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

[Warren]

Just say,HRH Prince William marries a Muslim girl and he converts to Islam,wouldn't it embarass and disgrace the royal family?Moreover,he is the heir to the British throne.When the late Princess Diana was "flirting" with Dodi Al-Fayed (a Muslim),it did disgraced the royal family especially The Queen as Diana is the mother of the future British monarch.Do you think The Queen would tolerate to see the mother of Britain's Head of State a Muslim?

Srivishnu, once again I'll ask for some substantiation for your sweeping statements... Where is any evidence that the Royal Family, or The Queen herself, were "disgraced" at Diana dating a Muslim? Or that The Queen held any particular opinion on the possible future religious convictions of her former daughter-in-law? Or that The Queen would not "tolerate to see the mother of Britain's Head of State a Muslim?"

Why would Diana's religion have any bearing on the status or stability of the British Monarchy? Why would anyone be "embarrassed" or "disgraced"?

In regard to succession, here is a passage from the Act of Settlement which determines these matters: "That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established."

While it is possible that Prince William may convert to Islam, I think it is fair to speculate that the probability is low. Alternatively, you may consider a scenario where Prince William became engaged to a Muslim woman who chose to convert to Anglicanism.

 

[User0501]

Srivishnu, once again I'll ask for some substantiation for your sweeping statements... Where is any evidence that the Royal Family, or The Queen herself, were "disgraced" at Diana dating a Muslim? Or that The Queen held any particular opinion on the possible future religious convictions of her former daughter-in-law? Or that The Queen would not "tolerate to see the mother of Britain's Head of State a Muslim?"

Why would Diana's religion have any bearing on the status or stability of the British Monarchy? Why would anyone be "embarrassed" or "disgraced"?

In regard to succession, here is a passage from the Act of Settlement which determines these matters: "That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established."

While it is possible that Prince William may convert to Islam, I think it is fair to speculate that the probability is low. Alternatively, you may consider a scenario where Prince William became engaged to a Muslim woman who chose to convert to Anglicanism.

The British Monarchy is originally and naturally Christian.All kings' and queens' of Britian has been Christian,so I am sure The Queen would prefer her successor be Christian generally and Anglican specifically.The next question is,will a Muslim girl convert to christianity?

 

[branchg]

After the wedding of Prince Charles with Camilla Parker Bowles last year,The Queen revamped the precedence order of members' of the royal family which is known as "Precedence to be Observed at Court" where HRH Princess Alexandra is listed the second most senior royal lady after The Queen and is followed by HRH Princess Anne,the Princess Royal.Isn't that known as royal decree?If it is,then no need to get the Parliament's permission as it is the internal affair of the royal family.

Court precedence is determined by the Sovereign and has nothing to do with official precedence, which is based on your place (or your husband's) in the line of succession to the throne.

At court, after The Queen, is Princess Anne, then Princess Alexandra followed by The Duchess of Cornwall. For state and official occasions, Camilla follows The Queen as the wife of The Prince of Wales.

 

[branchg]

The Queen cannot issue letters patent without taking advice from the Prime Minister. Marriages for members of the royal family are governed by the Royal Marriages Act and there is no such provision barring a marriage to a Muslim, although certainly the Prime Minister and Parliament could advise the Sovereign against it for political reasons.

The Act of Settlement forbids a Roman Catholic from becoming the Sovereign and denies rights of succession to those who marry one.

 

[User0501]

Diana dating Dodi Fayed ( he never used the 'al' unlike his father who had more social pretentions) didn't affect the royal family, negative stories are all tabloid stories originating from Mohamed al Fayed and his conspiracy theories.

Why would William convert if he married a Muslim? ( Non Muslims do marry Muslims without converting) The issue with him converting to any religion is that the monarch is also the Head of the Church of England, William would need to be of that religion. He can't really convert to another Protestant church either ( eg Lutheran) but only conversion to catholicism would get him struck off the line of succession. Converting to Islam wouldn't.

Why view Islam so negatively, that the royal family would be disgraced and embarrassed? Charles in particular is quite sympathetic to Islam and does a lot to try and present the positive aspects and understanding of Islam, also Islamic art. The Queen and Charles have visited mosques in the UK.
Charles himself has stated that he would like to be "Defender of All Faiths" thereby including all Christian and non-christian religions when he is king. Currently the monarch is "The Defender of The Faith" The Faith being the Church of England.

