The Act of Settlement 1701 and the Line of Succession 1: Ending 2022

[Iluvbertie]

The monarch must be a protestant who is in communion with the Anglican Communion according to the Act of Settlement. That is actually specified along with the ban on being married to a Roman Catholic or being a Roman Catholic. Thus the monarch can't be any religion except Christian but also they can't profess the Roman Catholic branch of Christianity. Their spouse can be a Muslim however.

 

[Jacknch]

The English/British monarch as Head of the Church of England and defender of that particular faith cannot be a Catholic. This is the law and is reasonable, especially when bearing in mind that the Pope, as head of the Catholic faith, cannot be anything other than a Catholic - nor for that matter be a woman! As such, I cannot fathom out why any Catholic should feel it unfair that a Catholic could never become the monarch of Great Britain.

It seems that practically every religion has it's leaders who in my opinion should at least practice the religion they are the leader of!

 

[Red Sunshine]

Hypothetical Succession Question

Hi...been a lurker for about a year and have learned so much from all of you. Thank you!

I have been wondering about a hypothetical question, What if the Queen and Prince Phillip's children had all been female? How would succession be determined?

 

[Lumutqueen]

Just like in the case of Her Majesty, The eldest daughter would have ascended the throne.

 

[Red Sunshine]

Would new letters patent need to be issued to grant titles since these children would be descendants from the female line?

 

[Lumutqueen]

I'm not entirely sure, but I do believe that certain Letters Patent were created for the present Queen's children. I'll have to check.

 

[nascarlucy]

Probably the oldest daughter. I'm not an expert on succession laws but I would think that this would be the case. If the daughter didn't have any children, then it would go to the second daughter, etc. This would be the case if Queen Elizabeth had all sons.

If the eldest daughter only had female children and the second daughter had two sons, who would they succeed her? It would be interesting to see what the answer to this would be. A legal document would have to be written to address this.

 

[Lumutqueen]

If the eldest daughter only had female children and the second daughter had two sons, who would they succeed her? It would be interesting to see what the answer to this would be. A legal document would have to be written to address this.

With Male primogenture, the eldest of the two sons would succed the eldest daughter.
Just like now Anne is elder than both Andrew and Edward yet she is last on the succesion list.

Say if Queen Elizabeth only had 4 girls, the eldest say Anne.
If Anne had 4 girls, the eldest would be her heir, until any son came along. If her younger sister had a son, he would become the heir. If Anne wanted to have her daughter succed her, she have to change it succesion to equal primogenture.
It is not eldest child in the UK, but Eldest Son.

 

[windsorgirl]

Probably the oldest daughter. I'm not an expert on succession laws but I would think that this would be the case. If the daughter didn't have any children, then it would go to the second daughter, etc. This would be the case if Queen Elizabeth had all sons.

If the eldest daughter only had female children and the second daughter had two sons, who would they succeed her? It would be interesting to see what the answer to this would be. A legal document would have to be written to address this.

I'm not sure why a legal document would need to be written to address this issue. In this case, the eldest daughter would be the successor (heir presumptive?) and if she only had daughters, the eldest would succeed her. It wouldn't be the second daughter's sons. Like you, I'm not a real authority here, so I'd be interested to hear more, too.

Edit: I'm thinking of a scenario like if QEII had had only daughters but Princess Margaret only sons, the eldest daughter of QEII would be the heir presumptive, not the son of Margaret.

 

[Zonk]

If the eldest daughter had female children then her children would control the throne.

Elizabeth has Anne (and no Charles, Andrew or Edward or their heirs) and or a Alexandra (or more daughters). Then Anne becomes Queen. Anne has two children (Peter and Zara). Peter becomes King, his heirs, then Zara and her heirs.

If Anne had two daughters (say a Zara and a Phillipa), then eldest daughter Zara only had daughters but they are still ahead of the younger daughter Phillipa and her successors. So if Anne's younger daughter Phillipa had a son, he would be behind his mother the Queen, Aunt Zara, her daughters (and their kids) but he would jump ahead of any of his sisters.

