Heir Apparent

The term heir apparent is most often used to refer to someone who is first in the order of succession to a throne and who cannot lose this status by the birth of any other person. It is also used less formally to indicate someone who is an apparent successor to a non-royal position of power, e.g., a political or corporate leader.

Pretender

Where a monarchy has been abolished, it is customary not to refer to claimants to the throne as Heir Apparent or Heir Presumptive but as Pretender. However an Heir Apparent at the time of the abolition of a throne is by custom still referred to as such. But his or her descendants are not described as such. Similarly while it is customary to refer to a Crown Prince born during the existence of a throne by his or her title, their descendants are generally not known, except by extreme royalists, by a title they had not personally been awarded prior to the abolition of the monarchy.

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