Should The British Royals Cut Princes Andrew and Harry's families from succession?

[Suburbia]

It's 2022. Queen Elizabeth II's 70th anniversary Platinum Jubilee is here. Charles and William run the show as well, and they aren't fond of Princes Andrew and Harry.

Andrew is ninth in line to the throne, Harry is sixth in line.

(1) Charles, Prince of Wales (b. 1948)
(2) Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1982)
(3) Prince George of Cambridge (b. 2013)
(4) Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (b. 2015)
(5) Prince Louis of Cambridge (b. 2018)
(6) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984)
(7) Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2019)
( Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2021)
(9) Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960)
(10) Princess Beatrice (b. 1988)
(11) Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (b. 2021)
(12) Princess Eugenie (b. 1990)
(13) August Brooksbank (b. 2021)
(14) Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (b. 1964)
(15) James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn (b. 2007)
(16) Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003)
(17) Anne, Princess Royal (b. 1950)
(18) Peter Phillips (b. 1977)
(19) Savannah Phillips (b. 2010)
(20) Isla Phillips (b. 2012)
(21) Zara Tindall (née Phillips; b. 1981)
(22) Mia Tindall (b. 2014)
(23) Lena Tindall (b. 2018)
(24) Lucas Tindall (b. 2021)
(25) David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (b. 1961)
(26) Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (b. 1999)
(27) Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (b. 2002)
(28) Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; b. 1964)
(29) Samuel Chatto (b. 1996)
(30) Arthur Chatto (b. 1999)

https://lineofsuccession.co.uk/2021-12-31

Should they be cut? After William's son, Louis, his uncle Edward would be sixth in line.

[Big Abraham]

Literally, and unironically, who care

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This sounds very severe of an alleged solution.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Very old school, disinheriting some random disliked member of the line. At least being a pedophile is a better justification than being a Catholic.

[CumbrianLefty]

Hmmm, lumping Harry together with Andrew is a bit of a giveaway isn't it.

[MABA 2020]

Andrew yes, Harry no

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Hmmm, lumping Harry together with Andrew is a bit of a giveaway isn't it.

Yeah... uh... um... what to say really. Decent chance that Andrew does get booted after his brother takes over formally, of course, though I wouldn't expect that to extend to his offspring if it does happen.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Hmmm, lumping Harry together with Andrew is a bit of a giveaway isn't it.

Yeah... uh... um... what to say really. Decent chance that Andrew does get booted after his brother takes over formally, of course, though I wouldn't expect that to extend to his offspring if it does happen.

Are Beatrice and Eugenie even public figures (beyond the extent to which anybody descended from the Queen automatically is)? I never hear anything about them at all.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Are Beatrice and Eugenie even public figures (beyond the extent to which anybody descended from the Queen automatically is)? I never hear anything about them at all.

Not really, no. Occasional participation in some Royal Engagements (though not for a while) and some minor charity work and that's about it. Both work in the private sector and the one doesn't even live in the UK half the time.

[Gary JG]

Excluding someone from the line of succession, is no minor matter in a monarchy. I can see no case whatsoever for excluding the Duke of Sussex and his descendants or those descended from the Duke of York.

Whatever suspicions may exist about Prince Andrew himself, he has not been convicted of anything. He is also extremely unlikely to inherit the throne. No younger son has inherited from a predecessor who has had a child or children since King William IV (as the only legitimate child of King George IV had died before him), in 1830.

The chance of Andrew succeeding is too remote for the Commonwealth realms to go to the trouble of further amending the Act of Settlement.

if a change was to be thought necessary, I would suggest extending absolute primogeniture to all the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II not just those born since 2011. The effect of such a change would be to elevate Princess Anne and her descendants above Prince Andrew and his family, without making any change in the likely descent of the crown.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I mean, King Felipe of Spain removed Princess Cristina's royal title for her financial shadiness, despite her legal acquittal. Be bad if our family end up looking even more self serving than a Bourbon. Although that would probably be merely his titles that get the chop, given unless there is some horrendous bus crash Andrew won't ever get thr throne.

[Agonized-Statism]

The fact that you want to start picking and choosing who gets to be the monarch is reason #848494 why you should just abolish the monarchy, but inb4 the tory keyboard warriors come in and claim I hate traditions or something. In my bleakest moments I can at least be thankful I'm not Bri'ish.

[ingemann]

Hmmm, lumping Harry together with Andrew is a bit of a giveaway isn't it.

I mean it's obvious to avoid potential monarchs who would end the monarchy. While there're likely plenty of people who don't want Megan Markle as queen because she's "Black", I think there're a lot more people who have looked at the last few years' Harry and Megan circus and thought that even for the British monarchy it was undignified (likely because they have forgotten Ferguson).

This suggestion is clearly to get rid of the most public embarrassing people in the high end of the succession.

