Zara Tindall and her husband, Mike Tindall, are expecting their third child this year, and some have noticed the new baby could be affected by a change to a law passed a few years ago by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
After Mike Tindall announced the pregnancy on his podcast in December, royal fans have speculated whether the baby will be a boy or a girl.
In the episode of the podcast, Mike Tindall told listeners which he would prefer, saying that he will be happy whatever the sex of the baby but that he would like it to be a boy.
Mike revealed at the time: “I’d like a boy this time, I’ve got two girls, I would like a boy. I’ll love it whether a boy or a girl – but please be a boy.”
He added: “We haven’t told Mia yet because we knew she would tell everyone at school. Now that we’ve gone through the scan, yes (of) course we’ll tell her. She’ll be happy about it; she’s been requesting another sister or brother, so we’ve hopefully fulfilled that role for her. She just wants something different now.”
Zara and Mike Tindall already have two daughters — 7-year-old Mia and 2-year-old Lena — which means they could be expecting their first son.
If the new royal baby is a boy, it would also be the first time Princess Anne — the Queen’s daughter and Zara Tindall’s mother — has welcomed a grandson.
She currently has four granddaughters. At the moment, not much is known about when the baby is due. The Queen and Prince Philip expressed their “delight” at the news that they are expecting a tenth grandchild.
And under changes to the law, which were passed in 2013 by the Succession to the Crown Act, when a younger male is born into the royal family, he no longer takes immediate precedence over any older sisters.
The new law applies to members of the royal family born after October 2011. This means that sisters Mia and Lena Tindall will not be overtaken by their new sibling in the line of succession, even if he is a boy.
Under the new rules, when Zara Tindall’s baby is born, he will take David Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon’s position, and become the 21st in line to the throne.
The first and only member of the royal family to benefit from this new change so far is Princess Charlotte, who takes precedence over her younger brother, Prince Louis, and is fourth in line to the throne.
