The royal number eleven

Prince Laurent of Belgium is fifty today.  The boy who was born third in line for the throne of his country is now a bit part player in the royal scheme of things.  Number eleven on the list when it comes to handing out the crown, Laurent will never be king and will see his royal role slimmed down in the years to come as the children of his brother, Philippe, take on greater duties as they get older.  But for the time being he has a pretty special place among Europe's royals because only three other people can claim to be number eleven in the line of succession.  Half of Europe's royal houses run out of people with dynastic rights before they get that far.

 

Prince Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie of Belgium, born October 19th 1963, and eleventh in line to his country's throne.  If he gets tired of being royal there's always work as a Joe Pesci lookalike

 

No such problems in the United Kingdom where the line of succession runs into thousands with most of Europe's monarchs tucked in their somewhere along the line with a very distant claim to a crown other than their own.  Currently at number eleven in this never ending hit parade of royals is the Princess Royal.  Anne was third in line to the throne on the day of her birth in 1950 and briefly jumped into the number two slot on her mother's accession as queen before starting a slow but steady slide downwards with the arrival of Prince Andrew in 1960.  The birth of Prince George of Cambridge put her outside the top ten for the first time and she became the first of Elizabeth II's children to be more than ten places removed from the British throne.

 

 

Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, looking particularly happy

 

Just two more countries have an official number eleven in their line of succession.  In Denmark, Queen Margrethe's sister, Princess Benedikte, is eleventh in waiting for her country's crown.  The Danish constitution limits the succession to the descendants of King Christian X who ruled from 1912 to 1947 but they have to have their marriages approved by the monarch in the Council of State.  And then Margrethe, or Fred when his turn comes, can add other rules.  Benedikte was asked to bring her children up in Denmark for a set period of time but that didn't happen so they don't get a chance to be king or queen.  But as their mum is number eleven, they're not really missing out.

 

 

Princess Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid of Denmark otherwise known as Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is last but one in the Danish line of succession

 

And also able to present an eleventh in line to the throne is Spain.  The constitution limits the possibles there to the successors of King Juan Carlos I and his descendants make it as far as number eleven before running out.  Currently propping up the royal pile in Spain is Irene Urdangarín, the youngest daughter of the Infanta Cristina and her husband, Inaki.  The little cousin born just four and a bit months after her, Leonor, will one day be queen of Spain but Irene has little chance of ever following in her footsteps. 

 

 

Irene de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbon, sixth grandchild of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, was born ninth in line to the throne and is now eleventh

 

And then we run out of number elevens.  There are eight people in line to the throne of the Netherlands, seven in the Norwegian line and just four who are able to inherit in Sweden (although that will go up to five in March 2014 when Princess Madeleine's baby is born). Monaco has just nine and Luxembourg has eight.  So Laurent can take comfort from the knowledge that while he'll never be his country's king, he holds a place in European royalty that not many others can claim.