Buckingham Palace announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who became Queen of Britain since 1952, and she died at the age of 96, making her eldest son Charles III king of the country.
King Charles III married in July 1981, Lady Diana Spencer, who became Princess of Wales, and they had two children: William and Harry, and the couple later separated and divorced in 1996.
After Princess Diana was murdered on August 31, 1997, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005.
The King of Britain becomes the constitutional monarch of 16 of the 53 countries of the Commonwealth that he heads. He is the king of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He is the head of the Commonwealth and the king of 12 countries that have become independent since its accession, namely: Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, and the islands of Solomon, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Although the political powers enjoyed by the British monarch are largely symbolic, he actually uses some of them, as in the case of general elections, or in crises, and government ministers use these powers on his behalf when needed to facilitate matters.
Among these powers is the dissolution of Parliament and summoning it to session, and this usually happens at the end of parliamentary sessions, as the King summons Parliament to convene when he attends its opening session. Laws, appointment and dismissal of ministers, declaration of war, royal pardon.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with Prince Charles (left) and a number of the royal family during the diamond wedding anniversary celebration in 2007 (Getty Images)
This is the most important information about the succession to the throne in Britain
Under common law, the crown is inherited to the sons of the king or to the next of kin of the king who has no children, and accordingly the apparent heir to the new king is his eldest son, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and second in order is Prince George, the eldest son of the Duke of Cambridge, followed by his sister Princess Charlotte and their younger brother Prince Louis, then Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the youngest son of the Prince of Wales.
Under the Perth Agreement, which took effect in 2015, the top six in line to the throne need the king's consent before marriage, and without this consent they and their children are excluded from the line of succession.
The first 4 persons in the line of succession who are over the age of 21, as well as the King's consort, may be appointed as State Counselors, whereby State Counselors perform some of the King's duties in the United Kingdom while he is abroad or temporarily incapacitated.
Otherwise, individuals in line to the throne do not have to assume specific legal or official roles.
The following list includes the first 15 people in the line of succession, all of whom are descendants of Queen Elizabeth II:
Prince Harry, Duke of Cambridge and the new Heir Apparent (Getty)
1- Prince William
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and new heir, is the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, and first in line to the British throne after his father.
William was 15 years old when his mother was murdered, and he studied at the University of St Andrews where he met his future wife Kate Middleton, and they married in 2011, and when he was 21 years old he was appointed as State Counsellor, which authorized him to represent the Queen on official occasions.
William and his wife had their first son, George, in July 2013, their daughter Charlotte in 2015, and their second son, Louis, in 2018.
Prince William trained in the Army, Navy and Air Force, and spent 3 years as a pilot in the search and rescue squadron of the Royal Air Force, and also worked for two years as an assistant pilot in the Air Ambulance Unit in East Anglia in addition to his royal duties, and then devoted himself to these duties on behalf of the Queen and his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. .
Prince George, Prince of Cambridge (Getty)
2- Prince George
Prince George, Prince of Cambridge, was born on July 22, 2013 in the capital, London, and joined school in September 2017, the second in line to the throne, after his father.
Prince William and his wife and daughter Charlotte (Getty Images)
3- Princess Charlotte
On May 2, 2015, Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to their second child, Charlotte, and her parents named her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Charlotte is third in the line of succession to the throne, and her title is Her Royal Highness Princess of Cambridge Charlotte.
Prince Louis (Getty)
4- Prince Louis
On 23 April 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her third child, who was named Louis Arthur Charles, who is fourth in line to the throne.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (Reuters)
5- Prince Harry
He is the second child of Prince Charles from his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, and although he and his wife Megan Markle gave up their royal duties and independence from the family in January 2020 with the approval of Queen Elizabeth, he is still fifth in line to the British throne, according to the BBC (BBC). ).
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, studied at the Military Academy in Sandhurst, graduated as a lieutenant in the army and served as a helicopter pilot.
When he reached the age of 21, he was appointed as State Counsellor and represented the Queen in a number of official responsibilities.
Harry served in Afghanistan twice between 2012 and 2013 as the commander of an Apache helicopter, and was discharged from the army in 2015.
Prince Harry and his wife Megan, Duchess of Sussex, hold their son Archie (Reuters)
6- Prince Archie
He is the first son of Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle, born on May 6, 2019, and he is the sixth in the line of succession to the throne.
7- Princess Lilibet
She is Lillibit Lily Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, born on June 4, 2021 in the United States, and is the first English noble to be born in America.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Getty Images)
8- Prince Andrew
He is the third child of Queen Elizabeth, and he is the Duke of York, and he was given the title of Duke of York after he married Sarah Ferguson, who became the Duchess of York in 1986.
Prince Andrew served in the Royal Navy for 22 years.
In addition to his royal responsibilities, he held commercial responsibilities on behalf of the government until 2011.
Princess Beatrice of York (Reuters)
9- Princess Beatrice
She is the first daughter of the Duke of York, born in 1988, and her full official title is Her Royal Highness, Princess Beatrice of York.
Princess Eugenie of York (Getty Images)
10- Princess Eugenie
She is the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, born in 1990. Her full official title is Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie of York.
Edward is Earl of Wessex (Getty Images)
11- Edward (Earl of Wessex)
He is the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, born on March 10, 1964, and married in 1999 to Sophie Reese Jones (who became Countess of Wessex after marriage) and they have two children: Lady Louise Windsor (born November 8, 2003) and James Viscount Severn (born December 17, 2007).
Although Edward is supposed to bear the title of Duke because he is the legal son of the Queen, and Louise and James are considered a princess and a prince because they are the queen's grandsons of the male dynasty, it is at the request of Edward and Sophie that they bear the title of Earl and Countess of Wessex since their wedding, a title younger than the Duke.
Viscount Severn (Getty Images)
12- Viscount Severn
He is the youngest son of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and the parents preferred to give their two children honorary titles as Earl's sons instead of Prince and Princess.
Lady Louise (Getty)
13- Lady Louise
Lady (Lady) Louise is the eldest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Princess Royal Anne (Getty Images)
14- Royal Princess Anne
Princess Royal Anne is Queen Elizabeth's second child and only daughter.
The title of "Royal Princess" was given to her in June 1987.
She became a revered equestrian, winning one gold medal in 1971, and two silvers in 1975 at the European Equestrian Championships.
In 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic Games (Montreal Olympics).
She is known for her participation in many charitable organizations, such as Save the Children, which she has chaired since 1970.
Peter Phillips (Getty Images)
15- Peter Phillips
The son of Royal Princess Anne, and the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, was born on November 15, 1977, and married Canadian Autumn Kelly in 2008, and they had two daughters: Savannah, who was born in 2010, and Ella, who was born in 2012.
On February 11, 2020, he announced his separation from his Canadian wife, after 12 years of marriage.
The children of the royal princess do not bear any royal titles, as they come from the female branch of the family.
Mark Phillips refused to give him the title of Earl upon his marriage, so his two sons have no honorific title.