“The hereditary principle has naturally evolved from the management of large families, clans or tribes. Each member has a natural investment and ownership in the society, and the children of the chief are in a unique position to learn from the chief while possessing a genetic relationship.”

The hereditary principle is the transmission of an office, dignity or responsibility according to an established line of descent.

It has existed in many cultures and in many forms. It should not be confused with the proposition that ability itself is inherited, nor does hereditary succession imply that every member of a family is equally suited to public responsibility.

Its principal constitutional argument is different: heredity provides a predetermined method of succession which does not depend upon political competition for the office concerned.

In a hereditary monarchy, succession provides continuity in the Headship of State.

A future Sovereign can often be identified many years in advance and may therefore acquire extensive experience of public duties before accession. The succession takes place immediately upon the death of the preceding Sovereign, avoiding an election or political campaign for the office of Head of State.

In the United Kingdom, however, succession to the Crown is not governed merely by family custom. It is governed by law.

The present heir to the throne is William, Prince of Wales.

After him come his children in order: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The rules of succession have changed over time.

The Revolution of 1688–89 and subsequent legislation established important constitutional and religious qualifications for the Crown. The Bill of Rights 1689 and Act of Settlement 1701 formed central parts of this settlement.

Following the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the Crown passed to George I, a Protestant descendant of James I through his mother Sophia, Electress of Hanover.

Supporters of the excluded Stuart line became known as Jacobites, and attempts were made in the eighteenth century to restore that dynasty.

The British Crown historically followed male-preference primogeniture: an elder daughter could succeed, but a younger son took precedence over her.

This is not the same as strictly agnatic succession, under which women are excluded altogether.

The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 changed the rule for persons born after 28 October 2011. For those persons, sex no longer determines precedence in the line of succession.

This is why Princess Charlotte retains her place ahead of her younger brother Prince Louis.

The legislation also removed the previous disqualification arising merely from marrying a Roman Catholic. A Roman Catholic, however, remains excluded from succeeding to the Crown under the existing constitutional settlement.

The Crown Society believes that some of the strengths of hereditary monarchy is the opportunity it creates for continuity, stability and preparation.

A royal heir may spend decades learning the work of public service without having to campaign against political opponents for the Headship of State.

This does not guarantee wisdom or ability. No constitutional arrangement can do that. Its advantage is instead that the succession is known in advance and the institution is able to plan across generations.

The hereditary principle also survives within the peerage, although inheritance of a peerage no longer carries an automatic right to participate in Parliament.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 removed the final hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords.

The question of whether hereditary responsibility has a legitimate place in national life is consequently now distinct from the question of membership of Parliament.

The Crown Society believes it remains a subject worthy of serious discussion.

A defence of the hereditary principle need not rest upon claims of inherited biological superiority.

Its stronger case rests upon continuity, memory, preparation, independence from electoral ambition, and the idea that an office may be understood as something received temporarily from one generation and held in trust for the next.

Hereditary monarchy has endured where it has combined that continuity with constitutional restraint and public service.

For The Crown Society, the hereditary principle is therefore valuable not because the past should govern the present, but because institutions can benefit from remembering that both present and future generations form part of the same continuing national story.