European Monarchs-in-Waiting

The number of monarchs in Europe has declined over the years, and now appears to have stabilized at a workable nine. How will the monarchial situation look in the next 30 years? Let's see.

So barring any weirdness, in the coming decades Europe's monarchical scene will actually get less diverse, with only two women currently poised to inherit a throne. Interestingly, it is the Netherlands who will experience the most significant change. For the first time in over a century they will have a male monarch.

Once this current generation of monarchs all dies or abdicates, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg will be the youngest monarch in Europe. Although that's also how it is right now.

Another item worth noting is that many of the current crown princes of Europe have unusual (by monarchical standards) marriage backgrounds. Many are married to foreigners, and a couple have even been divorced.

There are also a lot of babies who are presently second-in-line to the European thrones. Only the Crown Princess of Sweden and the Crown Prince of Luxembourg have not yet married, and thus have no kids presently in the order of succession. All the other crown princes and princesses do, however, which means that if there was ever some sort of big terrorist attack that killed all the reigning European monarchs and heirs apparent, five countries would have babies as their new Head of State.