In 2005, the British royal family welcomed a new member, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who is named Princess Helena Elizabeth Diana Alexandra Mary. From her entry into kindergarten, school to university, we will see a fighting prince...
Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.
The United Kingdom is one of the Commonwealth realms, sovereign states that share the same person as a monarch and the same order of succession. In 2011, the prime ministers of the then-16 realms agreed unanimously to amend the rules of succession. Male-preference primogeniture was abandoned, meaning that males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede females in line, and the ban on marriages to Catholics was lifted. The monarch still needs to be in communion with the Church of England. After the necessary legislation had been enacted by each realm's constitution, the changes took effect on 26 March 2015.
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