[ingemann]

The fact that you want to start picking and choosing who gets to be the monarch is reason #848494 why you should just abolish the monarchy, but inb4 the tory keyboard warriors come in and claim I hate traditions or something. In my bleakest moments I can at least be thankful I'm not Bri'ish.

I'm a small "r" republican, but I think USA is pretty much the best argument for UK keeping the monarchy. But I must admit if I had to choose between a monarchy, a president and a random golden retriever as head of state, I would go with the golden retriever.

[StateBoiler]

I doubt the royal family can do anything as it would require an Act of Parliament to determine the succession of the executive.

Think best result for Harry is an eventual divorce of the Canadian throne from the British throne, and he takes it to replace the Governor General. It'd allow post-death of Elizabeth Canada to become its own country while not electing a President (which protects the political power of the Prime Minister, once you elect an executive nationally, the Prime Ministerial position is democratically deficient not being elected by anyone except a private party conference and the House of Commons) and Harry can live as a state person in Vancouver/Victoria. This is all fantasyland however admittedly. I definitely would rather the couple not live in California simply because the notion of the media treating them and their children once they become teenagers as "American royals" does not fit our country and is why the Titles of Nobility Amendment should've become part of the U.S. Constitution. The situation of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor literally matches the situation the Titles of Nobility Amendment was written for 210 years ago (the birth of a Napoleon-era French royal to a Baltimore woman that sought to make her son a duke).

We have enough problems with family relations instantly catapulting people ahead of others into public service, we don't need more. JFK Jr. probably would've ran for president by now if he hadn't died in a plane crash, the media would have willed him into it.

[StateBoiler]

Are Beatrice and Eugenie even public figures (beyond the extent to which anybody descended from the Queen automatically is)? I never hear anything about them at all.

Not really, no. Occasional participation in some Royal Engagements (though not for a while) and some minor charity work and that's about it. Both work in the private sector and the one doesn't even live in the UK half the time.

The only minor royal I know is Zara Phillips because she married an English international rugby player.

[Crumpets]

Hmmm, lumping Harry together with Andrew is a bit of a giveaway isn't it.

Yeah... uh... um... what to say really. Decent chance that Andrew does get booted after his brother takes over formally, of course, though I wouldn't expect that to extend to his offspring if it does happen.

Are Beatrice and Eugenie even public figures (beyond the extent to which anybody descended from the Queen automatically is)? I never hear anything about them at all.

They are the best characters on The Windsors, for sure.

[Del Tachi]

There's a hypothetical succession where the Cambridge line dies out prematurely, Harry is disinherited/abdicates, Charles outlives Andrew, and the crown then passes directly to Beatrice.

Obviously, this kind of stuff is vanishingly unlikely, but its fun to think about ways we could get another (relatively) young "Queen Elizabeth" this century lol

[GoTfan]

I don't understand this love affair people have for William. A man who allegedly has had multiple affairs and now there's the distinct possibility he coordinated with the British press to go after Markle.

[Blue3]

I don't understand this love affair people have for William. A man who allegedly has had multiple affairs and now there's the distinct possibility he coordinated with the British press to go after Markle.

I never heard about any of that…

[Antonio the Sixth]

Isn't the line of succession set by Parliament?

[Meclazine for Israel]

Not yet.

It would be unfair to Prince Andrew to remove his title with any form of judicial process.

And Prince Andrew should be tried along with the other people in the black book if that the legal process is going to be followed.

Otherwise, it is simply a media witch-hunt. I am just so sick of trial-by-media.

I think we should chill on the Royal Family and leave them alone.

700 years ago, they were chopping our heads off, now the media is chopping their heads off.

[CumbrianLefty]

I don't understand this love affair people have for William. A man who allegedly has had multiple affairs and now there's the distinct possibility he coordinated with the British press to go after Markle.

I never heard about any of that…

Which maybe tells its own story really.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Isn't the line of succession set by Parliament?

Yes, and not only the British parliament, but all the countries that has the British monarch as their head of state need to agree as well.

As a matter of fact, historically, British monarchs who tried to change the succession willy nilly to suit their own interests have been quite unsuccessful. Take for example, Edward VI who tried to eliminate his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the line of succession, both of whom ended up on the throne, while his chosen successor Lady Jane Grey instead found herself in an early grave .

But you shouldn't be surprised that Bronz doesn't know that. Despite his obsession with the British royal family, he doesn't know the first thing about how the monarchy works, presently or historically.

That being said, while changing the succession just to remove Andrew specifically, seem like a strange idea, amending it to bar people who have convicted certain crimes (murder, rape) could actually probably be a good idea to deal not only with the current Duke of York , but other criminal royals in the future.

[Suburbia]

I don't understand this love affair people have for William. A man who allegedly has had multiple affairs and now there's the distinct possibility he coordinated with the British press to go after Markle.

It's because William is the eldest son of Diana, who was beloved. He was supposed to have his mother's Spencer looks. He's an aging looking young price, future Duke of Cornwall.

William will probably be the last king of Britain.