What would happen if the heir to the British Throne was gay?

[CurlewKate]

I wonder if there are contingency plans. Would he or she appoint an heir? Would there be a King/Queen and a King/Queen Consort? How would the GBP receive the idea? I’m sure that in the past he or she would have been pressured. Into a lavender marriage, but pretty sure that wouldn’t happen these days…. Is there any precedent in the House of Lords?

It would go to the next in line upon their death or abdication, most likely a sibling or niece/nephew.

Norhing. When they die the next in line would take the throne. Probably their sibling or siblings child.
I think it would be accepted quite easily.

You do know gay people can have children too? Sperm donor and surrogacy are a thing.

if Will was gay or didn’t have kids then died it would have gone to Harry after him, if Harry had left then Andrew. If Andrew was dead by then, then his eldest daughter.

They’d produce a baby via surrogate.

this will have undoubtedly have already happened. They’ll marry some poor sucker who’ll participate in the child creation process, whilst carrying out their preferred lifestyle offline. Much like Charles / Camilla / Diana although obviously that was for different reasons

The rules around the succession are antiquity and complicated, as it stands both sperm donation & surrogacy would prohibit the child from line of succession.

There would undoubtedly be a constitutional crisis why they wrestled with this but ultimately the throne would simply pass to the next in line.

I think it traditionally involved a poker...

There's always a line of succession. When someone is described as "X in line to the throne" that's what it means.

There have been gay monarchs before, some of whom chose to marry and procreate while keeping their male relationships too. Others died childless and the crown went to the next o line.

ive just read and it says surrogacy is not allowed but sperm donation is, the rule is that baby has to come out of mums body to be eligible. Ick. I will say the royal family have told plenty of lies before so I can imagine them keeping it quiet.

Edward II was gay and it didn’t end well for him…

Why would they need to 'appoint an heir'? Lots of monarchs have died without producing an heir. The throne just goes to the next in line, which historically will usually have been a brother or nephew.

I think that the public would accept a gay monarch but I’m not sure that they’d accept the partner appearing in public with the monarch. I can’t see papers like the DM having a photo of the wedding day kiss on their front page never mind mild PDA like holding hands.

I thought it had to be a “child of their blood”-am I wrong about that?

Damn-I had momentarily forgotten about the line of succession. Not as interesting as I hoped. Still, I imagine the grey suits would be scurrying round for a while.

This. The same procedure as if they had died without having children for any other reason.

He or she would be the head of the CofE and wouldn't be able to get married, other than a fake straight marriage. Without being married he or she wouldn't be able to have a legitimate heir before you get to the question of surrogacy or adoption and what that means for legitimacy in the line of succession.

Plenty of kings have had sons that couldn't inherit. Even Henry VIII, although the idea of Henry Fitzroy being named heir was explored.

Look at the number of second sons and unexpected women who have actually been monarch. I think the line of succession would take over or there would be change made to accommodate surrogacy as long as one parent was the person on the throne.

Don't like surrogacy and not going to pretend that I do, but this is a hypothetical argument,

A few years ago, the Japanese royal family was having real trouble producing a (male) heir. The princess ended up with mental health issues due to the pressure.

Their options were:
change the law to allow for a female heir
change the line of succession
adopt a male child

They were actually going for option 3 rather than allow a girl to inherit! I don’t know if IVF or something similar was involved but she did eventually have a baby boy.

I guess the British Royals might do adoption.

Same as if they didn't have a child for any other reason. It would go to the next in line. An interesting one would be what would happen if they adopted a child?

They wouldn't inherit, like adopted children of the aristocracy can't inherit the titles.

Not vouching for the rights and wrongs of this, but that is how it stands currently.

People are posting as if this is not legally decided already. An adopted child would not be in the Line of Succession. The crown will always pass to the next in line, which is very clearly laid out.

I very much doubt the royals would adopt a child. The adopted child wouldn't be eligible for a title, but even if that were changed can you imagine the problems with people prying into the child's background and digging up all sorts of stories about their birth family. With the internet and social media there would be no way to contain speculation and it wouldn't be fair on the child.

Edward II married a bitch. Her father murdered those poor Templars for their money. Her whole family line was cursed.

If the monarch has no legitimate kids, it goes to the next in line. Many kings and queens, even those who married, died without legitimate issue. There are plenty of legitimate Windsors so no need to panic.

These are excellent points, thank you.