Prince William and Kate Middleton

[carl fraley]

William does not have to have the Consent of parliment to marry as i believe belgium does. The Royal Marriage only requires him to get his grandmothers permission.

It really is not as complicated as it appears.

Charles will succeed his mother as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Hi position as King in Canada, Australia and other "realms" will be automatic also.  His position as Head of the Commonwealth will have to be ratified by Commonwealth Heads of Government - it is not an automatic post linked to the Crown per se.

Kate Middleton is a commoner, in so much as she is not a relative or closely descended from a ruling house.  The Windsor House rules changed after WWI allowing members of the Royal Family to marry those not born to a Royal Family, including the sons of the sovereign who hitherto had contracted their (legal) marriages with daughters of ruling or princely houses.  Morganatic marriage didn´t really exist in Britain under Queen Victoria as it was so strongly enforced by her continental cousins.  Thus George V son´s married commoners, albeit from noble, landed families.  By law royal marriages must have the consent of Parliament to be valid and allow the royal to maintain their succession rights.

The abdication of Edward VIII came about because he was determined to marry a divorced American (divorce was then something which was a social no no) against the wishes of the British and Empire govenments - he therefore did not have government consent and could not remain King if he chose to marry.  So Edward VIII lost his throne, his succession rights and those of any future children.

William will therefore become King after the demise of his predecessor in the line of Succession (Queen Elizabeth II - Charles, Prince of Wales - Prince William of Wales) as he is due to contract a marriage approved of by The Queen and her Government.

[Kimberly]

Scroll down and watch the video :-)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1377166/T-Mobile-Royal-Wedding-advert-Prince-William-Kate-Middleton-dance-aisle.html

[Lucien]

Scroll down and watch the video :-)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1377166/T-Mobile-Royal-Wedding-advert-Prince-William-Kate-Middleton-dance-aisle.html

Hilarious,some look so real you could easily mistake one for being the real ...

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2011/04/see-the-royals-dance-and-swing-at-abbey.html

And finally,the gov is going to clean up some oldfashioned out of date stuff..:

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2011/04/britain-changing-succession-law.html


Good!!

courtesy hja

[CHRISinUSA]

As a monarchist, I'm a bit concerned if they truly intend to try and change the law of succession.  While I agree it's discriminatory to have preference for males, and to bar all Catholics (and persons who marry a Catholic), actually changing the law could mark the beginning of the end of the British realms - perhaps the entire monarchy.

All Commonwealth realms would have to approve this change.  That means the governments and parliaments in all realms (there are 16 of them, I believe?) are going to debate the issue for months and months - not to mention the debate being rehashed in the public and media in each country.  The republicans will have a field day with this - arguing how bizarre it is to debate whether or not to give equal succession to boys or girls when - in their minds - the entire idea of hereditary head of state is archaic.  I predict at least some of the realms (particularly Australia, and possibly Canada) will take the opportunity to vote to become republics rather than approve a succession change.  The number of realms will shrink - and God forbid the British nation actually decides to become a republic.   How weird would it be if Britain became  a republic, yet (for example) Belize remained a monarchy?  Would the Windsors have to relocate to a country where they actually reign?

[Grace]

Yeah, once they start meddling in something like this, it will be disastrous.  If it's not broken, it doesn't need fixing (in my opinion).  

[CHRISinUSA]

Which is exactly why they haven't meddled in it to this point.  No British prime minister wants to be "the one" who started the ball rolling that ultimately ended the monarchy. 

In Britain at least, the Queen's Consent (different from Royal Assent) is required for a bill to be debated in Parliament that affects (directly or by implication) the prerogative, hereditary revenues, or the personal property or interests of the Crown.  Further, on rare occasions  (such as for the House of Lords Act 1999), the consent of the Prince of Wales, as Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, or as Duke of Cornwall, must also be obtained where a Bill affects his interests. This is known as Prince's Consent.

I would imagine therefore that both the Queen's Consent and the Prince's Consent would be necessary before Britain could debate the succession.  I wonder if both would give their consent, knowing the possible consequences?

[Douglas]

The royals are a bargain for the UK.  They bring in many times more in tourist dollars than they cost the government.  The royals are what make England what it is.  Without the royals the tabloids would fold up like a wet sack of table scraps.

[Kalafrana]

Small point on the Royal Marriages Act. If the Sovereign does not consent to the marriage, then a person subject to the Act who is over 25 can wait one year and then seek consent from Parliament.

It's never happened. However, this did come into play when Princess Margaret wished to marry Peter Townsend (who was divorced). They did start the year's wait and Princess Margaret reached 25 in that period, but she then decided not to marry Peter Townsend because she would have had to renounce her royal status and place in the succession.

Ann

[CHRISinUSA]

That was certainly the reason that was publicly stated.  Of course, renouncing her "royal status" would have also included loss of her Civil List income and other financial based perks afforded to those persons who hold royal status.