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Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, gender (for people born before October 2011), legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the crown
is inherited by an individuals children and by a childless individuals nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights
1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701, both of them as
amended in March 2015, restrict the succession to the
legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover
that are in "communion with the Church of England"[1]
(while marrying to Roman Catholics no longer disqualies). Protestant descendants of those excluded for being
Catholics are eligible to succeed.[2]
2007)
D W[n 2]
(45)
MC / W
2.1
England
(46) Lord Frederick Windsor (b.
1979) W
(47) Maud Windsor (b. 2013) W
(48) Isabella Windsor (b. 2016)[3]
(49) Lady Gabriella Windsor (b.
1981) W
(50) Princess Alexandra, The Honourable
Lady Ogilvy (b. 1936) W
(51) James Ogilvy (b. 1964) W
(52) Alexander Ogilvy (b. 1996) W
(53) Flora Ogilvy (b. 1994) W
(54) Marina Mowatt (ne Ogilvy; b.
1966) W
(55) Christian Mowatt (b. 1993) W
(56) Zenouska Mowatt (b. 1990) W
3
rules governing succession to the throne. The individual could have relied on inheritance, statute, election (by
Parliament or by another body), nomination (by a reigning sovereign in his or her will), conquest or prescription
(de facto possession of the Crown). It was often unclear
which of these bases should take precedence; often, the
outcome depended not on the legal strength of the claims,
but on the political or military power of the claimants.
However, over time, the default rule became male primogeniture: later monarchs coming to the throne by exception to this rule went to great lengths to explain and
justify going against these rules, and to prove their rivals
illegitimate. Eventually, Parliament asserted control of
succession.
2.1 England
Excluded as Roman Catholics. This exclusion is not aected by changes subsequent to the
Perth Agreement.
MC
These people were excluded through marriage to a Roman Catholic. This exclusion was
repealed on 26 March 2015, restoring them to
the line of succession, when the Perth Agreement
came into eect.
B
HISTORY
caused Richards Titulus Regius to be repealed and expunged from the Rolls of Parliament.[8] After Henrys
coronation in London in October that year, his rst parliament, summoned to meet at Westminster in November, enacted that the inheritance of the crown should be,
rest, remain and abide in the most royal person of the then
sovereign lord, King Henry VII, and the heirs of his body
lawfully coming.[9]
2.3
members of the house of Stuart following the 1603 Union After the death of her last child in 1700, Princess Anne became
the last individual left in the line of succession determined by the
of the Crowns.
Bill of Rights.
HISTORY
troops from the Queens army. Englands Parliament responded by passing the Alien Act 1705, which threatened
to cripple Scotlands economy by cutting o 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.
2.3.2
2.4
Each of the Commonwealth realms has the same person as monarch and, to maintain that arrangement, they
have agreed to continue the same line of succession; some
realms do so through domestic succession laws, while others stipulate whomever is monarch of the United Kingdom will also be monarch of that realm. In February
1952, on her accession, Elizabeth II was proclaimed as
sovereign separately throughout her realms. In October
2011, the heads of government of all 16 realms agreed
unanimously at a meeting held in Perth, Australia, to proposed changes to the royal succession laws that would see
the order of succession for people born after 28 October 2011 governed by absolute primogeniturewherein
succession passes to an individuals children according
to birth order, regardless of genderinstead of malepreference primogeniture. They also agreed to lift a
ban on those who marry Roman Catholics. The ban
on Catholics themselves was retained to ensure that the
monarch would be in communion with the Church of
England.[11] The changes came into eect across the
Commonwealth realms on 26 March 2015, after legislation was made according to each realms constitution.[n 3]
3 Current rules
The Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement (restated
by the Acts of Union) still govern succession to the
throne. They were amended in the United Kingdom by
the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which was passed
mainly to make succession to the Crown not depend on
gender and to make provision about Royal Marriages
(according to its long title), thereby implementing the
Perth Agreement in the UK and in those realms that, by
their laws, have as their monarch automatically whoever
is monarch of the UK. Other realms passed their own legislation.
Anyone ineligible to succeed is treated as if they were
naturally dead. That individuals descendants are not
also disqualied, unless they are personally ineligible.
