When Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday afternoon, the crown was immediately passed on to her eldest son and heir, now King Charles III, as part of the United Kingdom’s constitutional monarchy system.
Charles is now king, Buckingham Palace said in a statement announcing Elizabeth’s death, though a coronation—traditionally held at Westminster Abbey—will be planned later to officially crown the new king (He took the regnal title of King Charles III, British Prime Minister Liz Truss said Thursday).
First in line to the throne is now Charles’ eldest son Prince William, who along with his wife Kate, are the most prominent representatives for the family.
Second in line is William’s 9-year-old son Prince George, who is an elementary school student beginning to take part in more engagements with his parents, having made his debut at the Wimbledon finals this year, a royal tradition (after George, next in the line of succession are his two young siblings, Princess Charlotte, age 7, and Prince Louis, age 4).
Next in line are Harry’s son and daughter with his American wife Meghan Markle, Archie (age 3) and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor (age 1), who all reside in California after Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.
After Charles’ children and grandchildren, the next in line for the throne is Elizabeth’s second son, 62-year-old Prince Andrew, who stepped back from royal duties in 2019 amid public outrage over his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein (in February, he settled a sex abuse lawsuit with one of Epstein’s accusers for an undisclosed sum).
Elizabeth died Thursday at Balmoral Castle, her privately-owned residence in Scotland, after Buckingham Palace announced earlier in the day that she had been placed under medical supervision by her doctors out of concern for her health.