Aftermath the September 11th 2001 incident,most Heads of Government and Heads of State are sympathetic to Islam and Muslims.I am glad to know that Charles would like to be "Defender of All Faiths" instead of "Defender of The Faith".Let's say HRH Prince William marries a Muslim and converts to Islam,would Britons or Commonwealth citizens like to see an European country have a Muslim Head of State?In addition,all the Commonwealth whom The Queen is Head of State will have a Muslim Head of State too.

 

[User0501]

Court precedence is determined by the Sovereign and has nothing to do with official precedence, which is based on your place (or your husband's) in the line of succession to the throne.

At court, after The Queen, is Princess Anne, then Princess Alexandra followed by The Duchess of Cornwall. For state and official occasions, Camilla follows The Queen as the wife of The Prince of Wales.

If I am not mistaken,court precedence is based on the age or seniority.

 

[Warren]

If I am not mistaken,court precedence is based on the age or seniority.

Yes, you are mistaken. Branchg has explained it at post #214.

 

[User0501]

Yes, you are mistaken. Branchg has explained it at post #214.

What I meant was that I was not mistaken not I was mistaken.

 

[Elspeth]

Just say,HRH Prince William marries a Muslim girl and he converts to Islam,wouldn't it embarass and disgrace the royal family?Moreover,he is the heir to the British throne.When the late Princess Diana was "flirting" with Dodi Al-Fayed (a Muslim),it did disgraced the royal family especially The Queen as Diana is the mother of the future British monarch.Do you think The Queen would tolerate to see the mother of Britain's Head of State a Muslim?

If Prince William converts to any other religion than Church of England he makes himself ineligible to be King; Islam isn't unique in that respect.

I see no reason why the Queen would have a problem with Charles's divorced wife marrying someone of another religion than Christian as long as assurances were given that the princes would continue to be raised as Church of England members.

Aftermath the September 11th 2001 incident,most Heads of Government and Heads of State are sympathetic to Islam and Muslims.I am glad to know that Charles would like to be "Defender of All Faiths" instead of "Defender of The Faith".Let's say HRH Prince William marries a Muslim and converts to Islam,would Britons or Commonwealth citizens like to see an European country have a Muslim Head of State?In addition,all the Commonwealth whom The Queen is Head of State will have a Muslim Head of State too.

The monarch has to be a member of the Church of England. If William converted to any other religion or any other branch of Christianity and gave up being a communicant of the Church of England, he wouldn't be able to be king.

 

[Toledo]

Just say,HRH Prince William marries a Muslim girl and he converts to Islam,wouldn't it embarass and disgrace the royal family?Moreover,he is the heir to the British throne.When the late Princess Diana was "flirting" with Dodi Al-Fayed (a Muslim),it did disgraced the royal family especially The Queen as Diana is the mother of the future British monarch.Do you think The Queen would tolerate to see the mother of Britain's Head of State a Muslim?

I believe she has made statements on her assorted racial ancestry so I don't see why she would even think this would be any kind of disgrace for the Crown. Quite the opposite, despite the seriousness of her job, she has always seem to me to be one of most open minded persons the British crown has ever seen. In the Royal Forums' Genealogy Sub Forum there is a link about the extraordinary ancestry of Queen Elizabeth II that includes people from many races representing the three continents known at that moment (Europe, Africa and Asia).

Here is the link to that post that contains the information of the Queen's multi racial and multi religious ancestry.

 

[Charlotte1]

.The next question is,will a Muslim girl convert to christianity?

It's not unheard of, check the archives of English newspapers and you will find stories of Muslims who have converted to christianity.

 

[User0501]

Anglican or Anglicanism is the sub-religion of Christianity and the Church of England is the Anglican Church.So the Church of England is not a religion by itself.In the earlier posts,some member has stated that the heir to the British throne are only not allowed to marry a Roman Catholic not a Muslim.

A person may not marry a Catholic and stay in the line of succession. However, in order to be king or queen regnant, a person has to be a communicant of the Church of England. Their spouse can be any other religion, just not Catholic. Whether the Archbishop would crown a Queen Consort who wasn't Christian is another matter, but a person can be Queen Consort without being crowned as far as I know.

William, as a member of the Church of England, could become King with a Methodist, Mormon, Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, Satanist, or atheist wife, just not a Catholic one. He himself has to be a member of the Church of England.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Anglican or Anglicanism is the sub-religion of Christianity and the Church of England is the Anglican Church.So the Church of England is not a religion by itself.In the earlier posts,some member has stated that the heir to the British throne are only not allowed to marry a Roman Catholic not a Muslim.

The only Act I know of that specifically deals with the issue of the religion/denomination of the royal family and their spouses is the Act of Settlement of 1701.

It only bars those who marry Roman Catholics and/or who convert to Roman Catholicism.

