Windows of the World

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 22, 26 January 1935, Page 15

Windows of the World

A Symposium of Overseas Affairs

Highlights of the News

Coptfriqh t— 1

Chicago Tribune * and "New York News" Services,

THE BRITISH THRONE.

and future heirs to it,

THE SUCCESSION ORDER. LONDON, December 20. Many people arc confused to-day wlien future heirs to the British throne are discussed. Briefly the position is this: The sons of the Sovereign are in the order of succession to the throne, and after the youngest son, the daughters in the order of their owji seniority. Thus, after the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, come the Princess Elizabeth and the Princess Margaret Rose. Next in succession stand the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent. The marriage of Trine-ess Marina to the Duke of Kent will not alter this law of succession.

Eventually we come to the Princess lloval and her children. The position of Princess Mary was changed by her marriage to Viscount Lascelles, son and heir of the Earl of Harewood, in 1922. The son and heir that was horn a year later was simply called Master Lascelles. Here, then, was a grandson of the rci"iiing Sovereign who was not only not a jirince but had no title. That is all the 111010 remarkable because Master Lascelles at his birth was sixth in the order of succession to the throne as King and Emperor. Princess Mary's Position. That he would succeed was" a very remote contingency at the time, but it was a possible one. If the Prince of Wales and his three brothers —the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George —had died leaving no issue, male or female, and Princess Mary survived them, Princess Mary would have succeeded to the throne. And at her death she would have been followed by licr son—no longer Master Lascelles, of course, but Prince of Wales. As Princess Mary, however, she conferred no style or title," on her son. The marriage of the Duke of York altered the line of succession again. The birth of Princess Elizabeth emphasised the importance of the Duke and Duchess of York. The new princess became third in succession to the throne, a position she still holds. But if the second child born to the Duke and Duchess of York had been a boy, he would have taken precedence of his elder sister. As it is, Princess Margaret Rose comes fourth.in the succession. Princess Elizabeth; is already being carefully schooled for the dignified position she will have in the Royal circles of the future. " . The importance of Princess Elizabeth s position was emphasised at the ceremonial of her birth. Because doubts were once cast on the authenticity of the son of Mary of Modena, the law of England now requires that the Secretary, of State for Home Affairs must be present in the house when the birth is expected of'alt infant; in direct succession to the throne. On this occasion the Home Secretary, the late Lord Brentford, was present at No. IT, Burton. Street, where the child was bom. Remote Contingencies. Having considered the ■children and grandchildren of -the King and Queen, we next turi to-the Royal. relatives. _ - As King George has no brother, liis sisters, with preference in favour of the eldest, are the next claimants. Two of the King's sisters ate alive. The Princess Victoria lives at Coppins, Tver, Bucks, and her sister, Princess Maude, is the reigning Quti&i of, Norway. The claim to the throne then passes to the SaxeCoburg family. Queen Marie of Roumania is*tlie eldest daughter of the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg, but she formally renounced on her marriage all claim to the British throne. Last in order come the families of the Duke of Con;aaught and Albany. Wie present Duke of Connaught is the King's uncle, the' third son and seventh- child of Queen Victoria. The Duke of Connaught has one son, Prince Arthur, wlio married his cousin, the Duchess, of Fife,, daughter of the Princess Royal, who had succeeded to her father's title by special remainder. There is one son by this marriage, the Earl of who was born in 1914. After the descendants of Queen Victoria's sons, the succession would pass in the ordinary way to the family of the late Empress Frederick, the eldest daughter Queen Victoria, the head of this line being the ex-Kaiser.