Charlotte’s following in Princess Margaret’s footsteps
THE BBC’s Nicholas Witchell demonstrated a poor understanding of the changes to the law of succession when he reported that the new baby Princess would always retain her place as fourth in line to the throne. He should have said that Princess Charlotte can’t be overtaken by any younger brothers, which was the case under the old law, but she can still move both up and down the line of succession, as royal births and deaths occur. The most likely scenario is that she will move up to third in line when Prince Charles inherits the throne from the Queen. When Prince William inherits it from Charles, she will move up to second, provided Prince George has no children of his own at the time. If and when Prince (or King) George has children, she will begin to move down the line, just as Prince Harry has moved down, from third to fourth place on the birth of his nephew, Prince George, and from fourth to fifth place, with the birth of his niece, Charlotte. The closest parallel to the future of the new Princess, as far as the succession is concerned, is probably Princess Margaret, also born fourth in line to the throne, in 1930. She rose to third on the death of her grandfather George V in January 1936. Had Princess Margaret been followed by any younger brothers (but not sisters) she would have remained behind them and their children, in the line of succession, which won’t be the case for this latest royal child. But the new Princess Charlotte will be obliged to give way to her elder brother Prince George’s children and grandchildren. royal history, of course, has always been unpredictable, and in the event that Prince George has no issue and predeceases his younger sister, it’s not inconceivable that this particular Princess could, one day, find herself Queen.
JOHN RUTHERFORD, sevenoaks, Kent