Meet the first eight heirs to Her Majesty The Queen…
Her Majesty The Queen has been on the throne for almost 70 years and is the first monarch to ever reach the Platinum Jubilee anniversary. Her heirs might be Prince Charles and his eldest son, Prince William but what about the others that shape the monarch? We’re going to be looking at the first eight heirs to the throne.
These eight heirs shape the monarchy is any way shape or form, regardless if they end up being on the throne.
First stop is The Prince of Wales.
1. Charles, Prince of Wales
The eldest of Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip’s children, Prince Charles was born Charles Philip Arthur George on November 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace. He is the oldest living heir to the throne in history and was born before his mother became monarch. He has three younger siblings. Younger sister, Princess Anne, and younger brothers, Princes Andrew and Edward.
His royal highness is known for having a lot of girlfriends in his younger years. He married 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer on 29th July 1981 in his thirties. However, his heart was never with her but with Camilla Parker-Bowles, whom he continued seeing during his marriage to Diana.
On June 21, 1982, Diana gave birth to their first child, eldest son, Prince William. About two years later, they welcomed youngest son, Prince Henry (known to everyone as Harry) on September 15, 1984. Despite his love for his sons, Charles had wished he had a daughter.
In 1997, tragedy struck when Diana, Charles’ ex-wife dies in a car crash in Paris. Despite the divorce, the Prince of Wales, accompanied her sisters, Jane and Sarah to bring her body home. He walked behind his ex-wife’s coffin alongside his father, former brother-in-law Charles, Earl Spencer, and William and Harry who were only 15 and 12 at the time of their mother’s death.
In 2005, Charles marries Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Upon Prince William’s marriage in April 2011, Charles earned a daughter-in-law in Catherine Middleton whom he treats like a daughter. In 2018, Harry married Rachel Meghan Markle. Prince Charles is grandfather to five grandchildren. Three grandsons and two granddaughters.
2. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Born the eldest son to Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, William Arthur Philip Louis was born on June 21, 1982. Nicknamed, Wombat by his mother, Diana, William will one day follow his father’s footsteps and become King of England.
Raised to be as normal as possible, William has long expected his role within the monarchy. In the wake of his mother’s death in 1997 in Paris, William stepped up for his younger brother, Harry and the brothers became very close in their youth and in their twenties. He and his brother walked behind their mother’s coffin alongside their father, paternal grandfather Prince Philip, and their uncle Charles, 9th Earl Spencer.
In 2001, William became a student at Saint Andrews University in Scotland. It was here that he would meet the love of his life, Catherine Middleton. After a few years of dating, the couple broke up in 2007 before getting back together a short time later.
Knowing that Catherine could handle the pressures of royal life, William asked his grandmother, The Queen for her permission to marry, a requirement needed for the first six people in the line of succession. On April 29, 2011, William and Catherine married, becoming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
When William told Harry about his intentions to propose, his brother gave him their mother’s engagement ring which he said he wanted to see on the finger of a future Queen.
In December 2012, the announcement came that Catherine was pregnant with the couple’s first child. The Queen made changes to allow any child of William’s to be granted the title of Prince or Princess. Furthermore, on July 22nd, 2013, Prince George was born in the same hospital his father and uncle were.
3. Prince George of Cambridge
As the third of the heirs, Prince George is the eldest son of Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Born on July 22, 2013, his arrival means his uncle, Prince Harry was bumped down to fourth in line to the throne. His full name is George Alexander Louis.
Over the years, George has become a big brother not once but twice. In May 2015, his younger sister, Princess Charlotte was born and three years later, came younger brother, Prince Louis.
In discussions with his parents over the years, the public has learned that George loves ballet and seems to be competitive with Charlotte over schoolwork. According to Catherine, George got upset while they were in lockdown [due to coronavirus] because his sister was getting the fun school assignments he was getting the boring ones.
Thanks to encouragement from his parents, George and his siblings embrace nature and love being outside. The kids each have their own garden patches and often join their grandmother, Carole Middleton in the garden.
Furthermore, it has also become evident through the small appearances in public is that of the three Cambridge children, George is the shy one.
4. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
The fourth of The Queen’s heirs is her third eldest great-granddaughter, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. The only daughter of William and Catherine, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born May 2, 2015, almost two years after the birth of her older brother Prince George. Named in honour of three members of her paternal family, her grandfather, great-grandmother, and late grandmother, young Charlotte is possibly the most outgoing of her siblings.
What’s more, is that Charlotte shares her first name with her second cousin Lady Charlotte Spencer and her Aunt Pippa Matthews whose middle name is Charlotte. She likes spiders and isn’t afraid to tell people as she asked Sir David Attenborough if he did too.
According to her father, Charlotte started telling people she was 16 when she turned 6 and had to be corrected. She is a very good big sister to her younger brother, Prince Louis. She is seen holding his hand in several photos when he was a baby.
What’s more, is that Charlotte is also the first female heir during the Queen’s reign to not be usurped by a younger brother. Thanks to the Letters Patent 2012, a firstborn female wouldn’t be replaced in the line of succession by a younger brother. Moreover, this is evident since Louis was born in 2018. Nonetheless, he is fifth in line for the throne. Though if the rule hadn’t been changed, he would’ve been fourth.
5. Prince Louis of Cambridge
Finally, we reach boss baby himself, Prince Louis. Born April 23, 2018, as Louis Arthur Charles, the little prince is the youngest of William and Catherine’s children and their youngest son. What’s more is when he was a baby, his big sister Charlotte loved holding his hand.
Louis is the first son of a future king not to leapfrog over the top of an older sister in the line of the succession. He sits as fifth in line. This is opposed to being above her like their great-uncles, Princes Andrew and Edward are above their older sister, Princess Anne.
Like his brother and sister, Louis is seen to be close to his grandfather, Prince Charles, and maternal grandparents, Michael and Carole Middleton. In conclusion, he is said to have a green thumb as he has a knack for growing sunflowers.
6. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Of all the heirs on this list, we’ve written more about Prince Harry in the last three months than we ever thought we would. Born Henry Charles Albert David to Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales on September 15, 1984. Harry is their youngest son and younger brother of Prince William. Upon his birth, he was third in line for the throne. As of 2018, he is now 6th in line after his youngest nephew, Prince Louis.
When he was a child, Harry was notorious for being cheeky in public. What’s more, is he was often pulled into line by his mother. In 1997, Harry walked behind Diana’s coffin, something a 12, almost 13-year-old boy should never have been made to do alongside his father, brother, Uncle Charles, and his grandfather. In the years after her death, Harry started acting out.
He was caught smoking weed and dressed in a Nazi uniform at a fantasy dress party. To make it even worse, he was caught playing strip poker in a Las Vegas hotel room. Harry didn’t have the grades to get into Sandhurst. So, someone allegedly took the test for him which allowed him to enter the military.
Harry was then caught up in a racism scandal where he used racist slurs which were caught on camera. After a couple of years, he settled down and joined his brother and sister-in-law on joint engagements. Moreover, in 2016, he met Meghan Markle on a blind date. They married in May 2018 and welcomed their son, Archie in May 2019. Furthermore, their daughter, Lilibet arrived in June 2021 as the second of his heirs.
7. Archie Mountbatten-Windsor
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is the son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and was born May 6, 2019. Not much is known about Archie has his parents have kept him hidden from view with the occasional public sighting. Unlike his younger sister, Archie’s birth was kept under wraps with it being unclear where he was born.
8. Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor
Finally, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born June 4, 2021, in Santa Barbara, California to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. She is the younger sister of their son, Archie Harrison, and is expected to be known as Lili. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, The Queen, and her late paternal grandmother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
