202-493: The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of what were then the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms , all recognising Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the realms would amend their laws concerning the succession to their shared throne and related matters. The changes, in summary, comprised: The ban on non- Protestants becoming monarch and
404-532: A convention made explicit in the preamble to the Statute of Westminster 1931 , the line of succession cannot be altered in any realm without the assent of the parliaments of the other 15 realms. Challenges had been made against the Act of Settlement, especially its provisions regarding Catholics and preference for males . In Canada, where the Act of Settlement is part of Canadian constitutional law , Tony O'Donohue ,
606-555: A court that encompassed mostly Britain and not the Commonwealth as a whole, was in favour of the idea, but it did not attract wide support. Another thought raised was that viceregal appointments should become trans-Commonwealth; the governor-general of Australia would be someone from South Africa, the governor-general of Ceylon would come from New Zealand, and so on. The prime ministers of Canada and Australia, John Diefenbaker and Robert Menzies , respectively, were sympathetic to
808-562: A royal proclamation . Otherwise, all royal powers, including the royal prerogative , are carried out on behalf of the sovereign by the relevant viceroy. In the United Kingdom, the king appoints Counsellors of State to perform his constitutional duties in his absence. Similarly, the monarch will perform ceremonial duties in the Commonwealth realms to mark historically significant events. Citizens in Commonwealth realms may request birthday or wedding anniversary messages to be sent from
1010-711: A state visit to the United States as king of Canada . While the idea was embraced in Canada as a way to "translate the Statute of Westminster into the actualities of a tour", throughout the planning of the trip that took place in 1939, the British authorities resisted at numerous points the idea that the King be attended by his Canadian ministers instead of his British ones. The Canadian prime minister (still Mackenzie King)
1212-515: A 'United Empire'." The meeting did produce a five-year trade agreement based upon a policy, first conceived in the 1900s, of Imperial Preference : the countries retained their import tariffs, but lowered these for other Commonwealth countries. During his tenure as Governor General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir urged the organisation of a royal tour of the country by King George VI, so that he might not only appear in person before his people, but also personally perform constitutional duties and pay
1414-571: A close family member or adopted heir, and the presumption that the eldest or even a natural son would inherit was not enshrined. The death of an emperor led to a critical period of uncertainty and crisis. In theory, the Senate was entitled to choose the new emperor, but did so mindful of acclamation by the army or the Praetorian Guard . Thus, neither an emperor nor his heir had an inherent "right" to rule, and did so through military power and
1616-471: A combined area of 18.7 million km (7.2 million sq mi) (excluding the Antarctic claims which would raise the figure to 26.8 million km (10.3 million sq mi)) and a population of more than 150 million. The Commonwealth realms are sovereign states . They are united only in their voluntary connection with the institution of the monarchy, the succession, and
1818-666: A daughter inherits before her uncle and his descendants. It was practised in the succession to the once-separate thrones of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland , then in the Kingdom of Great Britain , and then the United Kingdom until 2015, when the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (effective March 26, 2015) changed it to absolute primogeniture (to the eldest legitimate child, regardless of sex). This rule change
2020-663: A debate on the Succession to the Crown Bill in Western Australia, when the then Premier Colin Barnett was asked why Western Australia was taking so long to proceed with the necessary legislation, he replied: "I concede that it has taken a while, but there has been no particular reason for that. Western Australia had an election, and I guess that slowed things down a little bit, and in a practical sense, given that
2222-430: A decline in regicide , as clear rules of succession reduce the number of people who could (absent a coup d'état ) replace a ruler, thus making it less desirable to cause the death of the monarch. Absolute , equal , (full) cognatic or lineal primogeniture is a form of primogeniture in which sex is irrelevant for inheritance; the oldest surviving child without regard to sex inherits the throne. Mathematically this
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#17327650669632424-480: A dominion simply by including in any new law a clause claiming the dominion cabinet had requested and approved of the act, whether that was true or not. Further, the British parliament was not obliged to fulfil a dominion's request for legislative change. Regardless, in 1935 the British parliament refused to consider the result of the Western Australian secession referendum of 1933 without the approval of
2626-448: A few days after the UK's. Their example was followed more consistently by the other realms as further war was declared against Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland and Japan. Ireland remained neutral, "shattering the illusion of imperial unity." At the war's end, it was said by F.R. Scott that "it is firmly established as a basic constitutional principle that, so far as relates to Canada, the King
