Order of succession: Difference between revisions

In male-preference [[primogeniture]] (in the past called cognatic primogeniture) the monarch's eldest son and his descendants take precedence over his siblings and their descendants. Elder sons take precedence over younger sons, but all sons take precedence over daughters. A female member of a dynasty can succeed to the throne if and only if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. Children represent their deceased ancestors, and the senior line of descent always takes precedence over the junior line, within each gender. The right of succession belongs to the eldest son of the reigning sovereign (see [[heir apparent]]), and next to the eldest son of the eldest son. This is the system in [[Spain]] and [[Monaco]], and was the system used in the Great Britain and later, the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[Commonwealth realm]]s between 1707 and 2011, and before 1707, to the separate thrones of [[England]] and [[Scotland]] (Although during the Middle Ages, Scotland also supported [[Tanistry|tanistry]] and [[Proximity of blood|proximity of blood]], both through the male and female lines, due to the intermingling of [[Picts|Pictish]] and Gaelic succession rules). It was also practised in almost all of the ancient kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent during the Middle Ages.