3.1 Marriages
The Act of Settlement 1701 provides that Protestant
"heirs of the body" (that is, legitimate descendants) of
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, are eligible to succeed to
the throne, unless otherwise disqualied. The meaning of
heir of the body is determined by the common law rules
of male preference primogeniture (the male-preference
criterion is no longer applicable, in respect of succession
to the throne, to persons born after 28 October 2011),
whereby older children and their descendants inherit before younger children and a male child takes precedence
over a female sibling.[15] Children born out of wedlock
and adopted children are not eligible to succeed. Illegitimate children whose parents subsequently marry are legitimated, but remain ineligible to inherit the Crown.[n 4]
all and every Person and Persons who shall is, are or
shall be reconciled to or shall hold Communion with the
See or Church of Rome or shall profess the Popish religion or shall marry a papist shall be subject to such Incapacities as the Bill of Rights established.
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (repealed by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013) further required descendants
of George II to obtain the consent of the reigning monarch
to marry. (The requirement did not apply to descendants
of princesses who married into foreign families, as well
as, from 1936, any descendants of Edward VIII,[n 5] of
which there are none.) The Act provided, however, that
if a dynast older than twenty-ve years notied the Privy
Council of his or her intention to marry without the consent of the Sovereign, then he or she may have lawfully
done so after one year, unless both houses of Parliament
expressly disapproved of the marriage. A marriage that
contravened the Royal Marriages Act was void, and the
resulting ospring illegitimate and thus ineligible to succeed, though the succession of the dynast who failed to
obtain consent was not itself aected. This also had the
consequence that marriage to a Roman Catholic without
permission was void, so that the dynast was not disqualied from succeeding on account of being married to a
Roman Catholic. Thus when the future George IV attempted to marry the Roman Catholic Maria Fitzherbert
in 1785 without obtaining permission from George III he
did not disqualify himself from inheriting the throne in
due course.[2] A marriage voided by the 1772 act prior
to its repeal remains void for all purposes relating to the
succession to the Crown under the 2013 act.[16]
The constitutional crisis arising from Edward VIIIs decision to marry a divorcee in 1936 led to His Majestys
Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, which provided that
Edward VIII and his descendants would have no claim to
the throne. The Act is no longer applicable, because Edward died in 1972 without issue.
3.3 Treason
March 2015
3.2
Religion
9
in the order of succession, becoming 29th and 28th in line
respectively.[18]
4.1
Accession
10
After a period of mourning, the new sovereign is usually anointed and crowned in Westminster Abbey. Normally, the Archbishop of Canterbury ociates, though
the sovereign may designate any other bishop of the
Church of England. A coronation is not necessary for
a sovereign to reign; for example, Edward VIII was never
crowned, yet during his short reign was the undoubted
king.
See also
Alternative successions of the English crown
British monarchs family tree, including current
House of Windsor
British prince
British princess
Jacobite succession
List of Edward VIIs six children
List of George Vs six children & descendants
List of heirs to the British throne
List of heirs to the English throne
[3] In Quebec, the validity of the Canadian parliaments legislation is under judicial review. After legislation related to the Perth Agreement had been enacted in the
realms where it was required according to their respective constitutions, on 26 March 2015, ocial announcements were made that the changes took eect on that day.
But, whether the Canadian parliaments Succession to the
Throne Act, 2013, had fullled the commitment was at
the time under judicial review in Quebec. A hearing began in June 2015 to resolve questions about the interaction
of the act with the formula for amending Canadas constitution. The federal government was due to reply by 10
October, with another month for a reply from the challenging parties.[12][13][14]
[4] Neither the Legitimacy Act 1926 nor the Legitimacy Act
1959 changed the Law of Succession.
[5] Per the His Majestys Declaration of Abdication Act 1936.
[6] A letter from Tony Newton as Lord President of the Council to Tony Benn indicated this was the eect of the Act of
Settlement after Benn had indicated he intended to block
the next accession at the Privy Council.[20]
[7] This declaration was similar to what members of both
Houses of Parliament were originally required to take by
the Test Acts. Eventually, by the time it was changed in
1910, the monarch was the only one left required to make
the declaration.
8 References
Posthumous birth
[3] Lord Frederick Windsor and Sophie Winkleman welcome second baby and reveal name. Hello!. 20 January
2016.
REFERENCES
Notes
11
Sources
Blackstone, William (1765). Chapter 3: Of The
King, and His Title. Commentaries on the Laws of
England, Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Bogdanor, Vernon (1995). The Monarchy and the
Constitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780-19-829334-7.
Bryant, A. (1975). A Thousand Years of British
Monarchy. London: Collins.
Cox, Noel (1999). The Law of Succession to the
Crown in New Zealand. Waikato Law Review. 7:
4972.
10
External links
12
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