Thursday 13 December 2012

Succession to the Crown Bill Presented to the British Parliament

Today the Succession to the Crown bill was put before the House of Commons by the Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg. The Bill outlines the biggest change to the royal succession since the Act of Settlement in 1701, allowing only the descendants of Sophia of Hanover to inherit the British throne. The first point of the bill changes the succession law from Male-Preference Primogeniture to Equal Primogeniture meaning whoever is eldest will inherit the throne regardless of their gender. The practice of Equal Primogeniture is not uncommon adopted by Sweden in 1980, Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, Denmark in 2009 and in Luxembourg in 2011.The proposed change regarding gender will be back dated to the 28th of October 2011 when all 16 commonwealth realms agreed to change the laws of succession, this means royals born before the 28th will follow the old rules of succession.

The second point of the bill is concerning the rules about royals marring someone of the Roman Catholic faith. The law currently states that if a person in the royal succession marries a person who is of the Roman Catholic faith at the time of their marriage, they are disqualified from the succession. Under the proposed bill royals who marry Roman Catholics will not lose their place in the line of succession. The bill will also be retrospective to living royals who married Roman Catholics before this bill was presented meaning royals like Prince Michael of Kent, who married his Roman Catholic wife in 1978 will regain his entitlement to a place in line to the throne. However the bill does not repel the law that disqualifies a royal who becomes Roman Catholic from inheriting the throne.

The Third point of the bill regards the sovereign giving consent to a royal marriage under the Royal Marriages Act 1772. The law currently states that no descendant of George II other than the issue of Princesses who married or may marry into “foreign families” shall be capable of contracting matrimony without the previous consent of the sovereign signified under the great seal, declared in council, and entered in the Privy Council books. Every Marriage of any such descendant, without such consent, shall be null and void. Under the Proposed bill, the first six people in line to the throne will need the consent of the Sovereign signified under the great seal, declared in council, and entered in the Privy Council books. The failure to comply will result in that person and their descendants being disqualified from succeeding to the Crown. The current six people in line to the throne are:
1. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
2. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
3. Prince Henry of Wales
4. Prince Andrew, Duke of York
5. Princess Beatrice of York
6. Princess Eugenie of York

The fourth point of the bill is to repel the Royal Marriages Act 1772.

The fifth point of the bill concerns the Royal Marriages Act 1772 all marriages voided under act will be treated as never having been voided.

The proposed bill will make amendments to the Bill of Rights, Act of Settlement 1701, Act of Union with Scotland 1706, Act of Union with England 1707, Act of Union with Ireland 1800 and the Act of Union (Ireland) 1800.

If the proposed bill becomes law it will be known as the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.

Similar legislation will need to be passed in the Parliaments of the other 15 commonwealth realms listed below.
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Grenada
Jamaica
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu

This bill, if passed will change the face of the Royal Family forever. By bringing the Monarchy in to the 21st Century we change an institution at the heart of our nation. My personnel opinion is how do you change an institution that has stood for a thousand years? I worry that this bill may break the dam and allow a flood of bills that may change the monarchy into something we won’t recognise and make the monarchy seem unneeded in the 21st Century, leading one day to a British republic. I hope not.

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