Royal succession bill passes

Stuff reports:

New Zealand is now able to have a Queen regardless of whether she has younger brothers, after Parliament passed a new law changing the rules of royal succession.

The Royal Succession Bill puts in place changes that were agreed in 2011 by the 16 realms who share the Queen as head of state.

All realms, including New Zealand, must have the same succession laws. …

Changes to the royal succession rules mean the order of succession will no longer be based on gender and will allow an elder daughter to precede a younger son as heir to the throne.

This rule will apply to any children in the line of succession born after October 28, 2011, including the recently born Prince George of Cambridge.

Assuming most Monarchs will live to 100 or so, Prince Charles will probably become King in around 2026 at the age of 78. Prince William may become King around 2048 at the age of 66 and Prince George become King around 2082 at the age of 69.

I supported this law change, but it is interesting to consider who would be King of New Zealand if this law change has applied from 1840 onwards.

Queen Victoria would have been succeeded by her daughter Victoria (Princess Royal) in 1901. Queen Victoria II would have reigned for eight months until August 1901 and then her son would have been King Wilhelm I (also Kaiser Wilhelm II) reigning until 1941. The King Wilhelm II would have reigned from 1941 to 1951. After that it would be King Louis Ferdinand I (who unlike his father did not support the Nazis) from 1951 to 1994. The current King of New Zealand would probably be King Friedrich Wilhelm who was born in 1939.