What is the difference between 'heir apparent' and 'heir presumptive'?

Question

What is the difference between 'heir apparent' and 'heir presumptive'?

Answer 1

The heir apparent is the person who will definitely inherit the throne when the current monarch dies. No one else could possibly have a better claim.



The heir presumptive is the person who will inherit the throne only if a child with a better claim is not born in the meantime.



The reason Elizabeth was the heir presumptive is that the UK observes male-preference primogeniture. Had her parents produced a son, he would have become first in the line of succession to the throne, even if he'd been younger than Elizabeth. It always remained theoretically possible that this might happen, so Elizabeth was never the heir apparent.



Charles is heir apparent because he is the eldest son of the monarch. No future birth could alter his status.



In other countries, where the eldest child male or female inherits, the heir apparent is always simply the eldest child of the monarch. An heir presumptive would be a sibling or cousin or niece or nephew of a childless monarch who might yet manage to produce an heir, who would then be the heir apparent.



Edit: It's not necessarily a gender issue, as the practices of those other countries indicate, though it often is in the UK. However, an heir presumptive can be male in the UK. If the King has no children at all, but might still have some, then his brother or some other male relative could be the heir presumptive.

Answer 2

If you can be replaced by a birth, then you are heir presumptive. Usually this means you are the oldest daughter and no sons are born, but it could mean you are a brother and the king is childless so far. Even if the queen consort is old, she might die and the king could marry a younger woman (as in the case of James II).

Answer 3

An Heir Apparent is someone who will succeed the throne regardless of the birth of anyone else. An Heir/ess Presumptive is some one who is due to inherit the throne but can be displaced in the succession by the birth of another. For instance if Elizabeth had gained a brother he would have inherited the throne.

Answer 4

Presumptive refers to the possibility of a male child being born, who would then have taken precedence over Elizabeth.

Answer 5

1. Heir Apparent - a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting.



The current Heirs Apparent are:

- Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales - The United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms

- Crown Prince Frederik - Denmark

- Crown Prince Haakon - Norway

- Crown Princess Victoria - Sweden

- Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange - the Netherlands

- Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant - Belgium

- Prince Alois - Liechtenstein

- Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume - Luxembourg

- Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias - Spain

- Crown Prince Naruhito - Japan

- Crown Prince Hussein bin Al Abdullah - Jordan

- Crown Prince Moulay Hassan - Morocco

- Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa - Bahrain

- Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah - Brunei

- Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad - Kuwait

- Prince Lerotholi Seeiso - Lesotho

- Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz - Saudi Arabia

- Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn - Thailand

- Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum - Dubai

- Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani - Qatar



All of the people in this list will become Sovereigns of their respective countries, unless they predecease their Monarchs.





2. Heir Presumptive - a person who is expected to inherit, however who can be displaced in Line of the Succession by a future birth or other circumstances.



Current Heir Presumptive include:

- Caroline, Princess of Hanover is Heiress Presumptive to her brother Prince Albert of Monaco

- Prince Harry is Heir Presumptive to Prince William

- Infanta Leonor, who is Heiress Presumptive to her father Prince Felipe, The Prince of Asturias

- Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck is Heir Presumptive to his brother Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck of Bhutan (who doesn't have a legitimate child as of now).



All the people in this list can be displaced in Line of the Succession in case of new births.





3. Prince Charles is Heir Apparent to the British Throne (and Thrones of the Commonwealth Realms) because as the first-born child and eldest son of the Sovereign, he cannot be displaced in Line of the Suceession and WILL become King, unless he predeceases his mother.





4. Queen Elizabeth was Heiress Presumptive (and never Heiress Apparent) because Britain still has Male Primogeniture, which means males have preference over females.

King George might have still had a son (however unlikely it was towards the end of his life), who would automatically be ahead of his sisters Elizabeth and Margaret in Line of the Succession.