Princess Eugenie's third child, due this summer, will cause a shift in the royal line of succession. The baby will be 15th in line, pushing Prince Edward down to 16th and displacing everyone behind him, including Princess Anne, who will move from 18th to 19th place.
The Princess Royal, born third in line in 1950, has been repeatedly overtaken by younger brothers: Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964. Despite a 2011 Act of Parliament introducing absolute primogeniture, the change only applies to royals born after that date, leaving Anne unaffected retroactively.
Sweden’s 1980 reform, by contrast, restored Crown Princess Victoria’s position ahead of her younger brother. In the UK, Anne's place continues to fall, even as she is noted as the hardest-working royal, with her brother King Charles joking he “can’t keep up” with her.
The arrival of Eugenie's child, a non-working royal’s third baby, has reignited debate over the fairness of the succession rules. A poll asks readers whether it is right that Anne is displaced yet again.
