George Is the Heir, But a 2013 Succession Law Changed What That Means for Charlotte and Louis

Prince George is often described as the future heir, and the basic picture seems simple. He is Prince William’s eldest child, so he comes before Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

But the current order contains an important detail. George is not King Charles III’s immediate heir. William is first in line to the throne, George is second, Charlotte is third, and Louis is fourth. George is the child expected to follow William, but his position among the three Wales children now rests on a rule that treats sons and daughters the same.

That rule came from the Succession to the Crown Act 2013. It did not change George’s place. It changed what his place means, and Charlotte’s position shows the difference most clearly.

What the Old Rule Would Have Done

For centuries, royal succession generally followed male-preference primogeniture. Within one family branch, sons came before daughters, even when a daughter was older.

A princess could still inherit. Queen Elizabeth II did so because she had no brother. But an older daughter could lose her place when a younger son was born.

Under that system, the order among William and Catherine’s children would have changed in April 2018. George would have remained first among the siblings, Louis would have moved into second place, and Charlotte would have dropped behind both brothers.

The old rule did not ask which child arrived first. It gave a younger boy priority over an older girl.

Parliament described the problem directly while considering the reform: an elder daughter could be displaced by a younger son. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 removed that male preference for members of the Royal Family born after October 28, 2011.

Why George Still Comes First

George was born on July 22, 2013, more than two years before Charlotte and almost five years before Louis. He remains ahead because he is the eldest child.

That would also have been true under the old system because George is both the firstborn and a son. The law did not promote him, protect him from Charlotte, or create a new advantage for him.

Instead, it gave all three children the same starting rule: birth order decides their places.

This distinction matters because people sometimes describe the reform as a law that put Charlotte ahead of Louis. More precisely, the law stopped Louis from overtaking Charlotte. She already held the earlier place because she was born first.

The current official line of succession reflects that order today: William, George, Charlotte, Louis, and then Prince Harry.

Charlotte Became the Real Test

When Charlotte was born on May 2, 2015, the new rule had already received Royal Assent, although its main provisions had taken effect only weeks earlier, on March 26.

Her birth alone did not reveal how significant the change would be. At that point, William and Catherine had one son and one daughter. George was older, so he stood ahead under either system.

Louis’s birth on April 23, 2018, provided the test.

The palace announcement stated that the newborn prince was fifth in line at the time, after the then Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte. The official birth announcement placed Charlotte before her younger brother immediately.

That single detail marked a historic change. Charlotte became the first British princess in the direct line whose younger brother did not push her down the order.

After Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, Charles became king and William moved into first place. George, Charlotte, and Louis each moved one step closer to the Crown, but their order relative to one another stayed the same.

What the Law Actually Says

The 2013 Act uses a cutoff date of October 28, 2011. For a person born after that date, gender cannot give that person or the person’s descendants precedence over someone else in the succession.

The date was not chosen around George’s birth. It came from the Perth Agreement, reached by the leaders of the 16 Commonwealth realms that shared Queen Elizabeth II as sovereign.

Changing the British succession required coordination because the same monarch served as head of state in several independent countries. The United Kingdom could not sensibly create one order while another realm recognized a different one.

The Act received Royal Assent on April 25, 2013. The coordinated changes came into force on March 26, 2015, once the relevant realms had completed their legal and constitutional steps. A current detailed parliamentary research briefing records both the 2011 cutoff and the 2015 commencement date.

The cutoff also explains why the reform did not reshuffle older royal siblings. It applied prospectively to people born after the agreement rather than reopening every place created under the previous system.

The Three Siblings Will Not Always Stay Together

The current list makes George, Charlotte, and Louis look like a fixed group occupying second, third, and fourth place. Succession does not work that way forever. It moves through family branches.

If George later has eligible children, they would normally enter ahead of Charlotte. George’s eldest child would follow him, then that child’s younger siblings, before the succession moved to Charlotte’s branch.

Charlotte’s eligible children would, in turn, normally stand ahead of Louis and his descendants.

This means Charlotte’s position is protected from being displaced by a younger brother, but it is not protected from movement caused by births in George’s senior branch. Her place could shift lower even though the principle established in 2013 remained fully intact.

Louis also remains an eligible member of the succession. The law did not penalize him for being male. It removed the automatic advantage that a younger son once received over an older daughter.

Could Charlotte Ever Become the Heir?

Yes, as a constitutional possibility, although it would require major changes in the line ahead of her.

At present, William is the heir to King Charles. George follows William. If William became king, George would normally become his heir. Charlotte could move into that position only if George were no longer eligible or died without eligible descendants ahead of her.

The law makes that path possible on equal terms. Charlotte would not need the absence of a younger brother, as earlier royal daughters did. Louis could not pass her simply because he is a man.

Still, the succession describes legal priority, not a prediction. Births, deaths, accessions, abdications, and questions of eligibility can all change the order.

The Reform Went Beyond Birth Order

The Act made two other significant changes.

It removed the rule that disqualified someone for marrying a Roman Catholic. However, it did not remove the continuing legal restrictions that prevent a Roman Catholic from becoming sovereign.

It also narrowed the number of royals who need the monarch’s permission to marry. Under the revised system, the first six people in line must obtain the sovereign’s consent if they want themselves and descendants from that marriage to remain eligible.

The reform applied to the Crown, not automatically to every hereditary title in Britain. Many peerages still follow separate inheritance rules, including rules that favor male heirs. Royal succession and the inheritance of a dukedom or earldom are legally distinct issues.

What Changed for Each Child

For George, the result is continuity. He remains ahead because he was born first. His future branch would normally take priority over those of his younger siblings.

For Charlotte, the result is protection from the old male preference. Louis’s birth could not remove the place she already held.

For Louis, the result is a position based on age rather than sex. He follows Charlotte because he was born after her, not because the law gives preference to girls.

So the 2013 reform did not make the three Wales children equal in rank. It made the rule used to order them equal.

George still comes first among the siblings. But he comes first as the eldest child, not as the eldest son. Charlotte’s place ahead of Louis is the clearest proof that those two ideas no longer mean the same thing.