- Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at 96.
- Upon her death, her eldest son Charles automatically became the King of England.
- It also has knock-on effects on the line of succession to the British throne, which lists 23 royals.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II automatically set in motion consequential shifts for the line of succession to the British throne.
On Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced that the monarch "died peacefully" at her residence in Balmoral, Scotland, after earlier reporting that her private doctors had been concerned for her health. Senior members of the royal family, including her four children and grandsons, traveled to Scotland to be by her side before her death.
The Queen's death marks one of the most significant shifts in the line of succession to the British throne in the 70 years since she became Queen following the death of her father, King George VI.
As the king, Charles is no longer in the line of succession
As soon as the Queen died, her son Charles became the King of England. The shift removed him from being first in the line of succession, a place he has held since he was 3 years old.
That change has had a knock-on effect on the rest of the line of succession, which is regulated through descent and Parliamentary statute, according to the royal family's official website.
The list now includes 23 members of the royal family, from Prince William to Lucas Tindall, one of the Queen's great-grandsons.
Prince William, his children, and the rest of the royals have moved up in the line of succession
Until Thursday, Prince William was second in line. But following the Queen's death, he is now first in line to inherit the throne. Prince George, the firstborn son of William and Kate Middleton, is now second in line. His two younger siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, have become third and fourth respectively.
Prince Harry – who traveled to Balmoral separately from other members of the royal family to be with the Queen on Thursday – is now fifth in line. Prior to the Queen's death and the births of his nephews and niece, Harry had been third in line to the throne.
Other royals who have moved a place forward in the line of succession after the Queen's death include Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, the two children of Harry and Meghan Markle, who are now sixth and seventh in line to the throne respectively.
The Queen's only daughter is still significantly further back than her brothers
The Queen's only daughter, Princess Anne, remains further down in the line of succession than her younger siblings, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Andrew is 8th in line and Edward is 13th in line behind Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and their respective children, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi and August Brooksbank.
As reported by The Telegraph, this is due to her being born decades before a legislative act was put in place to abolish discriminatory male bias in the line of succession in 2013. According to the royal website, the act only applies to those born after October 28, 2011.
Anne is currently 16th in line to inherit the throne, ahead of her eldest son, Peter Phillips, and daughter, Zara Tindall.