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.
A Succession to the Crown Bill is a proposed piece of legislation in the United Kingdom, presented as a Private Members Bill or government bill, in either the House of Commons or House of Lords, which aims to alter the laws of succession to the UK Monarchy.
The Crown is a corporation sole that represents the legal embodiment of executive, legislative, or judicial governance. It evolved as a separation of the literal crown and property of the nation state from the person and personal property of the monarch. In this context it should not be confused with any physical crown.
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature.;definition of "bill": "A proposed law presented to a legislative body for consideration." A bill is not law until passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive, Privy Council and monarch by royal assent. Once a bill is enacted into law it is called an "act" or "statute".
Background to succession laws Numerous Bills and Acts of succession were used to determine heirs and potential heirs to the throne, during the reign of the incumbent monarch, and especially before, during and after the changeovers between the Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians, and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the present Windsors, all of which necessitated changes and amendments to prior succession legislation to accommodate circumstances of the day. Historically and presently, legislation to amend laws of succession generally argue for amendments to several historic acts, adjudged relevant to succession issues of the day. The Bill of Rights 1688 and the Coronation Oath Act 1688, the Act of Settlement 1700, the Union with Scotland Act 1706, the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 and Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711, the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the Union with Ireland Act 1800, the Accession Declaration Act 1910 and the Regency Act 1937. The 1937 Regency Act came into legislative existence as a consequence of the abdication of King Edward VIII, as such passing succession to his brother Albert Duke of York (King George VI) in 1937, who was succeeded by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.
Legislative procedures of bills
Pre-legislative scrutiny: Joint committee of both houses review bill and vote on amendments that government can accept or reject. Reports are influential in later stages as rejected committee recommendations are revived to be voted on.
First Reading: No vote occurs. Bill is presented, printed, and in private members' bills, a Second Reading date is set.
Second Reading: A debate on the general principles of the bill is followed by a vote.
Committee Stage: A committee considers each clause of the bill, and may make amendments.
Report Stage: An opportunity to amend the bill. The House consider clauses to which amendments have been tabled.
Third Reading: A debate on final text as amended. In the Lords, further amendments may be tabled at this stage.
Passage: The bill is then sent to the other House which may amend it.
First Reading: Same procedures
Second Reading: Same procedures
Committee Stage: Same procedures
Report Stage: Same procedures
Third Reading: Same procedures
Passage: The bill is then returned to the original House.
Pre-legislative Scrutiny to consider all amendments.
The bill is then processed for royal assent, if accepted, the bill becomes an Act. Making new law Types of bill Bill procedure First reading Second reading Commons committee stage Lords committee stage Report stage Third reading Passage through the other House Royal assent Delegated legislation
Modern bills and acts of succession Elizabeth II The Succession to the Crown Bill 2004 was a British Private Member's Bill aimed at reforming the manner of succession to the British monarchy published in the House of Lords by Labour peer Lord Dubs on 9 December 2004, and withdrawn by him on 14 January 2005, after the Government said that it would block the Bill. The most immediate effect of the Bill passing and becoming law would have been the moving of Princess Anne from her then position of ninth on the line of succession to the British throne to fourth, displacing Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The Bill drew on the recommendations of the Fabian Society's Commission on the Future of the Monarchy, which reported in 2003.
The Succession to the Crown Bill 2011 was introduced to the House of Commons on 18 January 2011 by Labour MP Keith Vaz under the Ten Minute Rule, and was intended to "remove any distinction between the sexes in determining the succession of the throne" by replacing the current system of male primogeniture in succeeding to the throne of the United Kingdom with absolute cognatic primogeniture. It was due to have received its Second Reading on 9 September,Succession to the Crown Bill 2010-11 however, the second reading did not occur on that date, and was instead rescheduled for 25 November 2011.Bill Index Q-Z On 28 October 2011, it was announced by the heads of government of the 16 Commonwealth realms which share Elizabeth II as head of state that such a change in the law will soon be effected in all 16 independent nations, including the United Kingdom. Prime Minister David Cameron said that an Act of Parliament will amend the Act of Settlement 1701, the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and the Bill of Rights 1689 to establish absolute cognatic primogeniture for the descendants of Charles, Prince of Wales. The announcement in December 2012 that the Duchess of Cambridge was expecting her first child led to the publication of a new, government sponsored Succession to the Crown Bill.
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is a piece of legislation in the United Kingdom which altered the laws of succession to the British throne. It was published on 13 December 2012 and received royal assent on 25 April 2013.Succession to the Crown Bill, clause 5(4) (as introduced). Known as the Perth Agreement, on 28 October 2011, at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Perth, Western Australia, heads of government of 16 Commonwealth realms, which shared Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, announced that they would introduce legislation to end the primacy of male children over female in the succession to the Crown. The Succession to the Crown Bill gave effect in the United Kingdom to the agreement between heads of government.
