The last few years have brought an unusually large number of royal weddings, and now those royal couples are having an unusually large number of royal babies.  Five Crown Princes and Princesses are having babies in 2005, and only one has been born so far.  The Crown Princes of Spain and Denmark, who are good friends, were married within weeks of each other in May 2004, and they will also become fathers at about the same time.  The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark, Prince Frederik and the former Mary Donaldson, are expecting their first child in late October.  The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Spain (also known as the Prince and Princess of Asturias) are expecting their first child in November.  

An important issue for the royal families of Europe is the question of whether females should be treated equally in the line of succession, rather than being passed over in favor of younger brothers (if not more distant male relatives).  Many countries have considered changing this rule, and it is hard to keep up with who has actually done so.  Egalitarian Sweden changed its rule in 1979, when the government realized that the baby Prince Carl Philip had displaced his older sister Victoria in the line of succession.  Britain�s Labour government keeps saying it will make the change, but has not yet done so.  (It was said that the Queen supported the change, so that in the event of an accident befalling Prince Charles and his sons, the Duchess of York would not eventually become Queen Mother.) 

The question of female succession has important implications for the lives of the children who are about to be born to the Crown Princes of Spain and Denmark.  Neither country has yet changed the rule, and in fact the Crown Prince of Spain has two older sisters, who have six children between them.  Spain is a traditional and patriarchal society, and probably will not change the rule any time soon.  Denmark may not bother changing the law if the Crown Prince and Crown Princess have a boy.  If they have a girl followed by a boy, as happened in the Swedish royal family, the government of Denmark would probably follow Sweden�s lead and change the law.  As reigning monarchs never marry each other anymore, the expected babies might grow up to marry each other only if they turn out to be a Spanish princess and a Danish prince.   

The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway, Haakon and Mette-Marit, are expecting their second child in December.  Their first child is a daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born in 2004.  Norway has changed the law of succession, so if Ingrid gets a baby brother she will still become queen.  The King of Norway has two older sisters, and the Crown Prince has an older sister, but the 1990 change to the law of succession did not affect their positions.  In a sign of the close ties between these royal families, the Crown Princes of Denmark and Spain are two of Princess Ingrid�s godparents, even though the Crown Prince of Spain is Catholic and the Norwegian royal family is Lutheran.  Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit also has a son, Marius, from a previous relationship, so Princess Ingrid is in the very unusual position of being a future queen regnant with an older brother, and maybe a younger brother soon.