Where will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s baby be in line for the throne?
Now that we’ve all collectively lost our minds with the official news that Meghan Markle is pregnant and that a new royal baby is due in spring 2019, we can move on to our burning questions: What will they name the baby? What title will the baby hold? And perhaps most important to royal-family fanatics everywhere: Will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby change the line of succession to the throne?
As of right now, Prince Harry is currently sixth in line for the throne, meaning his children will fall right under him.
So the new line of succession will look like:
1. Prince Charles
2. Prince William
3. Prince George
4. Princess Charlotte
5. Prince Louis
6. Prince Harry
7. Markle and Prince Harry’s future children
8. Prince Andrew
9. Princess Beatrice
10. Princess Eugenie
The new addition to the royal family will bump Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, into eighth place, and knock his daughters, Princess Beatrice and the newly married Princess Eugenie, down to ninth and tenth.
Of course, the baby will still be behind cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis (because Prince William is older than Prince Harry), but the good news is the baby’s gender won’t affect the line of succession like it would have in the past.
In 2013, the U.K. Parliament phased out the anachronistic rule that succession would be determined by male heirs only. Princess Charlotte was the first royal to benefit from this new law. She’s fourth in line even though her mother, Kate Middleton, had another boy after her.
Yay for gender equality, and congrats again to Prince Harry and Markle on the happy news.