This Royal Family member has been removed from the line of succession to the throne

Edward ‘Eddy’ Windsor, Lord Downpatrick is a distant cousin of King Charles III and he no longer has a claim to the throne.

Who is Edward ‘Eddy’ Windsor, Lord Downpatrick?

Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick, is the grandson of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and second in line to inherit his title. However, ‘Eddy’, as he’s affectionately known, made a decision that changed his future.

Edward ‘Eddy’ Windsor was born on 2nd December 1988 to the Earl and Countess of St Andrews. Like many royals, he attended Eton College and then went to Oxford.

Lord Downpatrick started his career as a JP Morgan financial analyst, per MyLondon. He currently works as a fashion designer, co-founding his own label, FIDIR.

The Royal is close friends with his cousin Princess Beatrice, who also worked as an analyst before becoming Vice-President at Afiniti.com.

On being born royal, Lord Downpatrick said:

It’s complete luck that it happens to be you, but it’s quite cool that it has.

Losing his spot in the Line of Succession

With King Charles’ slimmed-down monarchy, it is believed that the public will see fewer Royal Family members making appearances on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. According to MyLondon, only senior members of the family will appear before the public. Therefore, it is unlikely to see Lord Downpatrick on the balcony again, but there's another reason for this.

Lord Downpatrick is the most senior royal to have lost his place in the Line of Succession. He would have been 42nd in line to the throne after his father. But having followed in his grandmother’s footsteps and converted to Roman Catholicism during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, he is no longer eligible to be King.

Why? It has to do with the Act of Settlement 1701. According to Express, the Act of Settlement stipulates that only Protestants are eligible to succeed to the throne.

It also stated that any Royal marrying a Roman Catholic would have lost their place in the Line of Succession. When Prince Michael of Kent married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, a Roman Catholic, he lost his claim to the throne.

However, the Succession to the Crown Act (2013), among other things, changed this rule, and Prince Michael was restored to his rightful place in the Line of Succession.

Now that he is no longer listed in the Line of Succession when the title Duke of Kent is bestowed upon him, it will no longer be a royal Dukedom, which means that he will be styled as His Grace, the Duke of Kent, rather than His Royal Highness.

Sources used:

- MyLondon: 'The Queen's relative who was removed from the line of succession but will inherit another huge title'

- Express:'Why was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent's son removed from the line of succession?'

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