2828-517: A former Toronto city councillor , took issue with the provisions that exclude Catholics from the throne In 2002, O'Donohue launched a court action that argued the Act of Settlement violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , but the case was dismissed by the court. In the United Kingdom, from time to time there had been debate over repealing the clause that prevents " Papists " (Catholics) or those who marry one from ascending to
3030-402: A landed estate, therefore, the protection which its owner could afford to those who dwelt on it, depended upon its greatness. To divide it was to ruin it, and to expose every part of it to be oppressed and swallowed up by the incursions of its neighbours. The law of primogeniture, therefore, came to take place, not immediately indeed, but in process of time, in the succession of landed estates, for
3232-535: A monarchy with ... the UK, just as ... 16 other [ sic ] Commonwealth countries do now." Dennis Canavan , leader of Yes Scotland , disagreed and said a separate, post-independence referendum should be held on the matter. Following the Perth Agreement of 2011, the Commonwealth realms, in accordance with convention, together engaged in a process of amending the common line of succession according to each country's constitution, to ensure
3434-517: A motion proposing the country become a republic and leave the Commonwealth. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was told "His Majesty is genuinely alarmed at the feeling, which appears to be growing in Australia and may well be aggravated by further reverses in the Far East. He very much hopes, therefore, that it may be possible to adopt as soon as possible some procedure which will succeed in arresting these dangerous developments without impairing
3636-523: A new area." Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper described himself "supportive" of the reforms as "obvious modernizations". The Monarchist League of Canada also expressed favour for the plan, as did Monarchy New Zealand . A poll carried out by Forum Research in February 2013 found that 73% of Canadians polled "agreed with the change, which would permit a first-born female to become queen even if she had brothers." Scottish first minister Alex Salmond
3838-485: A regency law if the sovereign were incapacitated. Though input was sought from the Dominions on the matter, all declined to make themselves bound by the British legislation, agreeing with Simon. Tuvalu later incorporated this principle into its constitution . New Zealand included in its Constitution Act 1986 a clause specifying that, should a regent be installed in the United Kingdom, that individual would carry out
4040-477: A regency; though, such legislation would not be required until the occasion arose. This was because the governors-general could still perform viceregal functions during a regency in Britain, including giving royal assent to any Dominion law giving effect to a regency in that Dominion. In the United Kingdom, on the other hand, legislation was needed in advance because, otherwise, there would be no one to give assent to
4242-525: A republic within 18 months if it won the election and polls suggested that 55 per cent of Jamaicans desired the country become a republic. The ruling Jamaica Labour Party , which had in 2016 promised a referendum it did not deliver, was reelected. Barbados , which had been a Commonwealth realm for 55 years since it gained independence in 1966, became a republic by vote of Parliament in October 2021, effective on 30 November 2021. Some Barbadians criticised
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#17327650669634444-592: A similar-status foreign leader, as was conventional for high-status women for their family security and diplomacy. Such a situation was a major source of civil wars; one example is the Spanish Armada . Henry VIII of England did not wait until death and remarried twice on the basis of lack of producing a male heir, on the second occasion beheading his queen "for witchcraft" . A small minority of monarchs in many countries have openly made their heir an illegitimate child ; stories abound of others as newborns brought to
4646-721: A stronger claim by proximity of blood , the court ruled "Women cannot transmit a right which they do not possess", reinforcing agnatic primogeniture. This dispute was among the factors behind the Hundred Years' War , which broke out in 1337. Conflict between the Salic law and the male-preferred system was also the genesis of Carlism in Spain and Miguelism in Portugal. The crowns of Hanover and Great Britain, which had been in personal union since 1714, were separated in 1837 upon
4848-563: Is "nearest" to the last male. Male-preference primogeniture (in the past called cognatic primogeniture) provides that a dynast 's sons and their lines of descent all come before the dynast's daughters and their lines. Older sons and their lines come before younger sons and their lines. It accords succession to the throne to a female member of a dynasty if and only if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. Then, older daughters and their lines come before younger daughters and their lines, thus
5050-417: Is Queen of Great Britain, but she is equally Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Ceylon ... It is now possible for Elizabeth II to be, in practice as well as theory, equally Queen in all her realms." Still, Boyce holds the contrary opinion that the crowns of all the non-British realms are "derivative, if not subordinate" to the crown of the United Kingdom. Since each realm has
