How Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Baby Will Shake Up The Line Of Succession

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting a child around spring of this year. A new royal baby in the family means that the line of succession will change. But where does Harry and Meghan's child fall in line?

The baby will be seventh in line to the throne after his or her father, Prince Harry. But the baby’s arrival would mean that the Queen’s second son and Prince Charles’ brother, Prince Andrew, will now become eighth in line. Harry and Meghan’s child will also have Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princes Eugenie, fall down a spot in the line of succession.

First in line to the throne is Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son, Prince Charles. When the Queen dies or if she abdicates, he will immediately hold the title of king.

Next in line will be Prince Charles’ eldest son, Prince William. William’s successors, in turn, are his three adorable children. Prince George is third in line. Fourth in line is Princess Charlotte. William and Kate’s youngest child, Prince Louis, is fifth.

Harry used to be in the third spot before William and Kate had three kids. Now he’s placed as the sixth heir to the throne.

Thanks to the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, now only a royal’s age affects the line of succession. So regardless of the baby’s gender, he or she gets to keep his/her place. Charlotte is the first to benefit from this law change.

But even as seventh in line, the new royal baby won’t have the title of prince or princess. “The grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms,” declared King George V in 1917.

Thus, the Queen’s children and grandchildren get royal title. But her great-grandchildren, since they are too far down the line, don’t get the HRH title of “royal highness.” So Harry and Meghan’s child, instead, would be Lord or Lady Mountbatten-Windsor. But the Queen could step in and issue a letter to grant Harry and Meghan’s child a prince or princess title. The monarch did this for William and Kate’s two younger children.

Here’s how the new line of succession will look like after the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan's child: