TITLE II — THE CROWN, THE SOVEREIGN HOUSE AND DYNASTIC SUCCESSION
Chapter One — The Crown and the Sovereign
Article 13 — The Nature of the Crown
The Crown of Carlisne is hereditary, permanent and indivisible.
It may not be held simultaneously by more than one person.
The Sovereign Prince or Princess embodies the continuity of the State and exercises the prerogatives constitutionally attached to sovereignty.
Article 14 — Accession to Sovereignty
Entitlement to succeed to the Crown does not, of itself, confer the status of reigning Sovereign.
Effective accession to sovereignty takes place exclusively upon a duly performed coronation.
Until that coronation, the powers associated with a vacancy of the Throne are exercised by the Chancellery, in accordance with Title III.
Article 15 — Dynastic Equality
The Crown passes without distinction as to sex.
Women and men have equal rights of eligibility, designation, representation and dynastic succession.
No preference for either sex may be introduced into the order of succession.
Chapter II — The Sovereign House and Dynastic Unions
Article 16 — Dynastic Marriage
A dynastic marriage is a matrimonial union officially recognised by the Crown for its effects upon succession.
The civil validity of a marriage is distinct from its dynastic recognition.
The conditions and procedures for such recognition are laid down by organic law.
Article 17 — Exclusivity of the Dynastic Spouse
A member of the Sovereign House may have only one dynastically recognised spouse at any one time.
The existence of other civil marriages, where permitted by the applicable legislation, shall confer no dynastic rights of succession upon them.
The dynastically recognised spouse bears the title of Prince Consort or Princess Consort, as appropriate.
Article 18 — Status of the Consort
The consort performs the ceremonial, representative and institutional functions recognised by the Constitution and organic law.
The consort may be entrusted with representative or advisory duties within the limits of duly granted delegations.
Marriage alone confers no independent power of promulgation, veto, military command, parliamentary dissolution or nuclear decision-making upon the consort.
Article 19 — Other Spouses and Honorary Titles
The Sovereign's other civil spouses may be granted personal honorary titles.
Such titles confer no right to the Crown, no political or territorial power and no hereditary prerogative.
Their conferment, precedence in protocol and possible withdrawal are governed by organic law.
Chapter III — Conditions of Dynastic Eligibility
Article 20 — Dynastic Parentage
Subject to the special provisions concerning succession by the surviving spouse and collateral branches, descendants called to succeed must satisfy the dynastic conditions laid down by this Constitution.
In the case of children of a reigning Sovereign, eligibility requires descent from the Sovereign's dynastically recognised marriage and genetic parentage from both spouses.
The methods of proof and permissible medically assisted procedures are determined by organic law.
Article 21 — Conception After Coronation
As a general rule, the Sovereign's children may claim succession only if conceived after the Sovereign's coronation.
A child conceived before coronation remains excluded from ordinary succession, even if born after it.
This exclusion may be lifted only through the exceptional procedure for dynastic reinstatement provided for in Article 26.
Article 22 — Children of Non-Dynastic Unions
Children born of cohabitation, a non-marital union or a marriage lacking dynastic recognition may not claim the Crown solely by virtue of their parentage with the Sovereign.
They retain their civil and property rights in accordance with the applicable legislation.
They may receive personal honorary titles, carrying no political, territorial or dynastic succession powers.
Chapter IV — Designation and Reinstatement of Heirs
Article 23 — Designation of the Heir
The Sovereign may freely designate an heir from among their dynastically eligible children, without distinction as to sex or any obligation to choose the eldest.
The designation shall be made by an official, solemn and authenticated instrument.
It becomes valid only upon ratification by the Chamber of Peers.
Article 24 — Ratification of the Designation
The designation of the heir is ratified by an absolute majority of all weighted votes in the Chamber of Peers.
The Chamber of Peers may not substitute a candidate of its own choosing for the Sovereign's nominee.
If a new designation is rejected, the last duly ratified designation remains valid, provided that the heir remains eligible.
Article 25 — Succession in the Absence of a Designation
In the absence of a valid designation, succession is determined by absolute primogeniture among dynastically eligible descendants.
Succession by representation applies under the conditions laid down by organic law.
In the absence of eligible descendants, succession is sought among dynastically recognised collateral branches, in accordance with the applicable constitutional rules.
Article 26 — Exceptional Reinstatement
A child normally excluded from succession because they were conceived before coronation may exceptionally be reinstated upon the Sovereign's proposal.
