The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, became disqualified to inherit the throne. This had the effect of deposing the remaining descendants of Charles I, other than his Protestant granddaughter Anne, as the next Protestant in line to the throne was Sophia of Hanover. Born into the House of Wittelsbach, she was a granddaughter of James VI and I from his most junior surviving line, with the crowns descending only to her non-Catholic heirs. Sophia died less than two months before Queen Anne, and Sophia's son succeeded to the throne as King George I, starting the Hanoverian dynasty in Britain.
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Dominions and the Crown.
The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England that set out certain basic civil rights and clarified who would be next to inherit the Crown. It remains a crucial statute in English constitutional law.
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British Constitution. The term may also refer to the role of the royal family within the UK's broader political structure. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth that has Charles III as its monarch and ceremonial head of state. All the realms are equal with and independent of the others, though one person, resident in the United Kingdom, acts as monarch of each. The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law.
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the royal house. The right of veto vested in the sovereign by this Act provoked severe adverse criticism at the time of its passage.
Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Windsor is a member of the British royal family, and is the elder daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. She is 35th in the line of succession to the British throne as of May 2023. She was known as Lady Davina Lewis between 2004 and 2018, during her marriage to Gary Lewis.
A Royal Style and Titles Act, or a Royal Titles Act, is an act of parliament passed in the relevant country that defines the formal title for the sovereign as monarch of that country. This practice began in 1876, when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Royal Titles Act. By that law, and the subsequent Royal Titles Act 1901 and Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, the monarch held one title throughout the British Empire. Following the enactment of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governments of the now separate and independent realms sharing one person as sovereign agreed in 1949 that each should adopt its own royal style and title, which was done in 1952. As colonies became new realms, they passed their own royal style and titles acts. Most of the laws were created during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
The monarchy of New Zealand is the constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of New Zealand. The current monarch, King Charles III, acceded to the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022 in the United Kingdom. The King's elder son, William, Prince of Wales, is the heir apparent.
Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 is the act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that recognised and ratified the abdication of King Edward VIII and passed succession to his brother King George VI. The act also excluded any possible future descendants of Edward from the line of succession. Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson, after facing opposition from the governments of the United Kingdom and the Dominions.
The monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda. The current Antiguan and Barbudan monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Antigua and Barbuda. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Antigua and Barbuda and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
The Succession to the Throne Act, 1937 is a 1937 act of the Canadian parliament that ratified the Canadian cabinet's consent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, an act of the United Kingdom parliament that allowed the abdication of Edward VIII. This ratification was of symbolic value only, because, under the Statute of Westminster 1931, the UK act was already part of Canadian law by virtue of the Canadian cabinet's prior request and consent.
This is about the planned bill introduced in 2011. For other proposed bills of the same name, see Succession to the Crown Bill
The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of what were then the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms, all recognising Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the realms would amend their laws concerning the succession to their shared throne and related matters. The changes, in summary, comprised:
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement. The Act replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those in the line of succession born after 28 October 2011, which means the eldest child, regardless of gender, precedes any siblings. The Act also repealed the Royal Marriages Act 1772, ended disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from succession, and removed the requirement for those outside the first six persons in line to the throne to seek the Sovereign's approval to marry. It came into force on 26 March 2015, at the same time as the other Commonwealth realms implemented the Perth Agreement in their own laws.
Royal Succession bills and acts are laws or pieces of proposed legislation to determine the legal line of succession to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom.
The Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, gave Canada's assent to the United Kingdom's 2013 changes to the rules of succession to the British throne. It was passed by the Parliament of Canada as Bill C-53, and received royal assent on 27 March 2013. The act was brought into force by the Governor-General-in-Council on 26 March 2015.
The Succession to the Crown Act 2015(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, which was enacted at the request of all six Australian states as required by the Australian Constitution. The Australian acts were the final part of the Perth Agreement's legislative program agreed by the prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms to modernise the succession to the crowns of the sixteen Commonwealth realms, while continuing to have in common the same monarch and royal line of succession, as was the case at the time of the Statute of Westminster 1931.
