ThinksMarkedly wrote:
Indeed. The opposition was trying to get her to remarry because the wording in the Constitution wasn't very clear. It could have been interpreted as "if you marry, it must be a commoner" or as "you must marry a commoner." Moreover, there was a question of who the father of the heir could be: had that to be a commoner? In the end, she pushed through an amendment (after Earl Breakwater's fall from grace) that the rule was the former: if she married while Queen, it would need to be a commoner. She didn't remarry at all, plus she used her late husband's stored sperm to make herself pregnant of future King David I.
But either way, it was never a question that a widow(er) was in line for the throne. So even if Caitrin Winton-Henke was removed from it as she married Edward Henke, she would have been reinstated after his death during Operation Hassan. And if Caitrin had had to abdicate her right in order to marry, that would usually apply to the offspring too, so Mike Henke wouldn't be in the line of succession in the first place.
One item we have not explored (nor has been mentioned in text AFIK), is if one or more of the members of the line of succession has declared that they have no interest in the throne. Michael could be an admiral now and have no interest in anything but the Navy and has publicly said so. Likewise with Caitrin - the death of her husband and son may have pushed her into a charity or other pursuit, and overall soured her on international politics causing her to she proclaim something similar.
So while not "officially" doing something to lose the seat, they have declared that they will pass it up if offered, since there are sufficient other claimants in line, and their personage should never be required to do so, as happened before.
However, this has not been discussed in the story, and should have been if this is true.