5252-538: Is a depth-first search . No monarchy implemented this form of primogeniture before 1980, when Sweden amended its Act of Succession to adopt it in royal succession. This displaced King Carl XVI Gustaf 's infant son, Prince Carl Philip , in favor of his elder daughter, Princess Victoria . Several monarchies have since followed suit: the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990 (not retroactively), Belgium in 1991, Denmark in 2009, Luxembourg in 2011. In 2011,
5454-607: Is also governed by the Acts of Union 1707 , which restates the provisions of the Act of Settlement 1701 , and the Bill of Rights 1689 . These laws originally restricted the succession to legitimate descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover (the mother of George I), and debar those who are Catholics or who have married Catholics. The descendants of those who are debarred for being or marrying Catholics, however, may still be eligible to succeed. By
5656-419: Is generally agreed that any unilateral alteration of succession by the UK would not have effect in all the realms. Following the accession of George VI to the throne, the United Kingdom created legislation that provided for a regency if the monarch was not of age or incapacitated. During debate that law, Sir John Simon opined that each Dominion would have to decide if it needed to legislate with respect to
5858-505: Is regulated by Canadian law and must act only on the advice and responsibility of Canadian ministers." The war had strained the alliance among the Commonwealth countries, which had been noted by the King. The Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin , had stated in December 1941 "that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs about our traditional links of kinship with Britain." The Parliament of South Africa voted on 14 January 1942 on
6060-525: Is that of Isaac 's sons Esau , who was born first, and Jacob , who was born second. Esau was entitled to the "birthright" ( bekhorah בְּכוֹרָה), but he sold the right to Jacob for a mess of pottage , i. e. a small amount of lentil stew. This passage demonstrates that primogeniture was known in the Middle East prior to the Roman Empire . A woman's right and obligation to inherit property in
6262-464: Is therefore no longer an exclusively British institution. From a cultural standpoint, the sovereign's name, image and other royal symbols unique to each nation are visible in the emblems and insignia of governmental institutions and militia. Elizabeth II's effigy, for example, appears on coins and banknotes in some countries, and an oath of allegiance to the King is usually required from politicians, judges, military members and new citizens. By 1959, it
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6464-406: Is to convene together nations and celebrate plans, projects, agreements and initiatives between all its members. At CHOGM on 28 October 2011, the prime ministers of the other Commonwealth realms agreed to support the proposed changes. The proposed changes were to replace male preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for all persons in the line of succession born after 28 October 2011, end
6666-459: The 1953 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that it was important to agree on a format that would "emphasise the fact that the Queen is Queen of Canada, regardless of her sovereignty over other Commonwealth countries." The result was a new Royal Style and Titles Act being passed in each of the seven realms then existing (excluding Pakistan ), which all identically gave formal recognition to
6868-535: The Australian states . These appointments are made on the advice of the prime minister of the country or the premier of the province or state concerned, though this process may have additional requirements. The extent to which specific additional powers are reserved exclusively for the monarch varies from realm to realm. On occasions of national importance, the King may be advised to perform in person his constitutional duties, such as granting royal assent or issuing
7070-615: The Church of Scotland and sends a Lord High Commissioner as his representative to meetings of the church's General Assembly , when he is not personally in attendance. Until the early part of the 20th century, the monarch's title throughout the British Empire was determined exclusively by the Parliament of the United Kingdom . As the dominions gained importance, the British government began to consult their governments on how
7272-624: The Duchy of Lancaster , which is merged with the British Crown which has included women in inheritance since the 16th century, and the Dukedom of Marlborough , which has done so since its establishment in 1702. However, in Scotland, Salic law has never been practised, and all the hereditary titles are inherited through male-preference primogeniture, where in the extinction of a male line,
7474-560: The Empress Gemmei (661–721) on the throne (but only because she was a Princess of the Imperial family, daughter of Prince Kusakabe ), remain the sole exceptions to this conventional argument. Primogeniture by definition prevents the subdivision of estates . This lessens family pressures to sell property, such as if two (or more) children inherit a house and cannot afford to buy out the other(s). In much of Europe younger sons of
7676-473: The Estates-General of 1317 [ fr ] ruling that "Women do not succeed the kingdom of France". In 1328 it was further elaborated to solve the dispute over the legitimate successor of Philip V's brother, Charles IV of France , in favour of Philip VI of France (the son of Charles' uncle Charles of Valois) over Edward III of England (the son of Charles' sister Isabella). While Edward had
