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There are seventeen people in the line of succession to the Belgian throne.
The monarch is considered to have acceded to the throne upon her/his taking of the oath as required by article 91 of the constitution.
Since 1991, Belgium practises absolute primogeniture among the descendants of King Albert II (then Prince of Liège). Descendants of earlier monarchs and princes are only eligible to succeed if male and descended from King Leopold I in male-line (i.e. according to agnatic primogeniture), meaning that descendants of all Belgian princesses not descended from Albert II are barred from the throne. There are no living princes of Belgium who are not descended from Albert II, so agnatic primogeniture de facto no longer applies, and the right to succeed is effectively limited to Albert II's descendants. [1] [2]
A person is deprived of his or her rights to the crown if he or she marries without the consent of the monarch (or the consent of those exercising the monarch's powers). The lost right may be re-established by the monarch (or by those exercising the monarch's powers) in the event of parliamentary agreement. [3] Should there be no eligible descendant of King Leopold I, the reigning monarch may name his or her heir presumptive with the approval of the Parliament, but if she or he doesn't name the heir presumptive, the throne would eventually become vacant. [4]
In the case of a vacancy, Parliament would appoint a Regent (see below), then elections would happen within two months, and the new sitting of Parliament would jointly appoint the next monarch. [5]
When King Albert II's daughter Astrid married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este in 1984, agnatic primogeniture being in effect, she had no succession rights and therefore did not seek the consent to her marriage. Following the introduction of absolute primogeniture among her father's descendants in 1991, it was deemed that she had obtained the necessary consent and thus assumed her place in the line along with her children. [2]
When Prince Amedeo married in 2014, it was reported that he did not ask his uncle King Philippe's permission, [6] and had therefore lost his right to the Belgian throne. However, on November 12, 2015, a Royal Decree was published which showed that consent had been given after the marriage retroactively. [7]
In October 2020 the Belgian Court of Appeals granted the title of Princess to Delphine Boël, the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II, but because of her bastardy, she did not enter the line of succession. Since she was born in 1968 after her three legitimate half-siblings she would not displace any of her kin regardless and would only come after her half-nephew Prince Aymeric. [8]
No foreign head of state may become Belgian monarch, unless both Houses of Parliament separately agree to it, two-thirds of the Members being present in each House, and a two-thirds majority being required in each House. [9]
In Belgium, unlike in most other European monarchies where the succession is automatic, there is an interregnum between each monarch's demise and his successor's accession. This is because a monarch can only accede to the throne after taking an oath during a joint session of both Houses of Parliament. [10]
The oath is prescribed as follows: "I swear to observe the Constitution and the laws of the Belgian people, to maintain national independence and territorial integrity." [10]
Upon the monarch's death, both Houses of Parliament convene within ten days with no convocation and, until a successor takes the oath of office, the Ministers jointly fulfil the constitutional duties of the monarch under their own responsibility. [11]
If the monarch is prevented from reigning or is a minor, the Houses of Parliament jointly designate a Regent, who enters into office by taking the above oath. There can only be one Regent. [12]
King Albert II (born 1934) 
King Philippe (born 1960) 
The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces.
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relative. In most contexts, it means the inheritance of the firstborn son ; it can also mean by the firstborn daughter, or firstborn child.
Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prince Lorenz of Belgium, head of the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is fifth in line of succession to the Belgian throne.
The 1810 Act of Succession is one of four Fundamental Laws of the Realm and thus forms part of the Swedish Constitution. The Act regulates the line of succession to the Swedish throne and the conditions which eligible members of the Swedish royal family must abide by in order to remain in it.
The line of succession to the Norwegian throne consists of people entitled to become head of state of Norway.
The Danish Act of Succession, adopted on 5 June 1953, restricts the throne to those descended from Christian X and his wife, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, through approved marriages. By a change in the law in 2009, succession is governed by absolute primogeniture.
Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.
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The House of Habsburg-Este, also known as the House of Austria-Este and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este, is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. After the death of Ercole III in 1803, the Modena ruling branch of the Este family's male line ended, and the Habsburg-Este line subsequently inherited his possessions in what is now Italy.
Amedeo of Austria-Este (Habsburg-Lorraine), Prince of Belgium, is a grandson of King Albert II of Belgium, and thus a member of the Belgian royal family. He is also heir-apparent to the headship of the House of Austria-Este, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is sixth in line to the throne of Belgium.
Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este is a member of the Belgian royal family as the husband of Princess Astrid of Belgium. He is the head of the House of Austria-Este, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine; he has held this position since 1996.
Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este, was the second son of Charles I, (beatified) last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He was also known as Robert Karl Erzherzog von Österreich.
Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este was an Italian princess, the first-born child of Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, and Princess Anne d'Orléans.
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a European royal house. It takes its name from its oldest domain, the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and its members later sat on the thrones of Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, and the United Kingdom and its dominions.
An order, line or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. This sequence may be regulated through descent or by statute.
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The House of Hohenberg is an Austrian and Czech noble family that descends from Countess Sophie Chotek (1868–1914), who in 1900 married Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1863–1914), the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As their marriage was a morganatic one, none of their children was in the line of succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Nevertheless, they represent the senior agnatic line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
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Depuis 1991, une femme peut donc être chef d'Etat en Belgique, à condition d'être une descendante directe de l'actuel Roi Albert II.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)The Belgian Constitution, coordinated version 1994 including later revisions (in French)