Such reinstatement requires approval by at least three quarters of all weighted votes in the Chamber of Peers.
It is conditional upon the child satisfying the marital and genetic requirements of dynastic parentage.
Reinstatement restores the succession eligibility of the person concerned and of their dynastically eligible descendants.
It is final and may be annulled only by a judicial decision based on decisive fraud or a substantial legal irregularity.
Reinstatement does not automatically confer the status of first-ranking heir and may not prejudice succession priorities specifically protected by the Constitution.
Chapter V — Succession by the Surviving Spouse
Article 27 — Succession Priority of the Surviving Spouse
Upon the death of the Sovereign Prince or Princess, their surviving dynastically recognised spouse is first called to the Crown.
The spouse becomes the reigning Sovereign only after coronation.
The heir previously designated and ratified retains priority of entitlement to the following succession, under the conditions laid down by the Constitution.
Article 28 — Renunciation by the Surviving Spouse
The surviving spouse may freely renounce the Crown before coronation.
Such renunciation must be express, personal, written and authenticated.
It may not be inferred from absence, silence or inactivity.
In the event of renunciation, the first-ranking dynastic heir is called directly to the Crown.
Article 29 — Time Limit for Coronation
The coronation of the surviving spouse should normally take place within ninety days following the Sovereign's death.
This period is indicative.
Its expiry may not result in any automatic forfeiture of succession rights.
The Chancellery ensures the continuity of the State until coronation or until a new entitlement to succeed is duly established.
Article 30 — Remarriage of a Spouse Who Has Become Sovereign
A surviving spouse who has become Sovereign may enter into a new dynastically recognised marriage.
Eligible descendants of this new union may enter the order of succession.
However, the heir duly designated and ratified during the reign of the first Sovereign, together with that heir's dynastically eligible descendants, retain the succession priority specifically guaranteed by the Constitution.
This priority may not be displaced by a new designation.
Chapter VI — Renunciation, Abdication and Vacancy
Article 31 — Renunciation by Heirs
Any person called to succeed may personally renounce their dynastic rights by a written and authenticated instrument.
Renunciation may be withdrawn before the opening of the succession concerned, under the conditions laid down by organic law.
Personal renunciation does not entail the loss of the independent rights of eligible descendants.
Article 32 — Abdication of the Sovereign
The Sovereign Prince or Princess may freely abdicate by a solemn, written, authenticated and publicly announced declaration.
Abdication takes effect on the date duly specified in that declaration or, failing such specification, upon its proclamation.
It opens the succession in accordance with the constitutional provisions.
Article 33 — Absence and Inactivity
The absence, unavailability or inactivity of a Sovereign, a spouse called to the Crown or an heir constitutes neither death, abdication nor renunciation.
No period of inactivity, including in Second Life, may automatically entail the loss of dynastic rights.
The measures necessary for administrative continuity are organised by the Constitution, without any automatic transfer of the Crown.
Article 34 — Absence of an Eligible Heir
Where no dynastically eligible heir can be identified, the Throne remains vacant.
The Chancellery ensures the continuity of the State and arranges for succession enquiries to continue under the conditions laid down by organic law.
The absence of an identified heir entails neither the abolition of the monarchy nor the conferment of the Crown upon a person outside the dynastic order.
Chapter VII — Safeguards of Succession
Article 35 — Protection of the Order of Succession
No authority may alter the order of succession except through the procedures provided for by the Constitution.
Successions definitively completed and coronations duly performed benefit from the protection afforded by the continuity of the State.
Succession disputes are submitted to the competent courts, in compliance with the rules governing referral to the Constitutional Court.
Article 36 — The Dynastic Register
The Chancellery maintains the official register of the Sovereign House and the order of succession.
It records recognised dynastic marriages, ratified designations, renunciations, abdications, reinstatements and other dynastic acts provided for by law.
Publication of official acts shall respect the protection of personal and medical data.
Article 37 — The Dynastic Organic Law
An organic law determines the arrangements for implementing this Title, in particular the procedures for recognition of marriages, verification of parentage, designation of heirs, reinstatement, renunciation and coronation.
It may not alter the constitutional conditions of eligibility or the ratification majorities established by this Constitution.
Article 38 — Permanence of Dynastic Succession
Succession to the Crown takes place in accordance with monarchical continuity, dynastic equality between the sexes and the constitutional conditions of eligibility.
No person may accede to sovereignty solely through force, an administrative decision or a proclamation lacking a constitutional basis.
A duly performed coronation remains the constitutive act of accession to the Throne.