Do the kings and queens of England rotate king-queen-king-queen?

Answer 1

Answer I

No.

Generally the rule is that the oldest son of the late ruler should become monarch (or his children if he is dead). Failing sons, it will be the eldest daughter.

If there are no children at all, the oldest brother of the latest ruler and his children are next in line, then those of younger brothers, sisters.

If none of these exist, they go back further in time etc.

There are many exceptions though, for all kinds of reasons:

Stephen became king, even though the late king's daughter Matilda was still alive. This caused a bloody war known as the anarchy.

Matilda's son succeeded him though, not his own.

John became king, even though his elder brother's son was still alive (he had him killed quickly).

Henry IV took the throne while Richard II was still alive, as the oldest son of Richard's uncle John of Gaunt. Even if he had been dead, Edmund Mortimer had a better claim, as he was descended from Lionel, an older brother of John. Edmund was very young though and descended from this older uncle through a woman.

Edward IV took the throne of Henry's grandson Henry VI claiming he had the superior claim because he descended from Lionel.

His brother Richard III then claimed the throne at his death in 1483, even though Edward had both sons and daughters. The sons were probably killed (princes in the tower) and the daughters presented as not fit to inherit because Edward's marriage was now said to be illegitimate.

Then a very dubious claimant entered the contest. This was Henry Tudor, who descended through his mother from John of Gaunt's third marriage with Katherine Swynford. Since Katherine's children had been born before they were married they had been excluded from the succession, which Henry now denied. Richard's reputation was such though, that he gained enough support to defeat him in battle.

Henry VIII tried to work against this rule, but failed. He preferred the line of his younger sister to that of his oldest sister, which he tried to exclude. When his own line died out in 1603, though, it was the Stuart line of his oldest sister which prevailed.

The fourth king of this line, the catholic James II, was revolted against when he got a son through his second marriage. His oldest daughter, who had been raised a protestant, and her husband William III then took the throne.

After she and her sister Anne both had no surviving children, in 1714, they found a protestant king in George I, who was the great-grandson of the first Stuart king of England through his daughter Elizabeth. James II's successors were still alive, but as catholics barred from the throne.

Since then the 'proper' order had been followed.

Answer II

No. The rules have often been indefinite or unclear, but there has never been a rule specifying that kings should alternate with queens. Indeed, so long as there have been any rules of succession boys have always been preferred over their sisters.

Up until 1066 the king of the English was elected, though the nobles often had little practical choice about whom they could elect. Then William of Normandy invaded, murdered King Harold, deposed his elected successor Edgar, and made himself king. When he died his second son William Rufus seized the throne. When he died his younger bother Henry Beauclerk seized the throne. When he died the nobles elected his nephew Stephen King, but Henry's daughter Matilda attempted a coup and plunged the kingdom into civil war. When Stephen died Matilda's son Henry II Curtmantle seized the throne. When Curtmantle died his second son Richard seized the throne, and when he died Curtmantle's fourth son John seized it. When John died his infant son Henry III inherited the throne of England, the first person ever to do so.

After Henry III died the kingdom was inherited by a series of eldest sons, Edward I, II, and III. Then by the eldest son of Edward III's dead son. Then there was a coup, and Henry IV seized the throne, it was inherited by his son Henry V then by his infant son Henry VI. Then there was another coup, by Edward IV claiming to be the rightful heir of Richard II. Then a counter-coup. Then a counter-counter coup. Then Edward IV's dubiously-legitimate son Edward V inherited, then was deposed by Edward IV's brother Richard III. Then Henry Tudor invaded from France, conquered, murdered Richard III, seized the throne, and married Edward V's sister to establish a claim (luckily for Henry, Edward V was nowhere to be found: they blamed the late Richard III for murdering him). When Henry VII died his eldest surviving son Henry VIII inherited, and when he died Henry's daughter Mary I inherited and made England part of the kingdom of her husband, the King of Spain. When Mary died there was a coup and Jane was installed, and nine days later another coup that put Elizabeth I in charge. When she died the king of Scotland was the first relative to arrive at London, and was made king (James VI of Scotland and I of England). When he died his eldest son inherited. He was deposed and executed following a revolution. Some years later there was a coup that restored the monarchy and made Charles I's son Charles II king. When he died his brother inherited. Three years later there was a coup, James II fled, and his daughter Mary II and her cousin/husband William III Stadholder of the Netherlands were given the throne. When Mary II died William III ruled alone, and when he died Parliament appointed Mary II's Protestant sister Anne Queen over the heads of her Catholic brothers.

And that stage the English, sick of coups and wars of succession, and younger brothers seizing the throne instead of their nephews and older brothers, made a law of succession which for the first time laid down who exactly got to be king or queen (The Act of Settlement). That law has governed the succession ever since, except during a brief span 1936-1972 in which it was slightly modified to exclude Edward VIII (a.k.a. the Duke of Windsor) from the throne. But it will likely be amended soon to remove the distinction between sons and daughters.

Under the Act of Settlement, when the monarch died the heir was his or her eldest son, or if he or she has no sons, his or her eldest daughter. But if any person in the line of succession has died his or her children, if any, take his or her place, sons in order of age followed by daughters in order of age. So the line of succession after her present Majesty is first her eldest son Prince Charles, then Charles's elder son William Duke of Cambridge, then William's son George, then Charles' younger son Prince Harry, and then Charles' brother Andrew Earl of Wessex. Prince Andrew (and his descendants, and his brother prince Edward and his descendants) succeeds ahead of Anne the Princess Royal, even though she is older than he is, because brothers succeed ahead of their sisters.

However a new law (the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013) will mean that male heirs no longer take precedence. So in the future, the oldest child in any line will succeed, rather than males first.