; this would pass down with the monarchs of England, and later Great Britain, until the separate crowns merged in 1800.

Still excluded were Mary's still-living daughters, Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk and Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland.

Edward VI attempted to divert the course of succession in his will to prevent his Catholic half-sister, Mary, from inheriting the throne.

[15] In 1543, Henry VIII had attempted to marry his son Edward to Mary, Queen of Scots, which would have drawn the kingdoms closer together.

[16] In July 1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a grandson of Margaret Tudor.

Elizabeth I did not publicly name Mary's son James VI as her successor, but gave him an annual cash subsidy.

James asserted that hereditary right was superior to statutory provision and, as King of Scotland, was powerful enough to deter any rival.

The act provided that, upon the death of Anne, the Estates would meet to select an heir to the throne of Scotland, who could not be the same person as the English Sovereign unless numerous political and economic conditions were met.

Anne originally withheld royal assent, but was forced to grant it when the estates refused to raise taxes and sought to withdraw troops from the queen's army.

England's Parliament responded by passing the Alien Act 1705, which threatened to cripple Scotland's economy by cutting off trade with them.

Attempts were made in the risings of 1715 and 1745 to restore Stuart claimants to the Throne, supported by those who recognised the Jacobite succession.

Some years later, the Regency Act 1830 made provision for a change in the line of succession had a child been born to William IV after his death, but this event did not come about.

Edward's abdication was "a demise of the Crown" (in the words of the Act), and the Duke of York, his brother who was then next in the line, immediately succeeded to the throne and to its "rights, privileges, and dignities", taking the regnal name George VI.

They were amended in the United Kingdom by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which was passed mainly "to make succession to the Crown not depend on gender" and "to make provision about Royal Marriages" (according to its long title), thereby implementing the Perth Agreement in the UK and in those realms that, by their laws, have as their monarch automatically whoever is monarch of the UK.

The Act of Settlement 1701 provides that Protestant "heirs of the body" (that is, legitimate descendants) of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, are eligible to succeed to the throne, unless otherwise disqualified.

The meaning of heir of the body is determined by the common law rules of male preference primogeniture (the "male-preference" criterion is no longer applicable, in respect of succession to the throne, to persons born after 28 October 2011), whereby older children and their descendants inherit before younger children, and a male child takes precedence over a female sibling.

The Act provided, however, that if a dynast older than 25 notified the Privy Council of their intention to marry without the consent of the Sovereign, then they may have lawfully done so after one year, unless both houses of Parliament expressly disapproved of the marriage.

Under Article II of the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland (which was given legal force by the acts of the English and Scottish parliaments), the succession to the throne is limited to "the Heirs of [Electress Sophia's] body being Protestants.

"[28] The Act of Settlement also states that "whosoever shall hereafter come to the Possession of this Crown shall join in Communion with the Church of England".

The anniversary is observed throughout the sovereign's reign as Accession Day, including royal gun salutes in the United Kingdom.

[36] In addition to the Accession Declaration, the new sovereign is required by the Acts of Union 1707 to make an oath to "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland.

The first four individuals in the line of succession who are over 21 (or 18 in the case of the heir), and the sovereign's consort, may be appointed counsellors of state.

Princess Anne and Prince Edward were added as extra counsellors of state in 2022 by an act of Parliament, following the death of Elizabeth II.