Eldest son succession would go under monarch reform bill
A new bill has been published that would see the law of male primogeniture, whereby the eldest son inherits the throne, abandoned.
The move – which would allow older sisters to inherit the throne – is part of a new bill that attempts to modernise and reform the monarchy. There is most definitely no suggestion that the monarchy should be scrapped.
The suggestion comes in the Succession to the Crown Bill, which is the brainchild of Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who is also a member of the Fabian Society Executive. It is due to get its second reading in the Lords on Friday January 14th
Firstly, it would introduce gender equality into the inheritance rules; secondly it would remove the bar to the heir of the throne marrying a Catholic; and finally it would remove the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 from the statute book. This act requires all descendants of George II to receive permission from the Monarch for their marriages to be valid – or to give 12 months’ notice to the Privy Council and hope that neither the Lords nor the Commons express any disapproval of the marriage.
Speaking on Thursday, Lord Dubs said: “These are very modest reform proposals which almost everybody in Britain today would instinctively support. Who will defend the gender and religious discrimination in the current rules of succession?
“The only thing which could prevent these constructive reforms is a misplaced political taboo on debating Royal reform. Of course, the Royal family cannot take the lead in discussing the issue of reform – it would be absurd for Parliamentarians to conclude that this can be none of our business either”.
Specifically on the proposal to end the practice of the eldest son inheriting, Lord Dubs said: “This is surely offensive to the vast majority of Britons following the great social revolution in the position of women in recent decades. Supporters of the Monarchy constantly pay tribute to the great dedication of the Queen over her fifty year reign and it is surely better to make this change at a time when Princes William and Harry are first and second in line to the throne, rather than wait until the moment when it would change the line of succession”.
The general secretary of the Fabian Society, Sunder Katwala, added: “A debate about these proposals should also help to establish the principle that, if a democratic society is to have a Monarchy on the grounds that there is majority support for this, we need to be able to have an open and grown-up public debate about what sort of Monarchy this should be. Both Monarchists and Republicans should be able to agree on the value of this”.
