Age to be a King/Queen

[rchainho]

hi:

I 'm reading a book about Juan carlo's life and its says that the constitution has a law of 1947 that is written that the king of spain has to be 30 years old.
Do you know the age to be a king/queen in other countries?
thanks, maria

[norwegianne]

In Norway the King/Queen has to be off age, ergo 18, to reign, but there aren't any other rules than that in regards to his/her age.

[GrandDuchess]

I think it's 18 in Sweden as well, at that age the members of the Royal Family (the royal children for ex) can stand in for the King if necessary at any time.

[StoneCold]

The Monarch in the United Kingdom needs to be 18 or older if not then a Regent is named to do all the Royal Duties

[rchainho]

thanks to all for the informations.

[norwegianne]

I read Hello's profile on Albert and Philippe and it was said that Philippe was felt to be too young and inexperienced at the time of Baudoin's death to be the king - was this rooted in some law? Granted, Albert were before him in line...

[Marengo]

No, just rooted on speculation in the press if Albert would renounce his rights in favour of his son or not.

[norwegianne]

Ah, thanks.

[ysbel]

Isn't 18 a bit too young?

[galuhcandrakirana]

I think age of 18 is too young to have a king'/queen' duty, but he/she will have loads of help from other member of royal family and Royal courtier. I just feel sorry if he/she has to loose most of his/her youth "fun" time because of doing King'/queen' duty.

[Emilia]

In Belgium , the crownprince(princess) has to be 18 years before he/she can become king or queen . King Boudewijn became king when he was 18 . Ofcourse , this is to young , but legal .Until he was 18 , Prince Karel ( I think it was his uncle ) was regent of Belgium . Because Boudewijn and Fabiola didn't have children , Phillip became crownprince. But nobody expected the death of the King so early , and Phillip wasn't really ready do become King , so Albert took the place of his brother . In the past , all the man stayed kings until their death ( expect for Leopold the third ) . But I don't think Albert will do this.About 5 or 10 years , Phillip will be King , I think . Then he will be 50/55 year old .

[Jackswife]

Constantine of Greece was not quite 24 when he became King (and Anne-Marie became Queen of Greece at 18 later that same year !!!!) It's such an enormous responsibility being a monarch that it would seem likely that there are age limits. I did not know that about the Spanish regulation so thank you for sharing that. Very interesting.

[magnik]

How it is now?
- If ruler die and his/her heir/heiress apparent hasn't got 18years yet?
- Isn't this person a king/queen now, but with someone as a regent until the new ruler will have 18 (like it was with queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands or king Peter II of Yougoslavie)?

[ysbel]

The 18 year old age limit dates from a time when people grew up faster and died younger. I think the last British monarch to successfully take over the throne at 18 was Henry VIII. But the generals and statesmen running the country were all young too.

Before him Edward III was crowned as a child but he assumed the powers at 18. However, at 18, he had already led the English forces in battle several times. That was what was needed at that time for a King to gain respect of his subjects and rule effectively.

18 year olds today are not in the same league.

[Feberin]

I'm not sure about that I think 18 year old royals who are in line for the throne may be more mature then the average kid.

[galuhcandrakirana]

I don't know for sure if they are more mature than the other who in same age naturaly, but I am sure he/she has been prepared for Cp/CPs role (king/queen to be) since very early age...that makes them different with other teenage who mostly still are not sure (confuse) what are they going to do for their future career.

[BeatrixFan]

It depends on the individual I think. But young Kings and Queens cant be ready at a young age - as was proved with King Michael of Romania in his early reign. He was ousted in a very very unfair manner but to make him King at 5 years old? Ridiculous.

[lashinka2002]

Originally Posted by Feberin

I'm not sure about that I think 18 year old royals who are in line for the throne may be more mature then the average kid.

I don't know if they are necessarily more mature than the average kid but certainly they have more of a higher education that may give them the tools to seem more mature to the public eye when infact they may not be.

[norwegianne]

As long as 18 year olds are deemed mature enough to vote in general elections, and decide who runs the country, and old enough to be drafted into the military - then they're certainly old enough to act as head of state. Whether it is good for them and their potential family, is another matter.

[BeatrixFan]

I agree LaShinka. You can bet your life that Elizabeth, Margrethe and Beatrix all gave their sons waving lessons and taught them the tricks of the trade from a young age.