Technically, this means that Beatrice is still placed behind Prince William and his three children, as well as Prince Harry and his son, Archie, and her father, Prince Andrew.
However, a royal expert recently explained that all it would take is one unfortunate incident before Beatrice ruling as monarch became a very real prospect.
The Telegraph’s royal editor Camilla Tominey was recently asked about a hypothetical scenario by a reader posing the nightmare question of what would happen if, for example, the Cambridges all perished in a tragic plane crash. Responding to the reader’s question, Camilla wrote: “God forbid indeed! It’s a very interesting question though.”
The simple answer is that if the entire Cambridge family was wiped out in an awful accident, the crown would fall to Prince Harry.
“As you correctly point out, Prince Harry is the next in line to the throne after Prince Louis, so theoretically he would inherit the crown from his father, Prince Charles,” she explained.
“The question, following Megxit, is whether he would actually want to?”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent decision to step down as senior royals and live an independent life abroad with Archie has thrown a spanner in the works.
So instead of Harry automatically becoming the next king, his “Megxit” decisions indicates he no longer wants to be a working royal. As a result, it’s now speculated that he would likely forgo his right to rule – and that his son would follow suit.
In this scenario playing out, Camilla goes on to explain that the next in-line to the throne would actually be Prince Charles’ younger brother, Prince Andrew.
She writes: “There is, therefore, an even more frightening prospect than the Cambridges all being wiped out in a helicopter or plane crash: Harry relinquishing his place in the line of succession – along with Archie’s – thereby leaving the Duke of York to become the next king!”
However, royalists are unequivocally adamant that the scandal-plagued prince would be unlikely to accept the role, instead opting to step aside for the greater good of the royal family.
“If he then passed up the chance,” Camilla adds, “we could be looking at Queen Beatrice I.”
As far as future monarch choices go, Princess Beatrice is generally regarded as being a sound choice.
Last month the princess married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a small and private ceremony, and among the wellwishers on the limited guest list was her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
It’s long been known that the Queen has a soft spot for her granddaughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.
If this unfortunate set of circumstances were to eventuate, it’s comforting to think that wherever the Queen was in this scenario, she’d be fully supportive of her granddaughter following in her footsteps to the throne.