Think of Queen Mary II and Anne. They both died without surviving heirs. The throne went to the heirs of the Electress Sophia, who was the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter of James I of England. So the House of Stuart:

James I > Charles I > Charles II > James II > Mary II > Anne II end of the House of Stuart because Anne has no living heirs

James I was the father of Charles I and Elizabeth who was the mother of Sophia, whose son became George I and so started the House of Hanover

I hope I got the names and placement right but that is the general idea. Its important to note that just because you have sons (you don't jump head of people). Thus the current Edward, Duke of Kent or the late Prince William of Gloucester did not jump ahead of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret when they were born.

 

[Red Sunshine]

Were I was beginning to confuse myself is if a male appeared, such as in the scenario that Zonk used.

Elizabeth has daughters Anne and Alexandra. Anne becomes Queen then has two daughters, while Alexandra has two sons. I wasn't sure if the line of succession would change because there is a male grandson.

Thanks for the input...in my "what if scenario'..... I like the thought of Queen to Queen succession!

 

[Iluvbertie]

The line goes through one entire line before returning to a younger sibling so male grandsons of a younger child don't take precedence over female granddaughters of an elder child e.g. Edward's son James doesn't come before Andrew's daughters but James does come before his own older sister.

 

[Warren]

Line of Succession as of today (updated Jan 2011)

With the arrival of the new Gloucester granddaughters the British Monarchy website has an updated Line of Succession.
A point of note is that the two young sons of the Roman Catholic convert Lord Nicholas Windsor remain in line at (current) positions 35 and 36.

THE LINE OF SUCCESSION

SOVEREIGN
1. The Prince of Wales
2. Prince William of Wales
3. Prince Henry of Wales
4. The Duke of York
5. Princess Beatrice of York
6. Princess Eugenie of York
7. The Earl of Wessex
8. Viscount Severn
9. The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
10. The Princess Royal
11. Mr. Peter Phillips
12. Miss Savannah Phillips
13. Miss Zara Phillips
14. Viscount Linley
15. The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones
16. The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones
17. The Lady Sarah Chatto
18. Master Samuel Chatto
19. Master Arthur Chatto
20. The Duke of Gloucester
21. Earl of Ulster
22. Lord Culloden
23. The Lady Cosima Windsor
24. The Lady Davina Lewis
25. Miss Senna Lewis
26. The Lady Rose Gilman
27. Miss Lyla Gilman
28. The Duke of Kent
29. The Lady Amelia Windsor
30. The Lady Helen Taylor
31. Master Columbus Taylor
32. Master Cassius Taylor
33. Miss Eloise Taylor
34. Miss Estella Taylor
35. The Hon. Albert Windsor
36. The Hon. Leopold Windsor
37. The Lord Frederick Windsor
38. The Lady Gabriella Windsor
40. Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy
.

 

[wbenson]

Papal visit fuels calls to end ban on Catholic succession - Herald Scotland | News | Politics

The public is being urged to back a campaign to scrap a 300-year-old law which prohibits Catholics ascending the throne, ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain next month.

 

[Russophile]

Well that's opening a barrel of monkeys, isn't it?

 

[Osipi]

Well that's opening a barrel of monkeys, isn't it?

I seriously don't see the public seeing this campaign as something to really get serious about at all nor do I see the papal visit as something people are going to turn out in droves to witness.

Maybe a barrel of monkeys would liven things up a wee bit?

 

[Nice Nofret]

Isn't it an interesting thought, that Charles could change his religion to say Buddishm... or Camilla become a muslim, and the PoW would still inherite the throne .. but if one of them were catholic it would be a NoNo

Your thoughts on that please

 

[Nice Nofret]

Could the heir to the throne change his faith?

