It started, as these things often do, with a perfectly reasonable People magazine article. A short, well-meaning piece about how Prince George is turning 12, and how that milestone technically means he should no longer travel on the same plane as his father.
It’s a royal safety protocol. Tradition. One of those background rules that make sense in a monarchy obsessed with continuity.
Totally fine.
Until it suddenly wasn’t.
Because my brain, being my brain, immediately whispered:
“Wait... if William and the kids were gone… who’s next?”
And that’s when the floor dropped out.
The Fragile Line
You know the order. You’ve probably glanced at it in a trivia quiz or a royal family chart once or twice:
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Charles
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William
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George
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Charlotte
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Louis
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Harry
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Archie
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Lilibet
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Andrew
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Beatrice
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Eugenie
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Edward
It works because the first five names are so solid. But if the Wales family were lost (God forbid), this list becomes a constitutional nightmare.
And when I mentally walked down the line, past William, past George, past all three children, I stopped at number six: Harry. And that made sense. At first.
Until I kept going.
“Okay… but what if Harry doesn’t want it? Or can’t take it? And his children are also disqualified?”
I followed the line further down, and that’s when it hit me. Like an actual cold wave of dread.
Oh no. It’s Andrew.
And I just froze.
Wait… It’s Andrew??
How has this not been discussed more publicly? I always knew the protocol of separate travel was there to protect the line... but I’d never really thought through the actual implications.
And now? I couldn’t unsee it.
Prince Andrew - stripped of royal duties, disgraced, hidden away from the public eye -is next in line after Harry and his children. He’s still legally there. Still legally eligible.
It's like discovering the backup emergency generator is wired to a dumpster fire.
Image credit: Governor-General of New Zealand via Wikimedia Commons, used under CC BY 4.0.
The Sussex Scenario
Which brings us back to Harry and Meghan. Because in this hypothetical nightmare, they are the last real buffer between the Crown and Andrew.
Would they accept the throne?
My gut says yes. Not because they crave power, but because they wouldn’t trust anyone else with it. Because reclaiming the institution might feel like reclaiming control of their legacy. Because protecting their children might mean protecting the monarchy.
But if Harry becomes King… then Meghan becomes Queen Consort.
And that would tear the UK in two.
An American. Biracial. Feminist. Politically outspoken. Who openly criticized the monarchy. Who has raised her children in California.
The optics would send royalists into a full-blown panic, and Parliament would act fast:
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Limiting Meghan’s role, or barring her from being Queen.
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Demanding the children move to England and be raised as public heirs.
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Possibly restricting dual citizenship in future monarchs.
And honestly? That’s the point where Meghan walks away.
She’d never allow her children to be handed over to the Crown. She'd protect them first. And Harry would face an impossible choice: take the throne without them, or give it up entirely.
My bet? He’d give it up.
The Children and the Line
And here’s the thing: simply stepping aside doesn’t automatically remove Harry’s children from the line of succession. Archie and Lilibet would still be eligible unless Parliament takes formal action.
But in this scenario, Harry doesn’t just walk away—he refuses to allow his children to be raised as royal heirs. He makes it clear that they will remain in the United States, live private lives, and will not be handed over to royal control.
That refusal would almost certainly trigger legal action to formally remove them from the line. Not as punishment, but because succession requires more than blood—it requires continuity, cooperation, and proximity to the institution.
That moment—when the Sussex children are disqualified based on their father's decision—sets a new precedent. And once that door is opened, it doesn’t close easily.
What About Beatrice and Eugenie?
Because if Archie and Lilibet are removed for not being raised within the monarchy, or because of their father’s refusal to cooperate, then people will absolutely ask:
“Should Beatrice and Eugenie be considered, when their father was cast out for behavior that damaged the monarchy far more than Harry’s departure ever did?”
They’ve done nothing wrong. But neither have Archie or Lilibet.
