Editing Duke of Cornwall (section)

==Succession==
[[File:Flag of the Duke of Cornwall.svg|alt=|thumb|Standard of the duke]]The charter that established the estate on 17 March 1337 set out the rule that the duke and possessor of the estate would be the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch.<ref name="Charter"/> There were some deviations from this rule until a legal case (the Prince's Case) in 1606, which held that the rule should be adhered to.<ref name="Case">77 ER 481, 8 Coke Report 1a, [1606] EWHC Ch J6</ref>

When the estate is without a duke, the possessor is the monarch, even if the former duke left surviving descendants.<ref name="Charter"/> The monarch's grandson, even if he is the [[heir apparent]], does not succeed to the dukedom. Similarly, no female may ever be duke of Cornwall, even if she is [[heir presumptive]] or heir apparent (this being a distinct and even likely possibility in the future after the passage of the [[Succession to the Crown Act 2013]]), although a queen regnant without a son would be the de facto duke. However, if a duke of Cornwall should die without descendants (and also no sister between the two brothers if the younger one was born after 28 October 2011),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/20/enacted|title=Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}</ref> his next brother obtains the duchy, this brother being both the oldest living son and heir apparent.

It is possible for an individual to be [[prince of Wales]] and heir apparent without being duke of Cornwall. The title 'Prince of Wales' is the traditional title of the heir apparent to the throne, granted at the discretion of the sovereign (not automatically) and is not restricted to the eldest son.

For example, after the death of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], [[George II of Great Britain|George II]]'s heir apparent was his grandson George (Frederick's eldest son and the future [[George III]]). The young Prince George was created Prince of Wales but did not become Duke of Cornwall because he was the king's grandson, rather than his son. When the sovereign has no legitimate son, or when the heir apparent is not the sovereign's son, the estates of the duchy revert to the Crown until a legitimate son is born or until the accession of a new monarch who has a son.

[[James Francis Edward Stuart]], son of [[James II of England|James II]], was born Duke of Cornwall in 1688. Although his father lost the throne, James Francis Edward was not deprived of his own titles and honours as a result of his father's deposition. Instead, from the (prevailing) [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian]] perspective, it was as a result of his claiming his father's lost thrones that James was [[attainted]] for treason on 2 March 1702, and his titles were thus forfeited under [[English law]].<ref name=tcp>''[[Complete Peerage]]'': 'Duke of Cornwall'</ref> However, from the (minority) [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] perspective, on his father's death in 1701 the duchy was merged with the Crown.