Royal Heartbreak: Why Princess Anne Will Never Replace Queen Elizabeth II as Monarch
Princess Anne is Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter and is considered as one of the hardest-working senior royals.
She is carrying the title of Princess Royal, a name which is customarily awarded by the reigning monarch to his or her eldest daughter.
Like Her Majesty the Queen, Princess Anne has dedicated her adult life to serving the Crown. Over the years, she has shown devotion and passion for her public roles, as proven by her hundreds of engagements every year.
Having said that, Princess Anne has been hugely admired by royal watchers. In fact, she was even named as the fifth favorite royal based on the survey by Mirror.
She was a step ahead of Meghan Markle and her older brother Prince Charles, who holds the ninth spot.
Despite being the second child of the Queen and Prince Philip, her younger brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are ahead of her in the line of succession due to their gender.
The End Of "System Of Male Primogeniture"
However, the said system of prioritizing the male heirs over the females was changed under the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013. In the said act, the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement have been amended to end the "system of male primogeniture."
It states that princes no longer take precedence over their elder sisters. Unfortunately, this act only applies to those born after October 28, 2011, so it and does not change Princess Anne's position.
Currently, the Princess Royal is the 14th in line of succession, next to the Earl and Countess of Wessex's children, James Mountbatten-Windsor and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.
The new rules on royal succession came in place when Prince William and Kate Middleton's eldest son Prince George was born in 2013.
"Under the former rules of male primogeniture, royal sons took precedence over their female siblings, including first-born royal daughters. The act also replaces the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and means that only the first six in line to the throne need the Queen's consent to marry," the new rule stated, as cited by BBC.
Due to this act, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's only daughter and second child Princess Charlotte has kept her place and has not been overtaken by her younger brother Prince Louis.
However, Princess Anne is not after the line of success at all. In fact, she even rejected the offer of HRH titles for her children Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, who were both raised away from the spotlight and outside the royal bubble.
Furthermore, in her previous interview with Vanity Fair, the Princess Royal explained why she chose not to give her kids titles
"I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles. So I think that was probably the right thing to do," Princess Anne shared.
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