7878-594: The First World War . In 1919, Canadian prime minister Sir Robert Borden and South African minister of defence Jan Smuts demanded that, at the Versailles Conference , the dominions be given full recognition as "autonomous nations of an Imperial Commonwealth". As a result, although the King signed as High Contracting Party for the Empire as a whole, the dominions were also separate signatories to
8080-712: The Halibut Treaty in its own right in 1923. In the Chanak crisis of 1922, the Canadian government insisted that its course of action would be determined by the Canadian parliament, not the British government, and, by 1925, the dominions felt confident enough to refuse to be bound by Britain's adherence to the Treaty of Locarno . The Viscount Haldane said in 1919 that in Australia the Crown "acts in self-governing States on
8282-544: The House of Lords , the governments of Jamaica and Belize had outlined that neither country would require domestic legislation to give effect to changes to the lines of succession to their thrones, as those lines were left by Belize's and Jamaica's constitutions to law of the United Kingdom. Wallace said on 13 March 2013 that the British government expected that the parliaments of Jamaica and Belize would not be consulted further by their governments. Of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados,
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8484-551: The Imperial Conference of 1926 for a reorganisation of the way the dominions related to the British government, resulting in the Balfour Declaration, which declared formally that the dominions were fully autonomous and equal in status to the United Kingdom. What this meant in practice was not at the time worked out; conflicting views existed, some in the United Kingdom not wishing to see a fracturing of
8686-538: The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was left available as the last court of appeal for some dominions. Specific attention was given in the statute's preamble to royal succession, outlining that no changes to that line could be made by the parliament of the United Kingdom or that of any dominion without the assent of all the other parliaments of the UK and dominions, an arrangement a justice of
8888-455: The Kingdom of Canada . Although the dominions were capable of governing themselves internally, they remained formally—and substantively in regard to foreign policy and defence—subject to British authority, wherein the governor-general of each dominion represented the British monarch - in-Council reigning over these territories as a single imperial domain. It was held in some circles that
9090-608: The Quebec Superior Court over, among other matters, its alleged failure to "follow the amending procedure" set out in section 41 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The attorney-general of Quebec joined as an intervener in support of the challenge. The court hearing began on 1 June 2015. On 16 February 2016, the court ruled Canada "did not have to change its laws nor its Constitution for the British royal succession rules to be amended and effective". The ruling
9292-537: The Royal Style and Titles Act 1957 , which followed the example of Ceylon and South Africa by giving Elizabeth the title Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ghana and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth . Each new realm thereafter did the same. In 1973 Australia removed reference to the United Kingdom, followed by New Zealand the next year. By the time of Elizabeth's death in 2022, aside from
9494-742: The Statute of Westminster , and before the term Commonwealth realm ever came into use. Due to a domestic financial and political crisis, the Newfoundland legislature petitioned the UK to suspend dominion status, the UK parliament passed the Newfoundland Act 1933 , and direct rule was implemented in 1934. Rather than reclaiming dominion status after the Second World War, it became a province of Canada in 1949. Six Commonwealth realms and dominions held referenda to consider whether they should become republics. As of January 2020, of
9696-531: The Treaty of Versailles . They also became, together with India, founding members of the League of Nations . In 1921 the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George , stated that the "British dominions have now been accepted fully into the community of nations". The pace of independence increased in the 1920s, led by Canada, which exchanged envoys with the United States in 1920 and concluded
9898-458: The United Kingdom , acts as monarch of each. Except for the UK, in each of the realms the monarch is represented by a governor-general . The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law. As of 2024 , there are 15 Commonwealth realms: Antigua and Barbuda , Australia , The Bahamas , Belize , Canada , Grenada , Jamaica , New Zealand , Papua New Guinea , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and
10100-412: The "convention that statutory uniformity on these subjects would be maintained in the parts of the Commonwealth that continued to owe allegiance to the Crown". Today, some realms govern succession by their own domestic laws, while others, either by written clauses in their constitution or by convention, stipulate that whoever is monarch of the United Kingdom is automatically also monarch of that realm. It
10302-522: The 20th century . In Japan, the Imperial chronologies include eight reigning empresses from ancient times up through the Edo period; however, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained. Japanese empresses such as Empress Genshō (680–748), who succeeded her mother
