Females Granted Equal Rights to the British Throne
October 28, 2011
The 16 Commonwealth nations that acknowledge Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch unanimously agreed today to a major series of reforms regarding the monarchy. In the future, female members of the British royal family will have the same rights as males to ascend (move upward) to the British throne. Any first-born child of an heir to the throne or of a monarch will be first in the line of succession. (Succession is the act, right, or process of succeeding to an office, property, or rank, such as king.) Under the old succession laws, dating back more than 300 years, a monarch’s first-born son was automatically the heir; the crown passed to a daughter only if there were no sons. The new rule of succession will first affect any children born to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
Prince William © Indigo/Getty Images
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge © Adrian Dennis, Reuters
The reforms also lift a rule, dating back to the Reformation, that barred a British monarch from marrying a Roman Catholic. (The Reformation was a religious movement of the 1500′s that led to Protestantism; England broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534.) The reforms also change a legal requirement that an heir must have the permission of the monarch before marrying.
Additional World Book articles:
- Kings and queen of the United Kingdom
- The Queen Mother: Creator of the Modern Monarchy (a special report)
