Talk:Succession to the British Throne

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From a recent TV programme I think I understood that, since Edward VIII abdicated, any of George V's other sons could have succeeded as king: it didn't have to be the eldest. Had Edward VIII died on the throne without leaving children, succession would have been definitely to Prince Albert, Duke of York who was George V's second son.

Of course, Prince Albert did indeed become king but perhaps it was indeed by some political decision. Could this have been His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936? The article hints at it in saying "the Act ensured that the throne passed over to Prince Albert, Duke of York".

Does anyone have any information? Thincat 16:18, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

As of December 1936, there was no legal provision for abdication. A law had to be passed. That law could have made anyone King - it could have invalidated the whole Act of Settlement, and put PM Baldwin on the throne as Stanley I. Or whatever. So, yeah, technically anything could have happened. Supposedly, there was some consideration of making the Duke of Kent king. But I think that's largely bogus. There was no real other option than making York king, especially since he had daughters who would otherwise be disenfranchised. john k 18:50, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Discuss/link to discussion of heir presumptive/heir apparent? Mjs 23:51, 2005 Apr 10 (UTC)

[edit] Statute of Westminster

In the Changes section it states: "In practice the provisions of the Statute of Westminster 1931 have fallen out of use." I'm wondering how this claim can be made. The Realms remain equal in status, the Westminster Parliament remains barred from legislating on behalf of any other Realm, and the convention that no alteration to the line of succession by one Realm without the consent of all the others remains in effect. Unless I'm missing something, I think this sentence should be removed. --gbambino 22:20, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I am no constitutional scholar, but my understanding is that, apart from the convention implied in the preamble to the Statute of Westminster, any alteration to the law on succession made by the Parliament of United Kingdom would automatically have legal effect in Australia withouth the need for formal approval by the Australian Parliament. My understanding is based on the The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, which states in Section 2 that

The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Conversely however, any unilateral change in the line of succession to the Australian throne, e.g. to pick a person other than the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to be the King or Queen of Australia, would require IMHO an amendment to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, which could be made in turn only by means of approval in a public referendum requiring a double majority of the nationwide vote and of the votes cast in a majority of states. The situation in Canada as I see it is more confusing as the Canadian constitution, unlike the constitutions of Australia or New Zealand¹ for that matter, does not include AFAIK any explicit mention to the line of succession following a demise of the crown. So far however, the understanding of the Canadian courts has been that the preambles to Canada's Constitution Act 1867 and to the Statute of Westminster 1931 imply a line of succession to the Canadian throne that is symmetrical to that of the United Kingdom. Moreover, the courts have also ruled that any unilateral change to the line of succession in Canada would amount to a significant change in the nature of the office of the Queen and, therefore, would require the qualified constitutional amendment procedures set out in the Constitution Act 1982, namely approval by the federal Parliament as well as the Legislative Assemblies of all 10 Canadian provinces. AFAIK however, the constitutional issues involving the succession to the Canadian throne have not been examined yet by the highest court in the land, i.e. the Supreme Court of Canada, and, therefore, I do not consider this matter settled. 161.24.19.82 12:31, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Most of what you say is true, except, as I understand it from reading the ruling of Ontario Superior Court Justice Rouleau in O'Donohue v. Canada, the Act of Settlement is now a patriated part of the Canadian constitution, and any alteration to the UK's version of the Act would have no effect on the Canadian version of the Act; meaning that if the UK altered the line of succession without the same being done in Canada, the two nations would have different monarchs. Hence, as the preamble to the Statute of Westminster (which is also separately a part of the constitutions of the UK and Canada) lays out the important convention that the monarch remain the same throughout the Realms, the UK cannot change the line of succession to the British Throne without the consent of at least Canada, and vice-versa. This reliance of one on the other seemed to be demonstrated as early as 1936, when it was necessary for Canada to pass the Succession to the Throne Act, which allowed for Edward VIII to abdicate. As Ireland didn't get their parliament to permit the abdication of Edward as King of Ireland in time, Ireland ended up with a different sovereign to the other Realms for one day.

From Rouleau's ruling, which is, admittedly, not a Superior Court ruling, it seems clear that the provisions of the Statute of Westminster are still indeed in effect - all the countries under the Crown remain equal in status, no country should alter its line of succession without the consent of the 15 others, and the UK cannot pass laws on behalf of any other Realm. --gbambino 15:31, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

• ¹ New Zealand Constitution Act 1986, Part I, Section 5(1):

The death of the Sovereign shall have the effect of transferring all the functions, duties, powers, authorities, rights, privileges, and dignities belonging to the Crown to the Sovereign's successor, as determined in accordance with the enactment of the Parliament of England intituled The Act of Settlement (12 & 13 Will 3, c 2) and any other law relating to the succession to the Throne, but shall otherwise have no effect in law for any purpose.

[edit] A Question

• When someone is struck off the line of succession for being a Catholic, does the same apply to their descendents, or are their children permitted to stay on the list (assuming that they themselves are Protestants, naturally)? This is unclear from the article. Jdcooper 01:39, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

The married-a-Papist rule only applies to the person and not to their descendants; Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor is 23rd in line in favour of her father, who married a Catholic. It be reasonable that the same holds for descendants of persons who are themselves Catholics, though I'm not sure of an example. EdC 23:12, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

---

"Furthermore, an individual is not barred because his or her spouse converts to Roman Catholicism after marriage." - what if a person converts from Catholicism to Protestantism before the marriage; whould that make their spouse inneligible? And does any law state specifically that an heir has to be protestant, or just that they can't be Catholic? - Matthew238 07:52, 16 June 2006 (UTC)