HISTORIC SETTING

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25346, 20 November 1947, Page 3

HISTORIC SETTING

Westminster Abbey Ceremony CONSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF ROYAL MARRIAGE (By CYRIL F. J. HANKIN SON. Editor of DebrettJ To-day’s wedding of H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten takes place at Westminster Abbey, the origin of which is lost in the mists of antiquity. It can safely be said,: however, that some kind of religious community was housed near the site of the church as far back as the time of Britain’s Danish King Canute, from whose sister Mountbatten is descended. Contrary to general belief, Westminster Abbey, in which all our Kings and Queens Have been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066. has rarely been honoured by being chosen for the marriage of children of the Sovereign. It is true that King George VI and the Duke of Kent were married there, but when the wedding of the Princess Royal to the Earl of Harewood took place in 1922 it was the first occasion on which a child of the reigning Sovereign had been married at the Abbey since 1269, when Edmund “Crouchback,” Earl of Lancaster, married Aveline, daughter of the Count of Aumale.

Royal marriages are regulated by the Royal Marriage Act of 1772. passed in the reign of George 111. This act decrees “that descendants of George II shall (except the issue of Princesses marrying into foreign families) not contract matrimony without the consent of His Majesty signified under the Great Seal and declared in Council, without which consent any such marriage or matrimonial contract is null and void.” Persons above the age of 25 may, however, by giving notice of their intention to the Privy Council, marry without the consent of the Sovereign, if Parliament does not object, but one cannot recall that this right has ever been exercised. Nothing in the Act restricts the choice of a husband or wife, so that Princess Elizabeth was free to marry not only outside Royalty but even outside the nobility. In recent years there has been an increasing tendency for the Sovereign’s family to marry out of the Royal circle, and in fact the Duke of Kent was the only one of George V’s children to marry Royalty. Consort’s Future Status In becoming the husband of Britain’s future Queen, Mountbatten faces a position of great responsibility and of peculiar difficulty. The place which he will one day occupy has never been defined in the Constitution, and of the four married ruling Queens in our history, the husbands of only two have found themselves in a similar situation to that which he would, seem destined to fill. Queen Anne had for her Consort Prince George'of Denmark who, while proving himself a devoted husband, was quite incapable of exercising any influence in the Government of the country.- In fact, it is stated that her uncle. Charles 11. said of him: ‘‘l have tried him drunk, and I have tried him sober, but can make nothing of him either way.” In the case of the husband of Queen Victoria, matters were different, and there is no doubt that he was a man of great ability and a wise and prudent counsellor to the Queen. He hiinself, defined his role as that of filling every gap which a woman would leave in the exercise of ruling powers. of watching every part of public business so as to be able to advise at any moment on difficult questions brought before the Queen, and to be the natural head of her family, superini tendent of her Household. sole <: confiI dential adviser, Private Secretary, and permanent Minister. One of Britain’s best known Victorian statesmen remarked, on learning of Prince Albert’s death, that he had governed England with a wisdom and energy that none of her Kings had ever shown. Times Have Changed Times have changed since the days of Victoria, and with the advance of democracy the qualities demanded of a British Sovereign to-day differ greatly from those of the Old Queen and her consort; but Mountbatten has led a life which has brought him into touch with all classes of the community and he can be safely trusted to interpret the spirit of the age. Princess Elizabeth, too, has had advantages not possessed by her father or her grandfather (who both unexpectedly inherited the Throne), as she has been Heiress Presumptive since the age of 11, and has been brought up as her father s successor. Special provision will have to be made for Mountbatten’s rank in society, as there is no place allotted to the husband of the Queen or of the Heiress Presumptive to the Throne; and when Queen Victoria by Letters Patent granted Prince Albert precedence next after herself this position was specially granted to him only, and did not apply to any husbands of future Queens. The style of “Prince Consort” is not bestowed automatically, and in fact it was 17 years before it was conferred upon Prince Albert. Descent of the Crown Although since William of Normandy landed in 1068, the Crown has never passed to one who was not among nis descendants, it was not until the Revolution of 1688 when William

of Orange and Mary Stuart were jointly called to the Throne of Britain that any bill was passed through Parliament regulating the descent of the Crown. The bill which was then passed was called the Bill of Rights, which conveyed the Crown to William and Mary, and afterwards to Mary’s sister. Anne. Later, when it seemed that Anne would have no children to succeed her. the Act of Settlement was passed in 1701, and this is the act under which the Crown is held at present. From this time succession to the Throne hat been replaced by the King in Parliament and since 1931 it has been necessary for the Parliaments of all the British Dominions to give their assent as well if any change is required. The only serious modification which hat had to be effected so far was that brought about by the abdication of Edward VIII, which was followed by the passing by both Houses of Parliament and by the Dominion Parliaments of an act known as “Hit Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936.” Unique Succession It is interesting to note that Princess Elizabeth will be the first Queen to succeed her father by right of birth, as the only other example of a British King being succeeded by his daughter is that of Mary Stuart folJames II at the Revolution of 1688. but she had a brother who was passed over in her favour and was ta lS? n b y his father into exile. The fact that for the first time since the passing of the Act of Settlement we have a King with no son but with two daughters caused an interesting question to be put in the House of Commons in January. 1837. In Common Law there is no distinction between elder and* younger daughters and real property is divided equally between them and. in the case of old English peerages inheritable through the female line, the title goes into abeyance between co-heiresses if there is more than ene daughter. This prompted a member of Parliament to en Home Secretary whether the Government proposed to legislation to amend the Act of Settlement with a view to making it clear that the Princess Elizabeth was sole heiress to the Throne. The reply given by Sir John Simon (now Viscount Simon) is perhaps worth quoting: j’ no reason to d. A.^ a lu sty s , Govpr nment ar® adtherf is no that In n^^HL c K1 mst,n » < i s U er Roya! H i»hSS'the ’ uc - 'Hie order of gocSaTnrecedenr# th e family and of SuceeMion to the Throne is not quite the oedence being kept entirely for men and for women Married women almoat invariably take rank from their husbands unless the J rank m their own right Is higher’ but deriTe thriJ as’TMldV^ 0 ’ show ““ SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE Order of Precedence Princess Elizabeth. Princess Margaret. Duke of Gloucester. EE- ce William of Gloucester. Prince Richard of Gloucester Duke of Kent. ’ Prince Michael of Kent. Princess Alexandra of Kent Princess Royal. Earl of Harewood. Hon. Gerald Lascelles. Social Precedence , MALE. The King. Duke of Gloucester. Duke of Windsor. Prince William of Gloucester. Prince Richard of Gloucester. Duke of Kent. Prince Michael of Kent. FEMALE. The Queen. Queen Mary. Princess Elizabeth. Princeas Margaret. Princess Royal. Duchess of Gloucester. Duchess of Kent. Princess Alexandra of Kent.