The Hereditary monarchy reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Hereditary monarchy

A Hereditary monarchy is the most common style of monarchy, and the form that is used by almost all of the world's existing monarchies.

Under a hereditary monarchy, all the monarchs come from the same family, and the crown is passed down from one generation to the next.

For example, when the king or queen of a hereditary monarchy dies, the crown will usually be passed to his or her eldest child. When that child dies it will be in turn passed to their eldest child, or a brother, cousin, or other relative. Hereditary monarchies sometimes arrange succession by primogeniture.

Compare elective monarchy.

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