Breaking Down the New Royal Family Line of Succession

After a lifetime of waiting, the biggest moment of King Charles’ career is now fast approaching. Britain’s newest monarch automatically ascended the throne after the monumental death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September, but his official coronation will take place on May 6.

Charles—formerly the Prince of Wales—was three years old when he inherited the heir apparent title that he held for a record seven decades. His ascension had knock-on effects for the wider monarchy, giving way to head-spinning titles swaps and a new line of succession. At present, the extensive list features 23 members of the royal family from William, the new heir apparent and Prince of Wales, to Master Lucas Tindall, one of the Queen’s great-grandsons.

Other key developments saw Prince Edward, Charles’ brother, awarded the Duke of Edinburgh title almost two years after his father Prince Philip, the title’s previous owner, died in April 2021. Edward was promised the title at his wedding in 1999 but it was officially approved by King Charles on Edward’s 59th birthday on March 10.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie and daughter Lilibet Diana are officially prince and princess. The toddlers did not hold these titles at birth, but as grandchildren of the new monarch, they became entitled to use them when Charles became King. Spokespeople for both Harry and Meghan and Buckingham Palace confirmed in early March that the titles for their children are now officially in use.

As King Charles prepares for his coronation in May, here is the up to date royal family tree in order of where they stand in line to the throne.

1. William, Prince of Wales

Prince William was born in June 1982 as the elder son of Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in 1997. His only sibling, Prince Harry, was born two years later. When King Charles ascended the throne, Prince William became first in line to the throne and inherited his father’s Duchy of Cornwall estate.

William attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland where he met Catherine Middleton, or Kate, and the two married in 2011. William and Kate have three children: George, who was born in 2013; Charlotte, born in 2015; and Louis, born in 2018. The family are key members of the working royal unit and they support the King in his royal responsibilities.

2. Prince George of Wales

Prince George of Wales, born in July 2013, is the eldest son of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales. He is currently second in line to the throne and will become his heir apparent should his father succeed King Charles after the monarch’s future death. George and his siblings Charlotte and Louis previously held titles relating to Cambridge but these changed to Wales when their father became the heir apparent to King Charles.

3. Princess Charlotte of Wales

Born in 2015, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales is William and Kate’s only daughter. She is now third in line to the throne after her father and older brother George. Her middle names are Elizabeth and Diana, nodding to her great-grandmother and grandmother.

4. Prince Louis of Wales

Prince Louis Arthur Charles is the youngest child of William and Catherine. He was born in April 2018 and has become a known figure worldwide for his animated public appearances at Queen Elizabeth’s 2022 Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.

5. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Born in 1984, Prince Harry is the second and youngest son of King Charles and Princess Diana. Harry served 10 years in the armed forces, including two tours in Afghanistan.

In 2018, he married American actress Meghan Markle and the couple announced they were expecting their first child after five months of marriage. Archie was born in 2019 and less than a year later, in January 2020, the couple announced their decision to step back as working members of the royal family and move to the U.S.

The couple now work on independent projects with Spotify and Netflix, and Harry released a bombshell memoir entitled Spare in January. The couple also welcomed their second child Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor in June 2021.

6. Prince Archie of Sussex

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is the first born child of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. He was born in the U.K. in 2019, weighing 7lbs 3oz. Archie did not have a birth right to a royal title but on the ascension of King Charles in 2022, he became entitled to one. His Prince title was formally adopted in March 2023. Archie is the older brother of Lilibet Diana.

7. Princess Lilibet of Sussex

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave birth to their second child, Lilibet Diana, in 2021 in Santa Barbara. Known as Lili for short, the infant’s name was a widely known nickname given to Queen Elizabeth. Her middle name is a tribute to Princess Diana, Harry’s late mother. In March, it was announced that Lilibet had been christened in Los Angeles and was using her Princess title in the announcement.

8. The Duke of York

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is one of the most controversial members of the royal family. Born in 1960, he is the second eldest son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. In 1986, Andrew married Sarah Ferguson and the couple had two daughters—Beatrice and Eugenie—before they officially divorced in 1996 after four years of separation.

Andrew served in the Royal Navy for 22 years and participated in the Falklands War in 1982. He formally stepped back from royal duties in 2019 as a result of his ties to convicted sex offender and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein. In February 2021, Andrew settled a civil sexual assault case with an undisclosed sum of money but he made no admission of guilt.

9. Princess Beatrice

Princess Beatrice is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. She is married to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, with whom she has an infant daughter. The couple married in a private ceremony with 20 close friends and family members in 2020 at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor.

10. Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi

Sienna Elizabeth is the one-year-old daughter of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, born in September 2021 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. Her name is a nod to both her Italian and royal roots.

11. Princess Eugenie

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie is the younger daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York. She is also the younger sister of Princess Beatrice. In 2018, Eugenie married her long-term partner Jack Brooksbank, and the couple welcomed their first child August Philip Hawke Brooksbank in February 2021.

12. August Philip Hawke Brooksbank

August Philip Hawke Brooksbank has no royal title but he sits higher in the line of succession than those who do. August is the two-year-old son of Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank. He is the Queen’s ninth great-grandchild, and the first grandchild of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

13. The Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Edward was born in March 1964, as the youngest son of Philip and Queen Elizabeth.

Formerly the Earl of Wessex, Edward inherited his father Prince Philip’s title in March. The title was promised to him on his wedding day to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, but it was formally awarded to him on his 59th birthday, almost two years after Philip’s death.

Edward and Sophie—who previously held the title of Countess of Wessex until March, when she became Duchess of Edinburgh—share two children James and Louise. The couple are both full-time working members of the royal family.

14. James, Earl of Wessex

James, Earl of Wessex, was born in 2007 with the more unusual title of Viscount Severn. He is the younger child of the newly appointed Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and Sophie. He inherited his father’s former title when his parents became Duke and Duchess in March.

15. Lady Louise Windsor

Born in 2003, Lady Louise Windsor is the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and Sophie. Despite being older than her brother James, Louise is lower in the line of succession because she was born before succession laws were changed in 2011 to grant equal right to the throne for males and females. Louise was also a bridesmaid at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.

16. Anne, The Princess Royal

Anne, Princess Royal, is the second child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and their only daughter. At the time of her birth in August 1950, Anne was third in line to the throne but with time she has become 16th. She earned her title in June 1987, as a result of her position as the eldest daughter of the sovereign.

Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in November 1973, and the couple has two children—Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall. The couple separated in 1989, and officially divorced in 1992. Anne married her second husband Timothy Laurence in 1992, which featured as a storyline on season 5 of Netflix’s drama The Crown.

Anne was also a known equestrian who competed for Great Britain in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She began public work aged 18 and still works with the charity Save the Children, of which she became president in 1970.

17. Peter Phillips

Peter Phillips is the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth and is one of the lesser known royals. He was born in November 1977 to Anne, Princess Royal, and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips. An Olympic equestrian and non-royal, Peter therefore has no hereditary royal title. He is the older brother of Zara Tindall.

According to the BBC, Peter’s parents hoped a lack of title would afford him a more conventional life; they reportedly “rejected an offer from the Queen of titles which would have enabled their children to be born into the peerage.”

In 2008, Peter married a Canadian woman named Autumn Kelly at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and later had two daughters, Savannah in 2010, and Isla in 2012. The pair ultimately divorced in 2021. Philips walked behind the coffins of both Prince Philip in 2021, and Queen Elizabeth in 2022.

18. Savannah Phillips

Savannah Phillips is the eldest grandchild of Princess Anne, and eldest great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth. She was born in December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital to Anne’s son Peter Philips and his then-wife Autumn. At one point, Savannah was 12th in line to the throne but with the subsequent birth of other royal babies, she dropped down the list.

19. Isla Elizabeth Phillips

Isla Phillips was born in March 2021 and shares the same parents as her older sister Savannah. Isla has the middle name Elizabeth, which is widely believed to be an ode to her great-grandmother.

20. Zara Tindall

Zara Tindall (née Phillips) is Princess Royal Anne’s second child with her first husband Captain ​​Mark Phillips. Zara, born in May 1981, married former rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011 and the couple has three children: Mia, Lena, and Lucas. Zara is also known for her successful equestrian career.

21. Mia Grace Tindall

Born in January 2014, Mia is the eldest child of Zara and Mike Tindall, and Princess Anne’s granddaughter. The nine-year-old, like her two younger siblings, has no royal title but has become a known young face at royal events and in official portraits. She had a prominent role as a bridesmaid in Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s royal wedding in October 2018.

22. Lena Elizabeth Tindall

Lena is the middle child and younger daughter of Zara and Mike Tindall. Lena was born in June 2018, two years after the couple revealed that they had experienced a miscarriage. Lena’s middle name nods to her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.

23. Lucas Philip Tindall

Born in March 2021, Lucas is the youngest child of Zara and Mike Tindall. He was born on the bathroom floor of the couple’s home in Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire, because they could not get to the hospital in time for his delivery. Lucas, whose middle name pays tribute to his great-grandfather Prince Philip, made his first official appearance during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.