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#173276506696310504-524: The Act of Settlement is part of the laws of the Australian states and territories, and therefore not only Australia but also its states had to change their laws. At a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in mid-December 2012, the then prime minister, Julia Gillard , and the premiers of five states agreed each state legislature would pass a law permitting the federal parliament to alter
10706-633: The Australian federal government or parliament. In 1937, the Appeal Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa ruled unanimously that a repeal of the Statute of Westminster in the United Kingdom would have no effect in South Africa, stating: "We cannot take this argument seriously. Freedom once conferred cannot be revoked." Others in Canada upheld the same position. At the 1932 British Empire Economic Conference , delegates from
10908-597: The Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, it was also said by Lord Wallace of Tankerness: "We believe that it would be open to the other Caribbean realms to take a similar view [as Jamaica and Belize], but it is, of course, for them to decide how best to give the changes effect." The parliament of Barbados passed the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, which signified
11110-556: The Balobedu Royal Council has appointed only female descendants to the queenship. The position has been unoccupied and stewarded by a regent since the death of Makobo Modjadji , the most recent Rain Queen, in 2005. The Balobedu Royal Council has not published information concerning its succession norms, but among the Limpopo tribe, it was widely expected that the late Rain Queen's daughter, Masalanabo, would succeed to
11312-611: The Bill of Rights 1688 and Act of Settlement 1701, as well as the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 . On 4 December 2012, the British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg announced that the government would introduce a bill to parliament as soon as possible. The bill was introduced to parliament on 13 December 2012 and passed the House of Commons on 28 January 2013. The House of Lords Constitution Committee opposed
11514-728: The British Dominions Beyond the Seas , or, more simply, King of all the British Dominions Beyond the Seas . The King favoured the latter suggestion, which was adopted as [Edward VII] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King . By 1926, following the issuance of the Balfour Declaration , it was determined that the changes in the nature of
11716-467: The British Empire; others, such as Australia (1901) and New Zealand (1907), followed. With the growing independence of the dominions in the 1920s, the Balfour Declaration of 1926 established the Commonwealth of Nations and that the nations were considered "equal in status ... though united by a common allegiance to the Crown". The Statute of Westminster 1931 further set the relationship between
11918-421: The British campaigning group Republic said monarchical succession is inherently biased and "To suggest that this has anything to do with equality is utterly absurd," an opinion echoed by Citizens for a Canadian Republic . Robert Hazell and Bob Morris pointed out that "the [other] realms were free to alter their constitutions without reference to the UK, but the UK could not do so on this occasion without seeking
12120-479: The British throne. The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed a motion in 1999 calling for the complete removal of any discrimination linked to the monarchy and the repeal of the Act of Settlement. A private member's bill —the Succession to the Crown Bill —was introduced in the House of Lords in December 2004. The government, headed by Tony Blair , however, blocked all attempts to revise the succession laws, claiming it would raise too many constitutional issues and it
12322-537: The Canadian provinces each have their own personal standards , as do the governors of the Australian states . The possibility that a colony within the British Empire might become a new kingdom was first mooted in the 1860s, when it was proposed that the British North American territories of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick and the Province of Canada unite as a confederation that might be known as
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#173276506696312524-621: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The charter challenge was dismissed as non-justiciable in August 2013. In August 2014, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the lower court decision on the ground that succession rules are not subject to the charter of rights and that the applicant had no standing to bring the challenge as he has no connection with the royal family. The validity of the Canadian parliament's legislation came under judicial review in
12726-496: The Colonies. Many of the early Virginians who were plantation owners were younger sons of landed gentry who had left Britain and Ireland fortuneless due to primogeniture. These were key ancestors of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America . In Democracy in America , Alexis de Tocqueville observes that abolition of primogeniture and entail as to property results in faster division of land. However, primogeniture, in forcing landless people to seek wealth outside
12928-411: The Commonwealth (Defender of the Faith) . The South African government objected, stating that did not express the equality of status among the realms. Canadian officials wanted the word queen to precede the name of the realm so as to form the term Queen of Canada , which they felt expressed Elizabeth's distinct role as Canada's sovereign. There was even discussion about the placement of a comma following