Any other Christian denomination is fine.

No other religion is banned as far as I know and if anyone knows of legislation to the effect that Muslims are banned could they please post a link to the Act in question.

The Queen making a suggestion to a member of her family (assuming that she ever made such a suggestion, which personally I doubt) is not the same as a law of the land and it is the law of the land that bars the Roman Catholics.

 

[Elspeth]

One of the provisions of the Act of Settlement is that the monarch shall be a communicant of the Church of England; it doesn't say that the spouse has to be one, it just says that the spouse shall not be Catholic.

This is the wording:


III. And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some further provision be made for securing our religion, laws and liberties, from and after the death of His Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the body of the said Princess, and of His Majesty respectively; be it enacted by the King's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,

That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established;

http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/parliament/settlement.htm

 

[BeatrixFan]

Thanks for that Elspeth. It's interesting that it's strictly pointed out that they must be in communion with the Anglican Church which now has it's own unofficial subdivisions.

A person may not marry a Catholic and stay in the line of succession.

That's true, however, if the spouse converts afterwards they stay in succession.

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I just read a very funny article about a proposed change to the rules of succession to the British throne and thought others might enjoy it as well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1863743,00.html

 

[Warren]

I just read a very funny article about a proposed change to the rules of succession to the British throne and thought others might enjoy it as well:

Thanks Jo!
Here's an excerpt:

In fact, so impressive is the success of Princess Anne and Zara Phillips in excelling at a tough chosen pastime (rather than just sitting around eating swan off diamond plates), I believe this is final proof that the British throne should pass down the female line. Why not make this constitutional change immediately?

 

[BeatrixFan]

Well, I have to say that it doesn't strike me as a bad idea until we get to Zara. Lovely girl but not Queen material. Her mother would be perfect but I adore her Uncle Charles and I think it's best if we stick to the rules.

 

[juliana]

Interesting article- and I like Volov's reponse too.
Yes - let's stick with Charles.

 

[Avalon]

Nice article.
I love Princess Anne and agree she is a great Queen material. Had she been first-born... But all the same, Prince Charles is a terrific Prince of Wales and he will be equally terrific King.
As for Zara, I really like her but I don't think she can or wants to be a Queen. She is a free spirit, who does what she wants. Though Queen Zara does sound well.

 

[Bella]

We can't really rule out Zara. Zara wasn't brought up in preparation to be either the heir or the spare to the throne. Actually, she's quite a ways down on the list. Who knows how she would have been if she had been closer to the throne. Early on, Princess Anne wasn't very popular. People thought she was harsh and cold and a snob whose only interest was thoroughbred horses. Only in the past couple of decades has Anne stepped up as one of the hardest working no-nonsense royals who has garnered most everyone's respect. I think given a chance, Zara could prove herself worthy too.

 

[Avalon]

Zara is certainly worthy, the best prove of which is her latest Gold Medal at Equestrian World Championship. She has worked hard and achieved excelent results.
In my private opinion though, she wouldn't like to be a Queen (even if she had chance, though looking at the Line of the Succession, it's a fat chance), since, imho, she is too free-natured and her interests are of the sport area.
Though, of course, since I don't know her personally, it's just a private opinion and may be completely wrong.

 

[BeatrixFan]

She's a good horsewoman but I don't think she'd ever be a good Queen.

 

[Zonk]

She's a good horsewoman but I don't think she'd ever be a good Queen.

Isn't that what everyone said about George VI? If thats the way it was supposed to be, I am sure Zara would step up to the plate. In all fairness, she has spent her whole life on the sidelines with the thought that she would never be Queen, so its not fair to say based upon her life now..she wouldn't be a good Queen.

What do you think of a Queen Beatrice?

 

[BeatrixFan]

I think Zara is just too trendy to be a monarch. The piercing, the rugby boy friend - it just doesn't strike me as a good indication that she'd be good Queen material. Now Queen Beatrice could be quite wonderful. Especially if she married the Bismark boy.

 

[Royal Fan]

Do you think we will ever see a Queen Zara or Queen Beatrice

 

[BeatrixFan]

I doubt it very very much. Beatrice is more likely than Zara though.

 

[PrincessKoreen]

Beatrice is much more likely - that's a much more common and traditional English name.

 

[Zonk]

I think Beatrice moreso because she is 5th in line than Zara who is 11th.

 

[Bella]

Unless there is some unforeseen tragedy, I doubt Beatrice or Zara will ever become Queen. More-than-likely, Charles will reign for a short time and then William - for a longer time - and then William's son (or daughter). Unless, of course, the monarchy is abolished altogether somewhere down the road.