The Succession of the Prince-Abbots is as follows (the dates in brackets are regnal dates):

(1) HENRI (Dom Henrice Pacomez)
(25 August 1883-10 February 1884)

(2) JOSEPH I (Dom José Piantini)
(10 February 1884-2 August 1884)

(3) JOSEPH II (Dom José Mendoza)
(2 August 1884-5 May 1897)

(4) LOUIS-FRANCOIS (Baron Louis François de Girardot)
(5 May 1897-7 May 1899)

(5) JOSEPH III (Archbishop Joseph-René Vilatte, also designated Mar Timotheus)
(7 May 1899-1 July 1929)

(6) EDMOND I (Archbishop Francis John Edmond Barwell-Walker)
(1 July 1929-16 February 1962)

(7) EDMOND II (Archbishop George Arvid Edmond Lyman)
(16 February 1962-25 May 1998)

INTERREGNUM
(Under the Supreme Council 25 May 1998-25 August 2011)

(8) EDMOND III (Archbishop John Kersey)
(25 August 2011)

Succession principles in the Abbey-Principality

Succession to the 1883 title of Prince-Abbot and the 1885 title of Mukungu follows the principle of nomination and election from a pool of eligible heirs. In a notarized document of 22 June 1954, Prince-Abbot Edmond I codified the succession principles as they then stood in the following terms:

Succession of the Grand Mastership of the Order of the Crown of Thorns of the 1891 re-foundation by the Patriarch of Antioch

(1)  Gaston Fercken
(1 June 1891-30 May 1893)

(2) Archbishop Joseph-René Vilatte
(30 May 1893-7 May 1899)

On 7 May 1899 the Order of the Crown of Thorns of the 1891 foundation merged with the Abbey-Principality and the Order of the Crown of Thorns of the 1883 foundation, forming an united administration.

Succession of the Presidency of the Grand Prix Humanitaire de France et des Colonies

(1) Charles Leroy (Founder)
(18 September 1892)

(2) Louis Druel (President)
(18 September 1892-7 May 1899)

On 7 May 1899 the Grand Prix Humanitaire was legally conveyed to Archbishop Joseph-René Vilatte and was redesignated as the Cross of Merit of the Order of the Crown of Thorns, being merged with that order and the Abbey-Principality in an united administration.