13130-415: The Crown Bill 2013 that had been laid before the United Kingdom parliament (later, after amendment, to be given royal assent there on 25 April 2013 as the Succession to the Crown Act 2013). The position taken by the federal Cabinet was that Canada has no royal succession laws, the country's monarch being automatically whoever is monarch of the United Kingdom, and the Canadian parliament need only assent to
13332-422: The Crown Bill in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland on 13 February 2013. The federal government stated that if Queensland were to proceed, it would override the state's legislation in favour of national legislation. Following an agreement at a COAG meeting in April 2013, Queensland on 2 May amended its bill to add permission for the Commonwealth to act and the bill passed the same day. In November 2014, during
13534-423: The Crown from King George II down to the present day could not be affected by the changes. These changes were approved by the other Commonwealth leaders. Cameron's proposals were supported by the prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard , who said she was "very enthusiastic about it. You would expect the first Australian woman prime minister to be very enthusiastic about a change which equals equality for women in
13736-429: The Crown was a monolithic element throughout all the monarch's territories; A.H. Lefroy wrote in 1918 that "the Crown is to be considered as one and indivisible throughout the Empire; and cannot be severed into as many kingships as there are dominions, and self-governing colonies". This unitary model began to erode when the dominions gained more international prominence as a result of their participation and sacrifice in
13938-468: The Crown would function as a personal union , akin to that which had earlier existed between the United Kingdom and Hanover (1801 to 1837), or between England and Scotland (1603 to 1707). Its first test came, though, with the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, for which it was necessary to gain the consent of the governments of all the dominions and the request and consent of the Canadian government, as well as separate legislation in South Africa and
14140-435: The Empire needed to be reflected in King George V 's title (something the King felt to be a "bore"). This led to the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 ; though, again, this applied one title to the King across the whole Empire. The preamble to the Statute of Westminster 1931 established the convention requiring the consent of all the dominions' parliaments, as well as that of the United Kingdom, to any alterations to
14342-439: The Grenadines , Belize , Antigua and Barbuda , and Saint Kitts and Nevis – are independent of each other, while sharing one person as monarch in a constitutionally equal fashion. (Barbados has since become a republic.) The working group later affirmed that, across all these realms, appropriate laws were passed and came into effect, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom reiterated this on 26 March 2015. Canada's law
14544-414: The Grenadines , Solomon Islands , Tuvalu , and the United Kingdom . While the Commonwealth of Nations has 56 independent member states , only these 15 have Charles III as head of state. He is also Head of the Commonwealth , a non-constitutional role. The notion of these states sharing the same person as their monarch traces back to 1867 when Canada became the first dominion , a self-governing nation of
14746-587: The Heirs and Successors of the Sovereign according to law" and a reference to the sovereign of Tuvalu "shall be read as including a reference to (a) the Sovereign of the United Kingdom; or (b) any person exercising the whole or the relevant part of the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, as the case requires, in accordance with the law in force in England." The prime ministers' commitment to bring forward measures for
14948-469: The Irish Free State, before the resignation could take place across the Commonwealth. At the height of the crisis, press in South Africa fretted about the Crown being the only thing holding the empire together and the bond would be weakened if Edward VIII continued "weakening kingship". Afterward, Francis Floud , Britain's high commissioner to Canada, opined that the whole affair had strengthened
15150-484: The King himself; the person of the sovereign and the Crown were said in 1936 to be "the most important and vital link" between the dominions. Political scientist Peter Boyce called this grouping of countries associated in this manner "an achievement without parallel in the history of international relations or constitutional law." Terms such as personal union , a form of personal union , and shared monarchy , among others, have all been advanced as definitions since
15352-433: The King's style outside of the United Kingdom. Then, in 1930 George V's Australian ministers employed a practice adopted by resolution at that year's Imperial Conference, directly advising the King to appoint Sir Isaac Isaacs as the Australian governor-general . Calls were also made for the empire to adopt new symbols less centred on the United Kingdom specifically, such as a new British Empire flag that would recognize
15554-545: The Ontario Superior Court in 2003 likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries to share the monarchy under the existing rules and not to change the rules without the agreement of all signatories". This was all met with only minor trepidation, either before or at the time, and the government of the Irish Free State was confident that the relationship of these independent countries under
