Heir Presumptive
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An Heir Presumptive (capitalised) is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honor, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an Heir Apparent or of a new Heir Presumptive with a better claim to the throne. When lowercased, heir presumptive can refer generally to someone who is provisionally scheduled to inherit a title, position or possession, unless displaced by an heir apparent or other heir presumptive. In both cases, the position is however subject to law and/or conventions that may alter who is entitled to be heir presumptive.
Depending on the rules of the monarchy in question, the heir presumptive might be the daughter of a monarch (if males take priority over females and the monarch has no sons), or the senior member of a collateral line (if the monarch is childless).
If an heir apparent is born, he becomes first-in-line to the throne, with all of his descendants taking priority over the heir presumptive in the Line of Succession. In the event of there being an heir apparent, the title "heir presumptive" lapses and is not used to describe the most senior person in the Line of Succession who is not a direct male descendant of the monarch. A woman who is in the same position is sometimes called the heiress presumptive but many monarchies increasingly choose to use heir presumptive irrespective of the sex of the holderTemplate:Citation needed, .
For more detailed information, and a comparison between the positions of Heir Presumptive and Heir Apparent, see Heir Apparent.
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Several simultaneous heirs presumptive
It is relatively easy for there to be several simultaneous heirs presumptive. For example, in Britain, some hereditary titles pass through and vest in female heirs in the absence of a male heir. Since the title cannot be held by two people simultaneously, two daughters (without a brother) who inherit in this way would do so as co-parceners and before they inherit, both would be heirs presumptive. In these circumstances, the title would in fact be held in abeyance until one of them renounced for herself and her successors in favour of the other. Passage of a title in this fashion is effected under the rules laid down in the Land Law Act 1925.
Example of current heir presumptive
- Caroline, Princess of Hanover is the Heiress Presumptive to the throne of Monaco
Examples of heirs presumptive who inherited thrones
- Queen Mary I of England, who succeeded her half-brother King Edward VI of England
- Queen Elizabeth I of England, who succeeded her half-sister Queen Mary I of England
- King James I of England (who was James VI of Scotland), who succeeded his distant cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who succeeded her uncle King William IV of the United Kingdom
- King George VI of the United Kingdom, who succeeded his brother King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
- Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who succeeded her father King George VI of the United Kingdom
- King Albert II of the Belgians, who succeeded his brother King Baudouin of the Belgians
- King Paul of Greece, who succeeded his brother King George II of Greece
- King Oscar II of Sweden, who succeeded his brother King Charles XV of Sweden
- King Charles X of Sweden, who succeeded his cousin Queen Christina of Sweden
Examples of heirs presumptive who didn't inherit those thrones
- Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March was heir presumptive of King Richard II of England but predeceased him.
- Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, also named by Richard II, did not succeed as Richard II was deposed by Henry IV of England.
- Princess Caroline of Orange-Nassau was the only child of Willem IV of Orange until she was five years old; she was heir presumptive until the birth of her brother, Willem V.
- Prince Knud of Denmark was the heir presumptive of his brother King Frederick IX of Denmark, but an amendment to the Danish Constitution in 1953 proclaimed King Frederick's eldest daughter, Princess Margrethe as the future Heir Apparent.