2006-08-08 15:57:49 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Royalty
because there is no male in line to claim the throne? there were plenty of kings in its history, the next one should be coming up and his name is charles...
2006-08-08 16:02:25 · answer #1 · answered by rei 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Salic Law (the barring of females from inheriting or passing on inheritance to the throne) has never been the rule in Britain. The British have always let the sons of princesses inherit the throne and in a good many cases from the Tudor era down, let a woman rule by her own blood right.
However, women come at the end of the pecking order, so to speak.
Queen Elizabeth was the eldest of two daughters. If she had had a brother (even a younger one), he would have inherited before her. Princess Anne is her second child, but Anne's claim to the throne is a very distant one - after her older brother Charles and his two sons comes her younger brothers Andrew and his two daughters, and Edward and his daughter.
There is a very strict order of succession these days and the rules of inheritance are very clearly written out. Back in the middle ages, that wasn't the case - and it was the cause of a lot of wars.
Edward III, for example, claimed the throne of France (which DID practice Salic Law) through his mother, who had been a French princess. When all her brothers died, the French throne passed on to a cousin, but Edward (who was already king of England) claimed that the throne should be his because he was the next closest relative. Under English law, he was probably right, but the French weren't about to accept an Englishman as their king and Edward went to war.
A couple of generations later, complex laws of male/female inheritance played a role in the Wars of the Roses (although there were questions about crown-stealing and royal incompetence mixed in there too.)
2006-08-09 00:10:13 · answer #2 · answered by poohba 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Male heirs are always given priority over females, even in England. The only reason Queen Elizabeth is the queen is because she had no brothers, and her father's younger brother fell in love and married an American woman and abdicated (gave up) the throne.
2006-08-08 23:06:41 · answer #3 · answered by Kristi M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There was no male heir. The same happened for Elizabeth I and Victoria.
2006-08-09 09:14:26 · answer #4 · answered by cross-stitch kelly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's simply because the last king had two daughters.Elizabeth was the eldest daughter and ascended to the throne upon her father's death.
2006-08-08 23:07:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was busy at the time! Man, I wish people would just stop asking me about that!
2006-08-09 14:34:29 · answer #6 · answered by DB Cash 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