Changing of the guard
It was the biggest shake-up of royal rules in centuries, yet it happened only a decade ago. Before the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 came into being, men took precedence in the line of royal succession. If a monarch had several children, their heir would always be the oldest boy. The only time a girl got to be queen in her own right was when there were no male heirs – as was the case for Elizabeth II, who was the oldest of two girls born to George VI.
This rule was based on a handful of laws and statutes dating back to 1688. It took a while, but in October 2011, the 16 Commonwealth realms (including New Zealand) decided that the line of succession would in future be decided by order of birth, not gender. What was known as the Perth Agreement went on to become the 2013 Act.
Britain’s Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, said, “The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man… this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries we have become.”
Part of the reason for the move was the marriage of Prince William, then second in line to the throne, to Kate Middleton in April 2011. It was deemed important, given that it was now the
21st century, to modernise the monarchy so that their first child would be third in line to the throne, regardless of whether they were a boy or girl. As it happened, their first-born was a son, so we’ll have another king in Prince George. But should anything happen to him before he has children, the next monarch will be his sister Princess Charlotte. If the rules hadn’t been changed, she’d have been leap-frogged in the order of succession by her younger brother Prince Louis.
The changes applied to every member of the royal family born after October 2011 and came into effect in March 2015.
The 2013 Act also repealed the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which meant any royal who married a Roman Catholic could be removed from the line of succession.
It’s now possible for royals to marry anyone from any religion and still be in line to inherit the throne.
However, there was no change to the rule that says the monarch cannot be any religion other than Protestant. As David Cameron explained, “The monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is head of that church.”
The other rule that changed with the introduction of the Succession to the Crown Act meant that only the first six people in line to the throne now need to ask permission of the monarch to marry. Before that, any descendant of George II – who ruled from 1727-1760 – had to go to the King or Queen for approval.
As things stand at the moment, only George, Charlotte, Louis and their cousin Prince Archie have to get the King’s say-so if they want to wed. William and Harry also need to ask their dad if they ever want to re-marry.