15756-489: The Prince of Wales, Princess Royal, Duke of York and Duke of Edinburgh also have one each for Canada . Those without their own standard use a specific ermine-bordered banner of either the British, Scottish, or, when in or acting on behalf of Canada, Canadian royal arms. The governors-general throughout the Commonwealth realms also each use a personal flag, which, like that of the sovereign, passes to each successive occupant of
15958-459: The Queen's name and regnal number , with the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations advising the use of punctuation was appropriate, as the term by the grace of God had been used in conjunction with the title king or queen since the reign of William II in the 11th century, whereas it had no such association with the position of head of the Commonwealth; so, Elizabeth II was queen by
16160-613: The Saudi Arabian throne uses a form of lateral agnatic seniority , as did the Kievan Rus' (see Rota system ), the early Kingdom of Scotland (see Tanistry ), the Mongol Empire (see lateral succession ) or the later Ottoman Empire (see succession practices ). Some monarchies have (at least in principle) no element of heredity in their laws of succession at all and monarchs are elected . The Holy Roman Emperor
16362-572: The Senate's symbolic consent. The law of primogeniture in Europe has its origins in Medieval Europe where the feudal system necessitated that the estates of land-owning feudal lords be kept as large and as united as possible to maintain social stability as well as the wealth, power and social standing of their families. Adam Smith , in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
16564-472: The Solomon Islands' constitutions both state that the references to the Queen "extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", while Tuvalu's constitution states that "[t]he provisions of this Constitution referring to the Sovereign extend, in accordance with section 13 (references to the Sovereign of Tuvalu) of Schedule 1, to
16766-457: The Statute of Westminster; the Australian prime minister, Robert Menzies , considered the government bound by the British declaration of war, while New Zealand coordinated a declaration of war to be made simultaneously with Britain's. As late as 1937, some scholars were still of the mind that, when it came to declarations of war, if the King signed, he did so as king of the empire as a whole; at that time, William Paul McClure Kennedy wrote: "in
16968-535: The Throne Act, 2013 , with the long title An Act to assent to alterations in the law touching the Succession to the Throne, 2013 , was tabled in the House of Commons of Canada as Bill C-53 on 31 January 2013 and passed by that body on 4 February. It was then approved by the Senate on 26 March 2013 and received royal assent on the following day. It came into force on 26 March 2015. The act gives assent to Succession to
17170-432: The UK, reflected this position, stating that the Act of Settlement was a part of the law in each dominion. Though today the Statute of Westminster is law only in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, the convention of approval from the other realms was reasserted by the Perth Agreement of 2011, in which all 16 realms at the time agreed in principle to change the succession rule to absolute primogeniture , to remove
17372-524: The United Kingdom itself, only Canada retained mention of the United Kingdom in the monarch's title and only Canada and New Zealand retained a reference to the monarch as Defender of the Faith . The Canadian parliament, in 2023, passed legislation that removed those references, The bill received royal assent on 22 June 2023; a proclamation of the new title was issued on January 8, 2024. Queen Elizabeth II employed various royal standards to mark her presence,
17574-467: The United Kingdom on 11 December; as the Canadian government had requested and consented to the act becoming part of Canadian law, and Australia and New Zealand had then not yet adopted the Statute of Westminster , the abdication took place in those countries on the same day. The parliament of South Africa passed its own legislation— His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937 —which backdated
17776-418: The United Kingdom, [Australia/Canada/New Zealand] and her other Realms and Territories Queen , keeping by the grace of God and defender of the faith . Pakistan's Royal Style and Titles Act simply titled the Queen as Queen of the United Kingdom and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth . After Ghana gained independence and became a Commonwealth realm in 1957, its parliament passed
17978-678: The United Kingdom, led by Stanley Baldwin (then Lord President of the Council ), hoped to establish a system of free trade within the British Commonwealth, to promote unity within the British Empire and to assure Britain's position as a world power. The idea was controversial, as it pitted proponents of imperial trade with those who sought a general policy of trade liberalisation with all nations. The dominions, particularly Canada, were also adamantly against dispensing with their import tariffs, which "dispelled any romantic notions of
18180-607: The United Kingdom. Since then, new realms have been created through the independence of former colonies and dependencies; Saint Kitts and Nevis is the youngest extant realm, becoming one in 1983. Some realms became republics; Barbados changed from being a realm to a republic in 2021. There are currently 15 Commonwealth realms scattered across three continents (nine in North America , five in Oceania , and one in Europe ), with
