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Heir apparent versus heir presumptiveIn a hereditary system governed by some form of primogeniture, an heir apparent is easy to recognize: he or she is somebody whose place as first in the line of succession to the title or throne is secure irrespective of future births that may occur. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be "bumped down" in the succession by the birth of somebody more closely related in a legal sense (according to that form of primogeniture) to the current title-holder. The clearest example occurs in the case of a titleholder with no children. If at any time he or she produces children, they will rank ahead of whatever more "distant" relative (a sibling, perhaps, or a nephew or cousin) was previously heir presumptive. For the purposes of many legal systems, it is assumed that childbirth is always possible, irrespective of age or health status. The possibility of a fertile octogenarian, although nonexistent in reality, is never ruled out. In such circumstances a person may be in a practical sense the heir apparent but still legally speaking heir presumptive — science knows that nobody could be born to take his or her place; but the law does not. Daughters in male-preference primogeniture
Thus in the normal run of things even an only daughter will not be her father's (or mother's) heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, although younger, would become heir apparent. Hence she is only an heir presumptive. For example, Queen Elizabeth II was heiress presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. Indeed, when Elizabeth's ancestor Victoria was proclaimed Queen, the wording even gave as a caveat—
Here, provision was made in case William's wife Queen Adelaide was pregnant at the moment of his death — since such a child, when born, would have displaced Victoria from the throne. [1]. Women as heirs apparentObviously, in a system of absolute primogeniture which does not take sex into account, a female heir apparent is not surprising; several European monarchies have within the last few decades adopted such a system and furnish practical examples: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, is oldest child of King Carl XVI Gustav and his heir apparent; Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway are all heirs-apparent to their fathers (who are in each case heir apparent to their respective countries' thrones). But even in legal systems (such as the UK's) that apply male-preference primogeniture female heirs-apparent are by no means impossible: if a male heir apparent dies leaving no sons but at least one daughter, then the daughter (or eldest daughter) would replace her father as heir apparent to whatever throne or title is concerned: as the representative of her father's line she would place ahead of any more distant relatives; and since her dead father cannot father any son, she is certain to stay at the head of her father's line. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the English or British throne; several times an heir apparent has died, but each example has either been childless or left a son or sons. In one special case, however, Britain may be said to have had a female heir apparent: although the spouses William and Mary, once installed by the Glorious Revolution of 1688, were considered to rule as joint monarchs, it was Mary who had the true hereditary claim. Thus, although after her death William continued to reign, he had no power to beget heirs; any children sired by a subsequent marriage would not have been heir apparent.[2] Thus Mary's younger sister Anne, who had been heir presumptive during Mary's life, became heir apparent upon her death during the remainder of William's reign, eventually succeeding him as Queen Anne. Not everybody, furthermore, is a complete stickler for avoiding the term 'heir apparent' in cases where an heir presumptive has no practical prospect of being unseated; for instance, Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, Isabel of Brazil and the future Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were each declared heirs-apparent (though the former renounced her succession rights in favor of her son). Displacement of heirs apparentThe position of an heir apparent is in the normal run of things unshakeable and it can be assumed that he or she will inherit someday. But sometimes extraordinary events intervene to prevent this, the most obvious example being his or her untimely death. Some notable examples of heirs apparent who have lost that status
Breaching of the legal qualifications of heirs apparentIn some jurisdictions, an heir apparent can automatically lose his or her status should he or she breach certain constitutional rules. Today, for example:
Famous Heirs Apparent who never inherited the throne
(Heir presumptive: Henri, comte de Chambord - grandson and practical heir of King Charles X of France Charles abdicated in favour of the young Henri, only for the throne to be seized by a cousin, King Louis-Philippe of France in 1830, and Henri's uncle Duke Louis of Angouleme, the Dauphin also abdicated. Henri turned down a second chance to receive the French throne from the French National Assembly in the early 1870s because he would not accept the tricolour as the French flag.) Heirs Apparent as of 2007
Notes
no:Kronprins pl:Następca tronu
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