Royal line of succession updated after Princess Eugenie gives birth
Princess Eugenie’s newborn daughter has been added to the British line of succession, prompting an official update that places the baby 15th in line to the throne.
Adelaide Elizabeth Annina now appears immediately after her older brothers, August and Ernest. Her arrival pushed Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and those below him down one place in the order of succession, according to The Royal Family’s succession encyclopaedia.
Adelaide was born August 3 in Lisbon, Portugal, weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces.
Eugenie announced her daughter’s name two weeks later, saying it honored three people whom she and Jack Brooksbank, who is married to Princess Eugenie, “love and admire,” including the baby’s great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The updated list also confirms that Eugenie’s father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, remains eighth in line after Prince Harry’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, despite losing his royal titles. Changes to a royal’s titles or public role do not, by themselves, alter that person’s place in the succession.
The changes to the British Royal Family come as the news broke that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are planning to move back to Britain with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet more than six years after they stepped down as working members of the royal family and settled in California.
The story first broke in the British press, including The Sun newspaper, but has been since been confirmed to Newsweek.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to live in a private residence outside London while retaining their homes in Montecito, California, and Portugal, The Associated Press reported, citing “a person close to the Sussexes who was not authorized to speak publicly.” Archie and Lilibet have been enrolled in British schools and are due to begin classes in September.
The move will not mark a return to official royal duties. Harry and Meghan are expected to remain private individuals and non-working members of the royal family, while continuing their business and charitable work.
Their return could, however, create more opportunities for Archie and Lilibet—sixth and seventh in line to the throne—to spend time with King Charles III. The couple and their children visited Britain in July and met with the King and Queen Camilla, the children’s first known meeting with their grandfather since 2022.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.