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The 1814 constitution stated that the oldest son of the monarch would succeed him (or otherwise his grandson), followed by the monarch's brother or his son. Only when there would be a complete lack of males in his near family, would the oldest daughter of the monarch succeed him. The constitution of 1887 changed this slightly to give the King's daughter precedence over the King's brother, adopting agnatic-cognatic primogeniture.

In 1884 King William III's last male heir died, making Princess Wilhelmina heiress presumptive. William III was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg, but since Salic law was applied in that country, William was succeeded there by Adolphe, his distant relative. After 1884 no males were born into the royal family until 1967. In 1983 the Netherlands adopted full lineal primogeniture (the eldest child is heir).

In 1922 the constitution was changed to limit the line of succession to three degrees of kinship^[1] from the current monarch.

For the succession of HM Queen Beatrix the following order of priority applies:

1. HRH The Prince of Orange, Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (eldest child of the Queen)
2. HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (first child of the Prince of Orange)
3. HRH Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (second child of the Prince of Orange)
4. HRH Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (third child of the Prince of Orange)
5. HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (third child of the Queen)
6. Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouw van Amsberg (daughter of Prince Constantijn)
7. Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (son of Prince Constantijn)
8. Countess Leonore of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouw van Amsberg (daughter of Prince Constantijn)
9. HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld (third daughter of the late Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and sister to Queen Beatrix)
10. HH Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (son of Princess Margriet)
11. HH Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (son of Princess Margriet)

Thus, after Willem-Alexander come his daughters; then Constantijn, his brother; a niece, a nephew, and another niece; an aunt; and two cousins.

Family tree of the current line of succession.      People in the line of succession, with their number.      People once in, but now removed from the line of succession.

Notes

• The Queen's second son, Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, was removed from the line of succession in 2004 when he married without seeking Parliamentary approval, after the Prime Minister and the Prince decided that Parliamentary approval might be hard because of his future wife Mabel's past. His two daughters, Countess Luana and Countess Zaria are not in the line of succession.^[2]
• Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven and Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (the two younger sons of Princess Margriet) were removed from the list because they had both decided not to seek Parliamentary approval for their 2005 marriages because the chance that they would succeed was very small.^[3]
• Two of Queen's sisters, Princess Irene and Princess Christina, were also removed from the list when they both married without seeking Parliamentary approval, either because of political or health problems.
• The children of Prince Maurits and Prince Bernhard are not on the list, because their kinship with the Queen is of the fourth degree. If and when HRH Princess Margriet should somehow succeed to the throne, the line of succession will include their children Anna, Lucas and Felicia (children of HH Prince Maurits) and Isabella, Samuel and Benjamin (children of HH Prince Bernhard).
• For the same reason, if Willem-Alexander becomes King as expected, then for his succession only numbers 2 to 9 apply (and possible future children of his and of Prince Constantijn); his cousins (numbers 10 - 11) will be removed from the list.
• In case of the complete line from Queen Juliana dying out, Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (daughter of Charles Augustus of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) is the closest relative in line to the throne by Absolute primogeniture. The great-great-grandmother of Princess Elisabeth is Princess Sophie of the Netherlands, daughter of King William II

See also

• List of heirs to the Dutch throne

References