King Philippe of the Belgians is marking ten years on the throne and his country is marking a decade of history. For the accession of Philippe also meant that, for the first time, the country had a female heir to the throne. Philippe’s daughter, Elisabeth, is in line to become the first queen regnant of the country one day.
The rules around who can ascend the throne have only recently been shaken up in Belgium and it’s focused on the descendants of Philippe’s father, King Albert II, who abdicated ten years ago.
The new laws of succession took effect in 1991, and if all the descendants of Albert die, the line then falls to the male descendants of King Leopold I’s male line.
To remain in the line of succession, a prince or princess must get the monarch’s permission to marry; permission can be granted after the marriage has taken place, as happened in the case of Prince Amedeo’s marriage to Princess Elisabetta.
Belgium’s current line of succession to follow King Philippe has 16 people and is as follows:
- Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant
- Prince Gabriel
- Prince Emmanuel
- Princess Eleonore
- Princess Astrid
- Prince Amedeo
- Archduchess Anna Astrid
- Archduke Maximilian
- Princess Maria Laura
- Prince Joachim
- Princess Luisa Maria
- Princess Laetitia Maria
- Prince Laurent
- Princess Louise
- Prince Nicolas
- Prince Aymeric
King Albert II’s daughter from an extramarital affair, Princess Delphine, and her two children are not in the line of succession as her parents were not married when she was born.
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