The Royal Family: A Network to the Throne
The British royal family has always stood in the spotlight. However, the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II this past Thursday has led to increased international attention on the family and the ties that run within it. Looking at the graphic below, provided by the BBC, a network of connections in the family becomes visible.
The network of family ties centers on the marriage between the late Queen and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. From their marriage comes four bridges, or lines, leading to their four children, the now King Charles III, Anne, Princess Royal, Andrew, Duke of York, and Edward, Earl of Wessex. Each of the Queen’s children forms what is known as a node, a point at which the bridges intersect or connect in a network. Each of the Queen’s children’s nodes shares a bridge with their spouse(s). From these nodes, a connection is directed downwards to show the royal offspring stemming from the marriages. This pattern of mini-networks within the larger British royal family demonstrates the real-world use of networks and how connections can form in an organic matter.
To the point of more recent interest, the succession of the British monarchy, this network provides a clear path to demonstrate the line of succession. Using the bridges previously identified between the current monarch, King Charles III, and his offspring, we can determine the “distance” of each offspring from the Crown. For example, since King Charles III is the father of William, Prince of Wales, there exists a direct bridge between the two. Thus, William has a distance of 1 from the Crown, since there is only one line between him and the current monarch. William’s son, Prince George of Wales, has a bridge to his father, who then has a bridge to the King. Thus, Prince George of Wales has a distance, meaning the sum of bridges between two nodes, of two from the Crown, and is second-in-line for the position.
Works Cited:
- “Royal Family Tree: William Confirmed as Prince of Wales,” 9/9/2022, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23272491.