The British line of succession has a gap. After King Charles at number one, Prince William at number two, and William’s three children at numbers three through five, the next person actively carrying out official duties on behalf of the monarchy is Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, who sits at number sixteen. The eleven positions between Prince Louis and Prince Edward are occupied entirely by people who have either left royal service, were stripped of their roles, or never held them in the first place. GB News confirmed this structural analysis this week, noting it represents “a striking vulnerability at the heart of the institution.”
The breakdown of those eleven positions is instructive. Number five is Prince Harry, who resigned from royal duties in January 2020, relocated to California, published a memoir that described his family in unflattering terms, and has spent the subsequent years in an estrangement from the institution that a recent meeting at Highgrove has not resolved. Number six is Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who is nine years old. Number seven is Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, who is seven. Number eight is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal and military titles in January 2022 following his association with Jeffrey Epstein, and who was arrested in February 2026 on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released under investigation the same evening. Number nine is Princess Beatrice, who carries out some charitable work but has no formal working role. Number ten is her daughter Sienna, who is ten. Number eleven is her daughter Athena, who was born in January 2025.
Numbers twelve through sixteen continue the pattern. Princess Eugenie at thirteen is not a working royal. August Brooksbank at fourteen is five. Ernest Brooksbank at fifteen is three. Eugenie’s newly born daughter, as yet unnamed, will occupy position sixteen when she is formally registered. And then comes Prince Edward, who at seventeen maintains an active working schedule as the only institutionally sanctioned representative of the monarchy between position one and the end of the gap.
The gap is the product of decisions made over the past five years. Andrew’s removal was necessary and consequential. Harry’s departure was his choice and consequential. The others, Beatrice, Eugenie, and their children, were never part of the working core of the monarchy, which operates on a model where the institution concentrates its public activity in a relatively small number of senior members rather than deploying the full extended family. That model works when the senior members are healthy and active. Charles has cancer. Kate completed her cancer treatment this year. The Wales children are a decade away from being institutionally useful. Edward is doing his best.
Royal commentators have been raising the succession depth question since Harry’s departure reduced the working core. The addition of Eugenie’s unnamed baby to the lower reaches of the succession does nothing to address it. The baby is in Lisbon. The working family is Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Anne, Edward, and Sophie. The positions between are children, estranged family members, and a man under police investigation.
When eleven of fifteen positions immediately behind the working monarchy are occupied by non-working royals, children, or people under police investigation, what exactly is the institution’s depth chart?
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