British Royal Family
The sovereign, whether a king or queen, is first in the order of precedence. If the sovereign is male, then his wife, the queen consort, is first in the order of precedence for women. The reverse, however, is not always true. There is no solid law of precedence for a prince consort, so he is usually specially granted precedence above all other males by letters patent, or, on the other hand, may rank lower than the actual heir, his own son:
| The order of precedence for male members of the royal family is: | |
| The Sovereign | Whether male or female. |
| The Duke of Cornwall and of Rothesay | i.e. the Sovereign's eldest son. |
| The Sovereign's younger sons | Ordered according to their birth. |
| The Sovereign's grandsons | Ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
| The Sovereign's brothers | Ordered according to their birth. |
| The Sovereign's uncles | i.e. the brothers of the Sovereign's royal parent (through whom he or she inherited the throne); ordered according to their birth. |
| The Sovereign's nephews | i.e. the sons of the Sovereign's brothers and sisters; ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
| The Sovereign's cousins | i.e. the sons of the brothers and sisters of the Sovereign's royal parent (through whom he or she inherited the throne); ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
| The order of precedence for female members of the royal family is: | |
| The Queen | Whether regnant or consort. |
| Queens dowager | Ordered most recent consort first. |
| The Duchess of Cornwall and of Rothesay | i.e. the wife of the Sovereign's eldest son. |
| Wives of the Sovereign's younger sons | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's daughters | Ordered according to their birth. |
| Wives of the Sovereign's grandsons | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's granddaughters | Ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
| Wives of the sovereign's brothers | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's sisters | Ordered according to their birth. |
| Wives of the Sovereign's uncles | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's aunts | i.e. the sisters of the Sovereign's royal parent (through whom he or she inherited the throne); ordered according to their birth. |
| Wives of the Sovereign's nephews | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's nieces | i.e. the daughters of the Sovereign's brothers and sisters; ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
| Wives of the sovereign's cousins | Ordered according to their husbands' precedence. |
| The Sovereign's cousins | i.e. the daughters of the brothers and sisters of the Sovereign's royal parent (through whom he or she inherited the throne); ordered according to the rules of primogeniture. |
Read more about this topic: Orders Of Precedence In The United Kingdom
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“We may be scum, but at least we’re la crème de la scum.”
—Report on the British royal family. quoted in Sunday Times (London, Nov. 13, 1988)
“The British are a self-distrustful, diffident people, agreeing with alacrity that they are neither successful nor clever, and only modestly claiming that they have a keener sense of humour, more robust common sense, and greater staying power as a nation than all the rest of the world put together.”
—Quoted in Fourth Leaders from the Times (1950)
“Oh, I know my family’s not of royal blood, but you needn’t throw it in my face all the time.”
—Robert N. Lee. Rowland V. Lee. Queen Elyzabeth (sic)
“It is as when a migrating army of mice girdles a forest of pines. The chopper fells trees from the same motive that the mouse gnaws them,—to get his living. You tell me that he has a more interesting family than the mouse. That is as it happens.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)