Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step back from their royal duties in 2020, people have been wondering about certain things. Right now, Prince Harry resides in the U.S. and is looking to get full citizenship at some point, but it’s important to note that he’s still a member of the royal family and technically has the right to the throne. Of course, the U.K. parliament could have a different opinion.
On the other hand, Harry doesn’t seem to be interested in all that throne drama and never has been, in fact. It’s one thing to be the next in line and a completely different thing to be “Plan B.” His wonderful family often referred to him as a “spare,” which is a completely inappropriate term.
Even after leaving his royal life and potentially becoming the “spare” ruler, there are no talks of stripping Harry of his titles, since that’s not something the royal family can do even if they wanted to.
The Line of Succession
Currently, Prince Harry is #5 in the line of succession to the British throne. As per the official Royal Family’s website, he follows his brother, Prince William, little Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Funny enough, the royal queue goes way beyond Harry and includes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. So, while it’s possible that his time may come, it’s very unlikely.
Also, if you look at this line, a lot of people would need to die, step down or abdicate for Harry to sit on the throne. First of all King Charles, who might be considered old, is still the King of the UK and has no plans of stepping down. Next, there’s Prince William and all of his children would either have to step down or abdicate. Honestly, Harry doesn’t want the throne, and he would not be happy if he had to step over all those family members, even if they aren’t the best of people.
According to constitutional expert Professor Robert Hazell, if both Harry’s father and brother were “permanently incapacitated” while William’s children were still underage, Harry could potentially become a king regent. However, for this to happen, the palace or government would need to pass new legislation if they did not want Harry to fulfill this role. But for that all to happen, Harry would need to go back to the U.K., which he doesn’t want to do, so that’s probably not going to work out.
Does Harry Even Want to be King?
If you still need an answer to that question, I don’t know what to tell you. Harry never wanted to be the king. This mindset could also explain his wild behavior when he was younger, such as the infamous Vegas incident.
Harry was never the “next in line,” figuratively speaking, and he didn’t give a crap about that throne in the first place. As his position in the line of succession decreased with the births of each new niece or nephew, Harry felt more relieved as he realized he could live a good life without having to worry about the royal business too much.
Harry believed it was better to be as far from the royal chaos as possible. Interestingly, Harry is not the only one having reservations about ascending to the throne. In an interview with Newsweek, he revealed that nobody in the Royal Family is truly itching to become king or queen. It must not be that great of a life, then, huh?
