Kate Middleton is pregnant. William and Kate’s firstborn will be a direct heir to the royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (aka the English monarchy). HRH The Prince of Wales Charles, The Duke of Cornwall (The Duke of Rothesay in Scotland) is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history after the long reign of his mother. He will be the next King, and depending on what title he assumes, may be Charles III of England etc.
• HM King George V (1865–1936).
(Edward the VIII who abdicated).
• HM King George VI (1895–1952) of King’s Speech fame.
• HM The Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) Reigning monarch.
The succession is as follows…
(1) HRH The Prince of Wales (The Prince Charles; b. 1948).
(2) HRH The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William; b. 1982) Charles/Diana’s son.
(3) His issue (b. 2013 God willing).
(4) HRH Prince Henry ‘Harry’ of Wales (b. 1984) William’s brother.
(5) HRH The Duke of York (The Prince Andrew; b. 1960) Charles’ brother.
(6) HRH Princess Beatrice of York (b. 1988) Andrew/Fergie’s daughter.
(7) HRH Princess Eugenie of York (b. 1990) Andrew/Fergie’s daughter.
The House of Windsor was founded by King George V by royal proclamation in 1917, when he changed the family name of from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor due to anti-German sentiment in the British Empire during World War I. There then followed a constitutional crisis. The Crown had descended without incident between 1714 until 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated. Edward VIII wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee, but the Church of England, of which the British Sovereign is Supreme Governor, would not authorise the marriage of divorcees. Therefore, Parliament passed His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, by which Edward VIII ceased to be Sovereign. The Act provided that he and his descendants, if any, were not to have any “right, title or interest in or to the succession to the Throne.” He had no children, and Edward VIII was succeeded by his brother George VI and thereafter succession proceeded as normal. George VI and his daughter Elizabeth II were therefore the 2nd and 3rd “Windsors.”
The British Monarchy is the oldest in the world, except for the Pope, which is not strictly a monarchy, and can be traced back perhaps 1500 years. Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex (“West Saxons”) emerged as the dominant English kingdom. Alfred the Great secured Wessex, achieved dominance over western Mercia, and assumed the title “King of the English.” But Wessex kings perhaps reign back to 519 BC under Cerdic or Athelstan 927 BC. This is perhaps a start point for the monarchs of England. Some of Englands most successful monarchs have been women, who are less given to war: Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II.
