Royal baby: Princess Charlotte makes history as Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to boy
The fourth-in-line to the throne retains her claim to the crown
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Today the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed their third child into the world, a baby boy.
While Prince George and Princess Charlotte both have a lot to look forward to with a new younger sibling, this birth is especially significant for Princess Charlotte.
This is because Princess Charlotte is the first female royal to retain her claim to the throne regardless of whether the new baby was a boy or a girl.
Prior to the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, a female royal’s claim to the throne would have been diminished by the arrival of a younger brother.
However, as stated by the legislative act when it was passed five years ago: “In determining the succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or that person’s descendants, precedence over any other person (whenever born).”
This means that had Prince George been born a girl when he arrived on July 22 2013, he would have still retained his position as the third-in-line to the throne after his grandfather, the Prince of Wales, and his father, the Duke of Cambridge.
The previous succession act, which dated all the way back to 1701, stated that brothers would always come before their sisters in the line of succession to become monarch.
When Princess Charlotte was born on May 2 2015, it was announced that she would automatically be granted the title of HRH.
Prior to 2012, as the second child of the second heir to the throne, she would have become a Lady.
However, on December 31 2012 the Queen made an official ruling declaring that all of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children would be named princes and princesses.
When Prince George was born, this meant that the monarchy had three generations of heirs to the throne for the first time in 119 years.
However, with all this talk about the royal succession, apparently the majority of the royal family would rather not take on the reigning position.
“Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time,” Prince Harry told Newsweek in an interview last year.
“Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping,” he added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments