THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12465, 5 June 1926, Page 10

THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE

Mr A. C. Fox-Davies (editor of “Armorial Families”) explains the position of the Duchess of York’s baby daughter, which is quite different from that of Princess Mary’s sons. “She is born a Princess of the United Kingdom and a Eoja! Highness, while: Princess Mary’s sons are not princes and not Royal Highnesses. Only in exceptional circumstances, which do not arise in the present case, does a child take rank or precedence from its mother. The young Princess is at present in the direct line of succession to the Throne, although her right will be postponed if the Prince of Wales marries and has children, or if the Duke and Duchess of York have a son Tho heir to the Throne is the Prince of Wales, next comes the Duke of York, and then the now Princess. After her. at presunt, stand .Prippe Henry, Prince tlcorye, .Pmice.ss Mary, her two sons, and then the: Princess Royal, the Duchess of Fife, and the Earl of Macduff.

“It is a point of law which has never yet arisen, and has never been settled whether the Princess Royal, Princess Victoria, and the Queen of Norway would succeed in that order, or whether the Crown would fall into abeyance between them. The fact has happened twice. When Queen Mary I. and Queen Elizabeth were co-heirs of Henry VIII., the case was dealt with by special statute, and when Queen Mary 11. and Queen Anne were the co-heirs of James 11., it was settled by the conquest cf William 111. “As the youngest Princess stands so near to the Throne, it is to be hoped that she will not he called Princess (whatever her name will be) of York. It Js quite incorrect to do so, although "a similar practice has been followed habitually in recent generations of the Royal Family. The child is a Princess of tho United Kingdom—not of the British Empire —and there is no Duchy of York, of which she can possibly be a Princess. Her father’s title is a dukedom, and not a duchy, wherein lies a world of difference. It will be interesting to see what arms and coronet are assigned to the child. As the grandchild of the Sovereign she should have a ‘label of five points,’ like her three greataunts, instead of the more usual label bf three points, like her • father and aunt, and uncles. Although the Duchess of York is the daughter of a Scottish peer, she has a considerable amount of English blood in her ve Vs, as her first surname ‘Bowes’ indicates, and, curiously enough, she is herself descended from the first Duke of York there ever wn»—-Edmund of Langley, son of Edward III.”

The baby will, in order of precedence, be the fourth lady of the land, and will bo styled “Her Royal Highness.” Tile royal baby ranks after the Queen, Princess Mary, the Duchess of York.

A Press Association message from Blenheim reports the death of Mrs Neville, wife of Mr S. M. Neville, aged 83. Mrs Neville was well known in connection with the early life <sf Marlborough.

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