royal family question? who will ascend to the throne if?

Question

This is for both curiosity of mine and for a fanfiction that I am working on. I don't mean any harm and I don't have anything against the royal family. I just want my story to be as close as possible to canon using real laws. I tried to do research but I was left with a massive headache and became even more confused.

But, here are the scenarios:
Prince Charles is the heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth 2. If the Queen dies, He will be King. What will be the Duchess' new title? King Consort or still Duchess of Cornwall?

If Queen Elizabeth dies, Prince Charles is expected to be King as he is the heir apparent. What if Elizabeth 2 decreed before her death that Prince Charles is not to be King but Prince William? Is that something that cannot be undone or are the Prime Ministers can dispute? (I read in Wikipedia that Edward VIII was King before he abdicated so that he can marry Wallis. The Prime Ministers are against the match because Wallis is a twice divorcee) then Edward VIII's brother, Queen Elizabeth 2's father became King to replace Edward VIII.

If the scenario above happend and Prince Edward became King, what will Kate's title be? Still Duchess of Cambridge, King Consort or Queen?

With the same scenario (Prine William became King instead of Prince Charles) and lets say he died for some reason, who will take over? Kate as Queen, Prince George as King or Prince Harry as King?

Answer 1

Camilla cannot be King Consort as she is not a man! She will be Queen, though it has been announced that she will use the title of Princess Consort. We shall see what happens. She won't be Duchess of Cornwall as the Dukedom of Cornwall will have passed to Prince William - it's always the heir apparent who has this, so William will be the new Duke of Cornwall and his wife will be the Duchess.



The Queen cannot alter the succession by herself. She can say what she likes but the succession is a matter of English common law, and only Parliament can change it. So with Edward VIII, Parliament had to pass an Act to enable him to abdicate.



There is only one Prime Minister! The real story behind Edward VIII was that he was a playboy, totally unsuitable to be king, and Wallis provided the perfect excuse to force him to abdicate. The Church of England was totally against divorce at the time and for the Supreme Governor of the Church to break its own rules would look totally wrong. But nevertheless, Parliament had to pass His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 for him to actually cease to be king.



But if Parliament agreed to the Queen's request, or Charles's own request, that he should not take the throne, it passes to Prince William and then of course Kate will be Queen Catherine.



Kate will never be the monarch as she was not born into the royal family. Next in line after William is their son George. Should he be still be under 18 at the time, the Regency Acts 1937-53 provide that the next in line after him who is adult will be the Regent. That's Prince Harry, so he will become Prince Regent and do all the official duties for George while he is still too young.



The Regency Acts, by the way, also provide for what will happen if the monarch goes gaga. It lays down who can declare, on medical advice, that the monarch is unfit to do their duties and that the next in line should be Regent.

Answer 2

1 The wife of a king is a Queen. Unless they plan to use a different title as has been mooted. (A king consort is a male title btw) she may be Princess Consort, but this seems unlikely. She cannot be the Duchess of Cornwall as the king is no longer the Duke. That title will pass to the present Duchess of Cambridge, although she will be the next Princess of Wales in time.



2 the Queen can't alter the succession, so the other scenarios can't happen. Prince Charles is unlikely to abdicate but could predecease his mother. In that event it would pass to the next in line which would be William, and not Edward who is a long way down the line now.

Answer 3

Camilla will be QUEEN Consort, not King. Only men are Kings. Women are Queens! She cannot be Duchess of Cornwall because that will be Kate's title when her husband becomes Duke of Cornwall as the heir to the throne.



Prince Edward is dead. He cannot become King, so Kate's title is a moot point in that regard. Even if Edward VIII had stayed King, he died childless so his niece would eventually still be our current Queen and everyone else's title would stay exactly the same.



If Prince William becomes King and he dies then his son Prince George automatically becomes King.



The Queen cannot alter the succession. It is fixed by law. Only Parliament may alter it.

Answer 4

Camilla will be Queen Consort.

Elizabeth can not change the line of succession. This takes an Act of Parliament.

If Charles and William were to die, George is the next king. A regent or regents would be appointed to take on George's duties until he is of age to reign. Harry, Andrew, Edward and Anne would be possible choices for regent.

Answer 5

If Charles was skipped over and William was to be King, Kate his wife will probably be Queen.



If William then were to die, George would be declared the next king, however since he is underage, Harry would be the decision maker - kind of like a King Consort to George until George is old enough to be King himself. Kate would then be known as the Queen Mother upon George's coronation.

Answer 6

When charles becomes king his wife becomes queen consort and is titled her majesty queen camilla,the present king or queen cannot decide on the next one to claim the throne,it goes to charles unless an act of parliament was to change the succession,and that is not going to happen.