Not Ann before Andrew? I thought they changed the law.
I don’t believe the change was retroactive. According to the royal family’s website, Anne is currently #18, after Prince Edward’s youngest daughter Louise.
Yes the succession change was going forward so as not to change the prior order.
Word is it that Charles had reservations about giving Andrew that appointment back then.
Hasn’t basically that already happened with the British Royal Family?
He’s doing what is required by law, but I don’t think he’s required to say anything. I think it’s at least a little classy that he did say what he did. And of course, these days, just him doing what’s required by law is refreshing, compared to some other world leaders.
In what way? They have vast private wealth, and in addition, have effective control of the Crown Estate. They don’t own it, and it’s nominally managed by an independent board, but for most practical purposes it may as well belong to the monarchy, and it helps fund the Sovereign Grant.
I honestly don’t know for the British Royals and for the rest of the aristocracy, but I seem to remember that the Windsors/Crown still own a lot of land. Anyway, I was more thinking about German nobility, whose official privileges have been removed in 1918, but to this day some of the ancestors of medieval highway robbers and exploiters of their people still rank among the richest families in the country.
I think the big land owners are the monarch and the eldest son. The monarch owns the Duchy of Lancaster, while the eldest son owns the Duchy of Cornwall. Both produce income. (And I think the monarch owns Sandringham and Balmoral.) But I don’t think any of the other members of the family own much.
But don’t also earls, dukes and so on who are not Royals also still own real estate they inherited from their families?
Sure if it hasn’t been sold off. There are a lot of aristocracy with day jobs.
A few are wealthy. The Duke of Devonshire is worth a whole lot as is the Duke of Westminster. There aren’t many wealthy ones remaining.
AFAICT, British royalty tries to avoid fragmenting the estate so primogeniture is kept strictly, and what used to happen was the royal younger siblings would get themselves mostly room and board at various royal apartments and estates, plus personal upkeep and expenses in exchange for serving full time as “working royals” (patronages, public events of their own or filling in for HM, sitting in boards, etc.). So a posh life but not that much that’s “yours” unless your parents leave you something from their personal wealth/estate.
The offspring of more junior princes(ses) would be expected to plan on getting something resembling a real job or marrying well.
As mentioned, other members of nobility down the hereditary peerage have a broad range of economic conditions depending on how well the estate and the family have been doing over the generations. And never mind those whose title was created without any actual land to it.
UK inheritance tax rates on wealthy estates are fairly high (appropriately so IMHO) and have been variably so for quite some time. Many of the old landed nobility had/have a high net worth due to all of their many non-liquid assets like artwork or huge manor houses. But they often have limited sources of income, because things like land revenues usually aren’t what they were in the 1200’s.
The result has been a ratchet for families that haven’t achieved financial stability in one way or another. There are still very wealthy noble families with wide tracts of land. But many more have seen a decline as they’re forced to sell off assets every generation to pay their tax bill or just living expenses. The royal family, as with a lot of things, enjoys a privileged exception to this rule.
So for example the Courtenay Earls of Devon still own a 3,500 acre estate. However that is the residual of an estate that once spanned tens of thousands of acres in England (with even more in Ireland). In 2009 the then earl sold a bunch of art and whatnot to raise capital for maintenance and pay off debts. In 2025 his son did it again.
Eventually you run out of George II and III mahogany chairs and have to resort to selling acreage.
ETA: The is part of the plot of both the Guy Ritchie movie and TV show The Gentlemen.
This fits in this thread better than in the Schadenfreude thread where I posted it first: Jonathan Pie talking about the Prince formerly known as Andrew. Under five minutes, but a pleasure from start to finish.
While Andrew shouldn’t entirely give up hope of outside intervention, the odds are not with him.
The Royal Family are said to be devastated after Prince Andrew’s car crash next Wednesday.
I know of a bridge in Chappaquiddick…
I must apologize: the actual words were “the Andrew formerly known as Prince”. Which is much better, and correct.
Hilarious!
AMW spent six months in Canada in 1977 going to school. A number of things were renamed in his honor including an island, a school and some streets (some Prince Andrew and others Duke of York). These have been re-renamed or are in the process of that happening.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/20/prince-andrew-island-canada-renamed/
I suppose the Duke of York ones can retcon to make it mean any of the prior gents holding that title (which he was not holding in '77 anyway) but, yeah, awkward.