I know its excluded, that the Heir could marry a catholic or be catholic.

BUT what about muslim? Hindu? or Jewish? (or what ever Religion..)

What do YOU think would happen, if...?

Could he marry a jewish wife? Could he become Buddist?

 

[MAfan]

As far as I know British law only forbides those who are in the line of succession to the Throne to be or to marry a Catholic, but it doesn't say anything about other religions.
So I think that in theory, under a legal point of view, if the Heir to the Throne (or anyone else in the line of succession) converted to whatever religion, but not Catholicism, or married someone of another religion, but not Catholicism, then the conversion or the marriage would not affect his rights to the Throne.

But on the other hand this Heir to the Throne would one day be called to be Supreme Governor of the Church of England, once became Sovereign; and therefore the conversion could cause some issues.

 

[Jacknch]

Well, I think that other people here will be able to explain the terms of the Act of Settlement which detail the rules on this subject, but as far as I know the Act simply forbids the monarch from being a Catholic or marrying one. That then leaves your question to be answered and I suppose technically provided the chosen religion wasn't Catholicism, then I cannot see what would stop the heir from choosing any other faith.

This subject is dealt with in another thread, but suffice to say that the conventions, rules and traditions of other faiths may themselves prevent the heir from living the life of a monarch or being head of the Church of England. For instance, as I understand it, Buddists lead very particular lives and for-go many if not all of lifes luxuries as their lives, beliefs and ways of living are very simple. Could such a simple life be lived within the walls of a palace?

 

[Nice Nofret]

.. afaik is the ruling house of Thailand of Buddist believe.

I really don't know any religion (or non religion like communism) that has ever prevented powerseeking men to became a ruler

 

[nascarlucy]

A royal could change his or her faith if the laws or the constitution of their country doesn't forbid it. However, if you have an established church, this might cause some difficulty.

 

[Iluvbertie]

The Act of Settlement besides excluding conversion to Roman Catholicism or marrying a Roman Catholic does also state that the monarch has to be a Protestant, so the monarch couldn't become a Muslim or a Buddhist.

 

[MAfan]

Then this also excludes an Orthodox British monarch.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Then this also excludes an Orthodox British monarch.

I would say - 'yes' as the wording clearly says 'protestant'.

 

[Nice Nofret]

Thank you Iluvbertie: because when s.o. is writing about the Act of Settlement, they allways say it's catholic .. so I wondered what about all the other possibilities

 

[Iluvbertie]

Thank you Iluvbertie: because when s.o. is writing about the Act of Settlement, they allways say it's catholic .. so I wondered what about all the other possibilities

As all members of the BRF are raised as members of the CoE and are confirmed as such (with the exception of some of the Kents) there really isn't an issue with the actual heirs themselves, which is why the emphasis is on the faith of the person they marry and their own potential conversion. Most people ignore the latter part of the Act of Settlement that emphasises the 'protestant' nature of the position.

Earlier than the Act of Settlement was the Bill of Rights passed n 1689 which demands that the monarch take a coronation oath to maintain the protestant religion. This Bill also puts forth the bar on Roman Catholics and like the Act of Settlement is still in effect.

 

[Stefan]

Well, they list Sarah, Duchess of York as a member of the Royal Family....

And also the line of suession as the have the sons of Lord and lady Nochiolas Windsor in it.

 

[Osipi]

And also the line of suession as the have the sons of Lord and lady Nochiolas Windsor in it.

The difference with Lord and Lady Windsor is that Lord Windsor was born into the BRF. Sarah, Duchess of York married into the family and then left it by divorce.

 

[Kataryn]

The difference with Lord and Lady Windsor is that Lord Windsor was born into the BRF. Sarah, Duchess of York married into the family and then left it by divorce.

I think the point that Stefan made is that because Lord Nicholas Windsor married a Catholic he is no longer in the line of succession and his children don't come into it at all. But the webpage obviously still list him...