The Young Chronicle: For Grade 3 May 9th, 2015 | Seite 4

Page 4

Newsletter Title

Spares Turned Heirs
When Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of
Cambridge
was born on
2 May 2015,
she has become what is
colloquially
known as
‘the spare to
the heir’.
Royal succession rules
dictate that
the throne always passes to the eldest child,
and royals born second in the line of succession rarely have to worry about becoming king
or queen. It's a position that brings far less responsibility, but also fewer privileges than
those enjoyed by the heir apparent.
But not all younger royal children spend their
lives waiting in the wings. Here are some of the
most prominent examples when the ‘spares’
turned ‘heirs’.

King Henry VIII: He wasn't the first born of
Henry VII, in fact he was third. His older
brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, should have
succeeded to the throne when his father died.
But Arthur died at the age of 15, passing the
title of Prince of Wales and Heir-Apparent on to
Henry, who became next in line to the throne
even though he still had an older sister. Girls
didn't take priority over boys back then. All is
changed now, though. The eldest daughter of
the Monarch can now inherit the throne, even
if she has younger male siblings.

Queen Elizabeth I: E