Could Princess Charlotte Become Queen? Here’s What We Know

Still, if Prince George decides (for some reason) that royalty isn’t for him, Princess Charlotte is currently next up. This might surprise some royal aficionados, since her baby brother, Prince Louis, should’ve bumped her down in the royal line of succession. But thanks to the revocation of a dusty old rule called the Act of Settlement of 1701, Char’s claim to the British royal throne is completely secure.

Confused? OK, let’s start from the beginning. An old royal rule stated that boys born into a royal family could jump ahead of their sisters in the line of succession because, ya know, sexism. This decree directly impacted Queen Elizabeth II’s second born, her only daughter, Princess Anne. At the time of her birth, Anne was third in line for the throne, after her mother and older brother Prince Charles. When Anne’s brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born, however, she was pushed down to fifth in line to the throne. So not cool.

Thankfully, in April 2013, someone pitched the Succession to the Crown Act to put the kibosh on the outdated paradigm and it was ruled into law in March 2015—just two months before Charlotte’s birth. Now, Princess Char and all royal gals born after October 28, 2011, will uphold their right to the throne regardless of any little brothers. Wondering why that was the date decided upon? Us, too. At any rate, phew.