There are sixteen people in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Belgian throne. The monarch is considered to have acceded to the throne upon her/his taking of the oath as required by article 91 of the constitution.

Eligibility

Since 1991,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

practises

absolute primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

among the descendants of King Albert II (then Prince of Liège). Descendants of earlier monarchs and princes are only eligible to succeed if male and descended from

King Leopold I * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Lou ...

in male-line (i.e. according to

agnatic primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

), meaning that descendants of all Belgian princesses not descended from Albert II are barred from the throne. There are no living princes of Belgium who are not descended from Albert II, so agnatic primogeniture ''de facto'' doesn't apply to anyone anymore and the right to succeed is effectively limited to Albert II's descendants. A person is deprived of his or her rights to the crown if he or she marries without the consent of the monarch (or the consent of those exercising the monarch's powers). The lost right may be re-established by the monarch (or by those exercising the monarch's powers) in the event of parliamentary agreement. Should there be no eligible descendant of

, the reigning monarch may name his or her

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

with the approval of the Parliament, but if she or he doesn't name the heir presumptive, the throne would eventually become vacant. In the case of a vacancy, Parliament would appoint a Regent (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...

), then elections would happen within two months, and the ''next'' Houses of Parliament would jointly appoint the next monarch. When King Albert II's daughter

Astrid Astrid is a feminine given name of Scandinavian origin, a modern form of the name Ástríðr. Derived from the Old Norse Ássfriðr, a compound name composed of the elements (a god) and (beautiful, fair). Variants * Assan (diminutive) (Swed ...

married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este in 1984, agnatic primogeniture being in effect, she had no succession rights and therefore did not seek the consent to her marriage. Following the introduction of absolute primogeniture among her father's descendants in 1991, it was deemed that she had obtained the necessary consent and thus assumed her place in the line along with her children.Belgian Constitution, coordinated 1994, 2005 version, title IX, section I When Prince Amedeo married in 2014, it was reported that he did not ask his uncle King Philippe's permission, and had therefore lost his right to the Belgian throne. However, on November 12, 2015, a Royal Decree was published which showed that consent had been given after the marriage retroactively. In October 2020 the Belgian Court of Appeals granted the title of Princess to

Delphine Boël Princess Delphine of Belgium (''Delphine Michèle Anne Marie Ghislaine de Saxe-Cobourg''; born 22 February 1968), known previously as ''Jonkvrouw'' Delphine Boël, is a Belgian artist and member of the Belgian royal family. She is the daughter ...

, illegitimate daughter of

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

, but this did not have an effect on the line of succession due to her

bastardy Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

barring her. Since she was born in 1968 after her three legitimate half-siblings she would not displace any of her kin regardless and would only come after her half-nephew Prince Aymeric. No head of a different state may become King (or Queen) of the Belgians, unless both Houses of Parliament separately agree to it, two-thirds of the Members being present in each House, and a two-thirds majority being required in each House.

Accession

Upon the King'sSo far. The next Belgian monarch will probably be a Queen. death, both

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

convene within ten days with no convocation and, until the next King takes the oath of office, the

Ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

jointly fulfil the constitutional duties of the monarch under their own responsibility. The King only accedes to the throne by solemnly taking the following oath in front of both Houses of Parliament in joint session: "I swear to observe the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

and the laws of the Belgian people, to maintain national independence and territorial integrity." If the King is prevented from reigning ''(French: dans l'impossibilité de régner)'', or if the successor of a deceased King is a minor, the Houses of Parliament jointly designate a Regent, who enters into office by taking the above oath. There can only be one Regent. Belgian Constitution, coordinated 1994, 2005 version, art. 92-94 In other words, unlike in most other European monarchies where the succession is automatic, in Belgium there is an

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

between each monarch's demise (usually by death, twice so far by abdication: Leopold III and Albert II) and his successor's accession (by taking the constitutional

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...

Current list of succession

King Albert II (born 1934) ** Simple gold crown

King Philippe (born 1960) *** (1)

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant ( nl, Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena; french: Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène; born 25 October 2001) is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathild ...

(b. 2001) *** (2) Prince Gabriel (b. 2003) ***(3) Prince Emmanuel (b. 2005) *** (4) Princess Eléonore (b. 2008) ** (5)

Princess Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Pri ...

(b. 1962) *** (6) Prince Amedeo, Archduke of Austria-Este (b. 1986) **** (7) Archduchess Anna Astrid of Austria-Este (b. 2016) **** (8) Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este (b. 2019) *** (9) Princess Maria Laura, Archduchess of Austria-Este (b. 1988) *** (10) Prince Joachim, Archduke of Austria-Este (b. 1991) *** (11) Princess Luisa Maria, Archduchess of Austria-Este (b. 1995) *** (12) Princess Laetitia Maria, Archduchess of Austria-Este (b. 2003) ** (13) Prince Laurent (b. 1963) *** (14) Princess Louise (b. 2004) *** (15) Prince Nicolas (b. 2005) *** (16) Prince Aymeric (b. 2005)

References

Bibliography

The Belgian Constitution, coordinated version 1994
including later revisions (in French) {{Orders of succession by country Belgian throne Belgian monarchy Succession to the throne of

Eligibility

Accession

Current list of succession

See also

References

Bibliography