succesion to the throne?

[diddlydotdas]

ok, myself and my mother were discussing who was inline to the throne, we managed to sort out that question but got talking into a little more depth......

What would happen if William took the throne (he would become king). He then had a daughter (his first and only child) she would automatically be next inline to the throne. now what if William were to die, his daughter would become queen. However (here's the twist) what if Williams wife was carrying his baby at the time of his death and it was born lets say 6 months after the kings death and the new queens succession to the throne. It was born a boy, now technically he should be king due to him being the eldest son but his elder sister is now queen, so how would that work???????

[bernardo]

I have often wondered the same question myself.  But I seem to remember that I read ages ago that when King George VI died, they did actually check that the Queen (ie. the Queen Mother) was not pregnant, just in case she was expecting a boy (who would have taken precedence over Elizabeth an Margaret).  So theoretically, I think that the boy would become King as soon as he was born, although I am not sure whether the daughgeter would count as "queen" in the meantime.  I believe that this scenario did actually happen once, a few hundred years ago, in Scotland (or France (or somewhere (I can't remember the exact details of who/when))) although it has never happened in England.  They simply waited for the baby to be born before proclaiming the new baby as King.

[Ouisch]

I believe that this is why a female next in line of succession is called the "heir presumptive", whereas a male is "heir apparent."  The female is presumed to be the heir unless a male who would take precedence is born. 

 

My question is, if William died and he had only a daughter at the time of his death, would Prince Harry instead be crowned King?  Or would William's daughter be Queen?

[diddlydotdas]

his daughter would become queen, with every child williams has (regardles of sex) harry and everyone else inline will move further down the line.

[kempie]

Following on from bernardo - the Heir Presumptive could probably rule as 'Princess' Regent until the King reaches the age of majority, however this begs the question of how old a person needs to be to legally act as sovereign in the UK.

[Cheesefreek]

Apparently, the rules have now been changed.  It is the first-born that will rule, regardless of sex.  I'll see if | can find a website confirming this.

[Cheesefreek]

Maybe I dreamt it!!!

[bernardo]

Cheesefreak - not yet, but it is often suggested.  It probably will be changed eventually, especially if William has daughters first.

[elgroucho]

I always thought th died, the next in succession is immediately the new Monarch, i.e. they don't need to be crowned to be King or Queen (see Edward VIII).

The upshot of this, in my reading of it, is that in the scenario descibed in the question the girl would be Queen surely?

[kempie]

or would we have King Foetus?