And that’s the tragedy of it: in a constitutional crisis, logic isn’t always fair. Precedent becomes policy. And policy becomes personal. The sins of the fathers ripple forward.
Which is why the debate wouldn’t just be about who’s eligible, but who’s politically survivable.
And it might push the monarchy to leap right over all of them.
The Edward and Sophie Option: Monarchy on Ice
Image credit: Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street via Wikimedia Commons, used under CC BY 2.0.
If the Crown needs a stabilizing force, it’s not Meghan. It’s not Andrew. It’s not even Beatrice.
It’s Prince Edward and Sophie.
They’ve been steady. Loyal. Scandal-free. Trusted.
They raised their children without royal titles. They did the work. They didn’t chase the spotlight. They were quietly present—and frankly, that’s what the monarchy would need in a full-blown crisis.
A King Edward IX and Queen Sophie moment would be a soft reset: elegant, noncontroversial, and designed to calm rather than conquer.
And Yet… Beatrice
Despite all of this—despite the legal chaos and political noise and emotional fallout—I keep coming back to Beatrice.
Image credit: Arnaud Bouissou / Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire via Wikimedia Commons, used under CC BY 2.0.
Because here’s the truth: Beatrice is quietly standing in the line of succession with every right to be there. She hasn’t abdicated. She hasn’t distanced herself from the Crown. She hasn’t disgraced the institution. She is, by birth and by law, a legitimate heir.
And that matters. We don’t get to just pick and choose who we like best, or who feels “safe” or “media-friendly.” That’s not how monarchy works. If we want the monarchy to mean something, then we have to respect the line, even when it surprises us. Especially when it surprises us.
And yet, Beatrice isn't just there by default. She might actually be the perfect choice.
Because she’s everything the modern monarchy could be:
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Quietly competent
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Deeply respectful
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Uninterested in fame
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And perfectly willing to serve
Imagine the press release:
“In accordance with the will of Parliament and the wishes of the late sovereign, Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York will be elevated to the role of Princess of Wales and heir to the Crown.”
Imagine the quiet dignity. The navy coat. The hint of Queen Elizabeth’s smile in her eyes.
She wasn't raised to be Queen. But if the world broke, and somehow, she was the one still standing?
I think she'd wear the crown just fine.
With Beatrice now established as the heir and Princess of Wales in this hypothetical world, the line of succession shifts, clean and strong:
Hypothetical Line of Succession (Post-Crisis)
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King Charles III
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Princess Beatrice of York (heir apparent)
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Miss Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi
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Miss Athena Mapelli Mozzi
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Princess Eugenie of York
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Master August Brooksbank
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Master Ernest Brooksbank
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Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
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James, Earl of Wessex
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The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
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Princess Anne, The Princess Royal
Why My Brain Does This
I know this is ridiculous. I read a simple headline about Prince George turning 12 and ended up mentally disqualifying half the royal family, instituting emergency succession reforms, and handing the crown to Princess Beatrice.
But that’s just how my brain works.
I see a tiny shift in a well-ordered system and suddenly I’m mapping out all the ripple effects. What starts as a passing detail becomes a thought experiment, and then a story, and then a rabbit hole of logic and intuition I can’t stop chasing.
Part of that is just who I am. But it’s also rooted in something deeper: my love of genealogy and English history. Large branches of my family tree lead back to England; some even to minor nobility. Obviously, I’m American and far removed from any of that. But the monarchy has always fascinated me. Not just the crowns and castles, but the systems, the transitions, and the fragile lines that hold it all together.
That’s why this post lives in the Strings & Theories category. It’s not a prediction. It’s not even a serious proposal. It’s just what happens when curiosity meets constitutional crisis. And honestly, I think it’s kind of fun.
TL;DR
I read an article about Prince George turning 12 and ended up spiraling through the entire British line of succession, gasping at Andrew, mentally rejecting Meghan’s coronation, disqualifying half the family, and landing squarely on Princess Beatrice.
It’s fine. My brain just does this.
Cover photo by Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street, used under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.