The argument for changing the law on succession could be stated simply: The law as it stood was considered to discriminate against women and Catholics. The Government has said that it opposes discrimination in all forms, including against Catholics. However, numerous attempts to alter the succession to remove such clauses through Private Member's bills had not been successful, and the Government thus brought forward its own legislation on the matter. Consequently, to change the law, the government sought and received consent of the fifteen Commonwealth countries that had the Queen as their head of state, under the preamble to the Statute of Westminster 1931. Amending old legislation fundamental to the British constitution raised further questions about the nature of the established church and the Union between England and Scotland. +Bill title and summary of billProposerPremiershipOriginating houseProgressPrivate Members' billsSuccession to the Crown Bill 1981-82Hansard: 14 c270To amend the law with respect to the succession to the Crown.Michael English MP(Labour)CommonsConstitutional Reform Bill 1990-91Hansard: 194 c340-2To amend the law relating to the succession, rights and responsibilities of the Crown.Simon Hughes MP(Liberal Democrats)CommonsSuccession to the Crown Bill 1996-97Hansard: 578 c555To remove any distinction between sexes in determining the succession to the Crown.Lord Archer(Conservative)LordsSuccession to the Crown Bill 1997-98Hansard: 582 c313Hansard: 586 c909-18To remove any distinction between sexes in determining the succession to the Crown.Lord Archer(Conservative)LordsWithdrawnTreason Felony, Act of Settlement and Parliamentary Oath Bill 2001-02Hansard: 377 c319-25To provide that persons in communion with the Roman Catholic church are able to succeed to the Crown.Kevin McNamara MP(Labour)CommonsSuccession to the Crown Bill 2004-05Hansard: 667 c903 and Hansard: 668 c495-515To make provision about succession to the Crown and about Royal marriages.Lord Dubs(Labour)LordsWithdrawnSuccession to the Crown (No. 2) Bill 2004-05Hansard: 429 c314To make provision about succession to the Crown and about Royal marriages.Ann Taylor MP(Labour)CommonsSuccession to the Crown and Retirement of the Sovereign Bill 2004-05Hansard: 430 c161-3To provide for Sovereigns to be chosen by House of Commons from the family of the preceding Sovereign;to provide that all such Sovereigns shall cease to be Sovereign at the age of 75.Jonathan Sayeed MP(Conservative)CommonsNegativedRoyal Marriages (Freedom of Religion) Bill 2005Hansard: 431 c1392-4To allow any member of the Royal Family to marry a person of any religion or none.Edward Leigh MP(Conservative)CommonsCatholics (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2006-07Hansard: c154-6To remove remaining legislative discrimination against Catholics.John Gummer MP(Conservative)CommonsRoyal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2008-09Hansard: 490 c556-629To remove primogeniture from the line of succession and to enable the Monarch to marry a Catholic.Evan Harris MP(Liberal Democrats)CommonsAdjournedSuccession to the Crown Bill 2010-11Hansard: 521 c704-06To amend the Act of Settlement 1700 to remove distinction between sexes in determining succession to the Crown.Keith Vaz MP(Labour)CommonsAdjournedGovernment billSuccession to the Crown Act 2013To make provision about succession to the Crown and about Royal marriages.Nick Clegg MP(Liberal Democrats)CommonsRoyal assenton 25-04-2013
Historical bills and acts of succession
Henry VIII
The First, Second and Third Succession Acts were created to determine successors of Henry VIII, in consequence of his several wives. These circumstances evoked more legislation. In response to his excommunication; that Henry's imperial crown had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope, the Act of Supremacy in 1534 declared that the King was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England" and the Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason, punishable by death, to refuse to acknowledge the King as such.
On 23 March 1534, Parliament passed the First Succession Act,25 Hen. 8. c. 22. [Transcr. Statutes of the Realm, iii. 471.] to vest the succession of the English Crown in the children of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. This effectively set Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) first in line for the throne, declaring Princess Mary (later Mary I) a bastard. It was also proclaimed that if commanded, subjects were to swear an oath to recognizing this Act as well as the King's supremacy. People who refused to take the oath, including Sir Thomas More, were charged with treason.Jokinen, Anniina. “The Act of Succession, 1534.” Luminarium. 11 June 2002. [Date accessed: 18 January 2013].<http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/firstsuccession.htm>
The Second Succession ActSuccession to the Crown: Marriage Act 1536 (28 Hen. 8. c. 7). of Henry VIII's reign was passed in June 1536, removing both Mary and Elizabeth from the line of the succession. This act followed the execution of Anne Boleyn, and superseded the First Succession Act. This new act now declared Elizabeth to be a bastard also. As a result, Henry was left without any legitimate child to inherit the throne until his son Prince Edward was born in October 1537.