The Mechanics of Abdication and of Succession to the Throne

[wbenson]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

From what I understand, the law requires that the British monarch be "in communion with the Church of England". Let us assume then that an heir to the British Crown marries a Swedish princess and their children are baptized and raised in the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden (thus being also in the line of succession to the Swedish throne under the Swedish Act of Succession). Considering that the Church of Sweden and the Church of England are now in communion under the Porvoo Communion , could the children of that marriage still succeed to the British throne?

The law requires that "whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England" so I think any protestant is fine so long as they enter into communion with the CofE ASAP.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by wbenson

The law requires that "whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England" so I think any protestant is fine so long as they enter into communion with the CofE ASAP.

And if membership of the (fast diminishing and more and more retreating) CofE is a condition: think of Henri IV: "Paris vaut bien une Messe" ("Paris is worth a Mass") and turned from Calvinist to Catholic.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

The monarchs of Norway, Sweden and Denmark and their descendants (all Lutherans) are in the line of succession to the British throne.

As discussed in more detail in the thread on the British line of succession, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the son of a male-line descendant of a British sovereign who did not comply with the Royal Marriages Act and he is thus most likely excluded from the line of succession to the British throne.

[Curryong]

Not according to this, link below and notes. Carl Gustav and his children are in the 300s but are still there. And CG’s father married the daughter of the Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha, who at the time of his daughter’s nuptials was both in the succession and in receipt of honours from George V, even though that monarch disapproved of the Nazification of the wedding.

https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/europe...family-147004/

[Tatiana Maria]

The article does not set out any information to back up its claim. Indeed, the article does not even mention the Royal Marriages Act, so the author may not even know of its existence.

The Royal Marriages Act was clear: Should any descendant of King George II (excepting the descendants of princesses who married into foreign families) marry without complying with the provisions of the RMA (by either obtaining the consent of the British sovereign or giving notice to the Privy Council and waiting for 12 months), the marriage would be null and void (under British law). That is the reason why the son of Prince Augustus Frederick Duke of Sussex, for example, was regarded as illegitimate and not permitted to inherit his father's peerages.

https://www.heraldica.org/faqs/rma1772.html

King Carl XVI Gustaf's mother Princess Sibylla was the daughter of Duke Carl Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was the son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, who was the son of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland. As Princess Sibylla was a male-line descendant of a British monarch, she was not exempt from the Royal Marriages Act. When she married without the consent of the British king, her marriage was null and void and her children were illegitimate in the law of the United Kingdom.

[Curryong]

Line of succession to the British throne. This list includes the descendants of Arthur Duke of Connaught and his descendants including King Carl Gustav.

Home Page

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Curryong

Line of succession to the British throne. This list includes the descendants of Arthur Duke of Connaught and his descendants including King Carl Gustav.

Home Page

I am familiar with the website you linked to, and its author has done an excellent job of compiling descendants of the Electress Sophia.

But by what legal route do you propose that Princess Sibylla and her descendants were exempted from the consequences of the Royal Marriages Act? A law enacted by Parliament cannot be overruled by a list on an unofficial website.

On a related note, the Royal Marriages Act has been repealed by the Succession to the Crown Act, but persons who were bastardized by the Act remain excluded from the line of succession to the Crown.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/20/enacted