<P> Upon William's death, Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland . Because the Parliament of England settled on Sophia, Electress of Hanover as Anne's heir - presumptive without consulting Scottish leaders, the Estates of Scotland retaliated by passing the Scottish Act of Security . The Act provided that, upon the death of Anne, the Estates would meet to select an heir to the throne of Scotland, who could not be the same person as the English Sovereign unless numerous political and economic conditions were met . Anne originally withheld the Royal Assent, but was forced to grant it when the Estates refused to raise taxes and sought to withdraw troops from the Queen's army . England's Parliament responded by passing the Alien Act 1705, which threatened to cripple Scotland's economy by cutting off trade with them . Thus, Scotland had little choice but to unite with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707; the Crown of the new nation (along with the Crown of Ireland) was subject to the rules laid down by the English Act of Settlement . </P> <P> Anne was predeceased by Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and was therefore succeeded by the latter's son, who became George I in 1714 . </P> <P> Attempts were made in the risings of 1715 and 1745 to restore Stuart claimants to the Throne, supported by those who recognised the Jacobite succession . The House of Hanover nonetheless remained undeposed, and the Crown descended in accordance with the appointed rules . In 1801, following the Acts of Union 1800, the separate crowns of Great Britain and Ireland were merged and became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Between 1811 and 1820, when George III was deemed unfit to rule, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) acted as his regent . Some years later the Regency Act 1830 made provision for a change in the line of succession had a child been born to William IV after his death, but this event did not come about . </P> <P> The succession was next called into doubt in 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated in the same year as he succeeded to the throne immediately on his father's death . Edward was proclaimed King in January 1936, and mounted the throne in the House of Lords for the first and last time at the opening of Parliament in November 1936, but he had not yet been crowned when he renounced the throne in December . Edward VIII had desired to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee, but the Church of England, of which the British Sovereign is Supreme Governor, would not authorise the marriage of divorcees . Consequently, Parliament passed His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, by which Edward VIII ceased to be Sovereign "immediately upon" his royal assent as King being signified in Parliament on 11 December . The Act provided that he and his descendants, if any, were not to have any "right, title or interest in or to the succession to the Throne". (In fact Edward died childless in 1972 .) </P>

Who is 6th in line to the throne