What is Heir apparent?
An '''heir''' (female: ''heiress'') is a person who has [[inheritance|inherited]] something after the original owner's death. It is often a child after a parent dies.<ref>Richard Burn; John Burn, ''A New Law Dictionary'' (London: printed by A. Strahan and W. Woodfall, for T. Cadell, 1792), p. 423</ref> ''Heir apparent'' and ''heir presumptive'' usually refer to someone who will inherit a royal or noble title: :An '''heir apparent''' is someone who will [[:wikt:inherit|inherit]] at the death of the present title-holder.<ref>''The Manual of Rank and Nobility, or Key to the Peerage'' (London: Saunders and Otley, 1828), p. 43</ref> ::A '''Crown Prince''' is an heir apparent to the [[throne]] in a [[monarchy]].<ref>Jeremy Paxman, ''On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families'' (New York : PublicAffairs, 2008), p. 103</ref> :An '''heir presumptive''' is someone who may inherit unless someone with a better [[:wikt:claim|claim]] under the rules of [[:wikt:succession|succession]] is found.<ref>John Almon; John Debrett; et al., ''The Parliamentary register: or, History of the proceedings and debates of the House of Lords ... during the 14th-[18th] Parliament[s] of Great Britain [1774-1803]'' (London: Printed for J. Almon, 1775-1804), p. 75</ref> *[[King Charles III]]'s oldest son is [[Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge|Prince William]], who is thus the heir apparent of the [[British monarchy]]. *Prince Bertil of Sweden was the heir presumptive to his nephew [[Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden|King Carl XVI Gustav]]. The King's son, [[Prince Carl Philip of Sweden|Prince Carl Philip]] became heir apparent when he was born, but when in 1980 the law of succession changed, his sister [[Princess Victoria of Sweden|Princess Victoria]] became the world's first heiress apparent. ==Monarchies that have used the title== *[[Prussia]] *[[Japan]] *[[Sweden]] *[[Denmark]] *[[Greece]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Royalty and nobility]] [[Category:Monarchy]]