Two recent polls in Britain reveal that the British public would prefer Prince William to become the country's next king, rather than his father, Prince Charles, who is next in line. A YouGov poll published in the Sunday Times revealed that the majority of those polled believed that William would make a better king. An ICM poll showed that 64 percent of those polled would prefer to see William and his new bride-to-be, Kate Middleton, on the throne.
In January 2008, when Charles, Prince of Wales, was 59 years and 75 days old, he officially became the oldest, next-to-ascend king in Britain's history. Edward the VII waited almost as long for Queen Victoria to pass away in 1901. Charles is now 62 and still quietly awaits the opportunity to step up to the throne.
However, as Prince Charles ages, the British public believes more strongly than ever that he should step aside and let his son, Prince William Wales, take the throne on the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. William is now 28 and will be marrying Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.
The current line of succession in the House of Windsor is: Prince Charles; then his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry (officially Henry); Charles' brother Prince Andrew; then Andrew's daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie; Charles' brother Edward; then Edward's children, James and Louise; and, finally, Charles' sister, Princess Anne, rounds out the first 10 in line to the throne. If William becomes king and has children, his children will enter the succession line ahead of Prince Harry. Any of the royal line who marry or become a Catholic may ascend to the throne, and they would be removed from succession.
Prince William has expressed exasperation at continuing media speculation about his leap-frogging over his father in the succession. This speculation increased earlier this year when secret Treasury documents were leaked that showed that William would step up his Royal duties. William, however, has elected to remain in active military duty for another three years and professes no interest in increasing his public presence.




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