This was originally a much longer post, however, I have made the decision to split the original post and make it two posts, turning this one into a much shorter post. I will post the second part of this prior to the release of season 4.
Note: For the Purpose of this post I am making the assumption that the show has kept Edmund as the name for Kate and Anthony's son.
About a month ago I saw a comment on Reddit referring to Benedict as Anthony's Heir Apparent, but this isn't quite right, and I realised there are some in the Bridgerton fandom that don't understand what these terms mean. Benedict was Anthony's Heir Presumptive, not his Heir Apparent, so ahead of season 4 let's look at the difference between an Heir Presumptive (Benedict) versus an Heir Apparent (Edmund) using Benedict and Edmund as examples.
Image Credit: Netflix
An Heir Presumptive is someone who is an heir, but can be displaced with the birth of a closer eligible (usually male) relative. In the world of Bridgerton when Anthony became the Viscount, on the death of Edmund, Benedict's role in the family changed as well as he became the heir presumptive to the Viscountcy. As Benedict would be displaced when Anthony married and had a son, he would only be known as an Heir Presumptive, even if he eventually inherited and became the Viscount. If Anthony never married, Benedict would remain the Heir, but he would always be the Heir Presumptive as there would always be the possibility of Anthony marrying and having a son.
Image Credit: Netflix
This leads us to the term Heir Apparent that was mistakenly applied to Benedict. An Heir Apparent is someone who is an heir with an absolute claim, meaning there is no way that a closer eligible relative could be born and displace the Heir. In the Bridgerton world Anthony was the Heir Apparent to Edmund as his eldest son, and likewise Edmund (Anthony's son) is now the Heir Apparent to Anthony, because even with the birth of more sons to Anthony and Kate Edmund can not be displaced as the Heir.
As in my note at the top of the page this was originally going to lead into a longer post, that was going to look at how Benedict's journey could be seen through this idea of the Heir Presumptive vs the Heir Apparent and what the birth of Edmund could mean for him, but I have separated that original post into two.
