Heir Apparent: Encyclopedia II - Heir Apparent - Heir Apparent versus Heir Presumptive

Heir Apparent - Heir Apparent versus Heir Presumptive

An Heir Apparent differs from an Heir Presumptive in that, although an Heir Presumptive may inherit the throne upon the death of the monarch, the status of the Heir Presumptive as first-in-line could be overturned by the birth of another person of superior legal status who would at the moment they were born become the Heir Apparent or the new Heir Presumptive. In effect an Heir Presumptive is the de facto or stand-by first-in-line until someone with a superior legal status in the order of succession, the Heir Apparent or a new Heir Presumptive, is born.

Heir Apparent - Examples of heirs apparent and heirs presumptive

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was Heiress Presumptive, not Heiress Apparent, during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son who would have become Heir Apparent to the British throne. Similarly Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was Heiress Presumptive in the reign of her uncle William IV because at any stage up to his death, William could have fathered a legitimate child who would have become (if a male) heir apparent or (if a female) the new heiress presumptive.

The heir presumptive is usually either the daughter of a monarch or the closest living (male or female) sibling or relative of a monarch who is not descended from them. For example, Prince Albert, the brother of King Baudouin of the Belgians, was heir presumptive during his brother's reign. Had Baudouin had a son, that son would immediately have become heir apparent. Before the change of Belgian succession law during Baudouin´s reign, no daughter could have inherited, but after that change (which simultaneously put males and females on an equal footing, only depending on order of birth), had Baudouin had a daughter she would have replaced Albert and became Heir(ess) Apparent. However as Baudouin died childless, Albert as heir presumptive became King Albert II.

Where a monarch has only one male child and that child dies without children, or the monarch has only female children, a female child or relative of the monarch may become heir presumptive. However, the later birth of a son would again see the heir presumptive replaced by a new heir apparent. For example, King Henry VIII of England's and Queen Catherine of Aragon's young son, who was Heir Apparent, died 52 days after his birth; their daughter, Mary then became Heiress Presumptive. When Henry's marriage to Catherine was annulled and he had a daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn, that child, Elizabeth was made Heiress Presumptive (Mary was declared illegitimate and stripped of the title). When Henry had a new son, Edward by his third wife, Jane Seymour, he became Heir Apparent.

By the time of Henry's death, his two daughters by order of birth were reinstated in the order of succession. For nearly eighty years the throne passed from one heir presumptive to another, subsequent to the death of Henry's son, Edward, since each monarch during that time lacked an heir apparent. Edward VI was de jure succeeded by his heiress presumptive, his half-sister Mary I, who was succeeded in turn by her heiress presumptive, Elizabeth I, who was in turn succeeded by a relative, King James VI of Scotland, who reigned as James I of England. James, although genealogically heir presumptive, was not an official Heir Presumptive, and certainly not an heir apparent. James became the first monarch since Henry VIII to be succeeded by an heir apparent, his son Charles I of England. (James's first son, Henry Frederick, his first heir apparent, had died without children.)

However, not all queens regnant or daughters who are first-in-line, are heirs presumptive. Where a son does not have superior legal status in a succession ahead of a daughter, and the daughter becomes first-in-line by right rather than in the absence of a son, she becomes heiress apparent. The only current heiress apparent is Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the oldest child of King Carl XVI Gustav. Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands is the heiress apparent of her father, Prince Willem-Alexander, who himself is the Heir Apparent to the throne of the Netherlands, and the same with Princess Elisabeth of Belgium and Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway.

In countries that apply male-preference primogeniture, there could be at least one rare case that a female is heiress apparent: if a male heir apparent is deceased, leaving only daughters (and not a wife pregnant with a boy), then the eldest of such daughters will be heiress apparent to the throne. This is because the deceased obviously is no longer able to sire any male offspring, and therefore the birth of any one cannot alter the position of the deceased´s daughters.

Had the future Richard II (Richard of Bordeaux) been a daughter, that person would have been the heiress apparent to the throne of England in 1377. Had Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, left only daughters, then in 1753-60 the eldest of such daughters would have been the heiress apparent to the throne of Great Britain. Instead, he left several sons, of whom the future George III became Heir Apparent.

There has only been one female heir-apparent in British history, and that was the future Queen Anne, but she was heiress-apparent for a different reason: When Mary II died, her husband William III continued to reign alone. Any children he may have had from a future marriage would have been placed behind Anne in the line of succession, and thus Anne was heiress-apparent.

Sometimes, the daughter of a monarch may be declared heiress-apparent because it is highly unlikely any other heirs to the throne will be born (she becomes de facto heir apparent), though she remains heiress-presumptive in principle. For instance, Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, Isabel of Brazil and the future Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were each declared heirs-apparent (though the former renounced her succession rights in favor of her son).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Heir Apparent versus Heir Presumptive", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki