And they are 11th and 12th in line of succession to the throne.
Not that I wish ill on anyone, but I almost wish some freak accident would happen so that Mr. Phillips would become King… just to satisfy my curiosity as to what, if anything, they’d do in the case of a commoner ascending to the British throne. Anoint him or something?
FWIW, this Wikipedia article:
lists 1587 persons who are in the line of succession. And then says “more still to be listed”. Like that isn’t enough to cover every practical eventuality? Because if we ever got to the bottom of that list, I’d be wondering if there was even a United Kingdom left to rule…
So there is an enormous list of potential heirs and heiresses, all with lightning-strike improbability to inherit but listed in order just in case. And figuring out who is 1801st in line is the same sort of harmless detail-mongering that discussing what would happen if Pres. Obama appointed former Pres. Bush as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and then Al Qaeda moles set off a bomb in the Capital as Pres. Obama was giving his State of the Nation address…
Given that all the current kings of Europe are on the list, there might not be an European continent by this point. Maybe this part of the list was posted on Wiki by number 1587, the last name appearing on it?
I assume the numerous “skipped” are Catholic/Orthodox (when there’s no other reason given)?
There are some people on the list I’d like to end up King of the UK : the prince Napoleon (heir of the emperor of the same name) around the 800 mark (actually, he’s amongst the skipped). Napoleon, king of the UK : doesn’t it sound good? Also, it could be king Soliman I (this one isn’t skipped), currently Soliman El-Hakim, about 1400th on the list.
And I’m baffled by the number of descendants Victoria has : 700-800 or so, apparently.
Well, she had nine children, eight of whom had children of their own. There were something like thirty-five grandchildren surviving to adulthood, who then all married into other royal familes. And royalty tend to be fairly philoprogenitive.
I don’t think monarchs have surnames–don’t they just sign themselves as Firstname R (R for Rex)?
I thought Prince Harry’s surname would be “of Wales”, although the family name is actually Windsor, “surname” and “family name” not necessarily being equivalent. In the German nobility, which still exists somewhat as a social construct, a person’s full name is usually (given names) + “von” Surname, although in some cases there’s no “von”, or there may be a “zu” instead. But the person’s surname is considered to be just the Surname part. That’s where you would look them up in the German equivalent of Debrett’s (which still exists as an occasional publication), and how you would casually refer to them. I imagine you could also address them that way if you are on sufficiently cordial terms, e.g., Yo, what’s up, Hapsburg!
I’m not aware of any way a person could voluntarily remove him/herself from the line without becoming/marrying a Catholic.
Likewise, I’m fairly certain that the children of a Catholic are still eligible for the throne unless they, themselves are (or marry) Catholics. Prince Michael is out of the line, because he married a Catholic, but his two children (Lord Frederick and Lady Gabriella) are still in line for the throne.
Lastly, I’m also fairly certain that a person who marries a Catholic loses their place in line, whether or not the Monarch gives his/her permission. Peter Phillips was going to marry a Catholic about a year ago, but she converted to the Anglican chruch in the end. However, I highly doubt that Elizabeth would not have offered a dispensation (especially since Peter has no real chance of ascending the throne anyway) if she could have to allow Peter to remain in the line.
Makes sense to me. I would have thought, though, they’d go with Windsor.
IIRC, regarding Polycarp’s example, the formal name of a peer is usually A_String_Of_Given_Names and their title, such as Duke of Marmaduke or Marquis of Marchmain or Earl Grey. The “Mortimer Marmaduke” form I thought would be used only by friends as an informal way of mentioning him, or am I mistaken?
He’d be introduced as “Lord Luvaduck” or “Earl Greytea” or the “Duke of Pomfret” – he would sign things as firstname+specifier of title, or by title only.