18382-640: The Wealth of Nations , explains the origin of primogeniture in Europe in the following way: [W]hen land was considered as the means, not of subsistence merely, but of power and protection, it was thought better that it should descend undivided to one. In those disorderly times, every great landlord was a sort of petty prince. His tenants were his subjects. He was their judge, and in some respects their legislator in peace and their leader in war. He made war according to his own discretion, frequently against his neighbours, and sometimes against his sovereign. The security of
18584-560: The abdication there to 10 December. The Irish Free State recognised the king's abdication with the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 on 12 December. According to Anne Twomey , this demonstrated "the divisibility of the Crown in the personal, as well as the political, sense". For E. H. Coghill, writing as early as 1937, it proved that the convention of a common line of succession "is not of imperative force" and Kenneth John Scott asserted in 1962 that it ended
18786-576: The absence of a male heir in the family was recorded in the case of the Daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27. During the Roman Empire , Roman law governed much of Europe, and the laws pertaining to inheritance made no distinction between the oldest or youngest, male or female, if the decedent died intestate . Although admission to the two highest ordines (orders), i.e. the senators and equestrians , potentially brought lifelong privileges that
18988-458: The absence of male-line offspring, variations were expounded to entitle a daughter or a brother or, in the absence of either, to another collateral relative, in a specified order (e.g., male-preference primogeniture, Salic primogeniture, semi-Salic primogeniture). Variations have tempered the traditional, sole-beneficiary, right (such as French appanage ) or, in the West since World War II , eliminate
19190-434: The advice of the cabinet of that jurisdiction. This means that in different contexts, the term Crown may refer to the extra-national institution associating all 15 countries, or to the Crown in each realm considered separately. In Australia, it has been suggested that the Crown is further divided, with it possible that the monarchy in each of the states is a separate institution, equal in status to each other. The monarchy
19392-478: The agreement lengthy and complex. By December 2012, all the realm governments had agreed to enact it. New Zealand chaired a working group to determine the process. The Commonwealth realms – at the time including the United Kingdom , Canada , Australia , New Zealand , Jamaica , Barbados , the Bahamas , Grenada , Papua New Guinea , the Solomon Islands , Tuvalu , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and
19594-514: The agreement of the other realms and would not be commenced until the appropriate domestic arrangements were in place in the other realms. On 2 December 2012, the British government received final agreement in writing from the governments of the other 15 Commonwealth realms regarding all three elements of the reform. On 4 December 2012, the day after the Duchess of Cambridge 's pregnancy was announced, Clegg announced this final agreement, adding that
19796-542: The beginning of the Commonwealth itself, though there has been no agreement on which term is most accurate. Under the Balfour Declaration of 1926 , dominions were proclaimed to be "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown" and the monarch is the leader "equally, officially, and explicitly of separate, autonomous realms". Andrew Michie wrote in 1952 that "Elizabeth II embodies in her own person many monarchies: she
19998-471: The changes made to the laws of succession in the United Kingdom by that realm's parliament, which can be achieved by ordinary legislation, without the approval of the provinces . There was disagreement over this process, mainly on whether the rules of succession involved the office of the Queen, thus requiring a constitutional amendment under Section 41(a) of the Constitution Act, 1982 ; whether, by
20200-423: The changes to be effective simultaneously was accomplished on 26 March 2015 by orders commencing the legislation passed in seven of the realms: Australia, Barbados, Canada, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United Kingdom. The remaining realms (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu) concluded that legislation
20402-403: The changes. Cameron stated: "The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic—this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become." On the question of continued requirements that the sovereign be a Protestant, Cameron added, "Let me be clear,
20604-820: The concept, but, again, it was never put into practice. On 6 July 2010, Elizabeth II addressed the United Nations in New York City as queen of 16 Commonwealth realms. The following year, Portia Simpson-Miller , the Prime Minister of Jamaica , spoke of a desire to make that country a republic, while Alex Salmond , the First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (which favours Scottish independence ), stated an independent Scotland "would still share
20806-500: The connections between the various nations; though, he felt the Crown could not suffer another shock. As the various legislative steps taken by the dominions resulted in Edward abdicating on different dates in different countries, this demonstrated the division of the Crown post-Statute of Westminster. The civil division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales later found in 1982 that the British parliament could have legislated for
21008-464: The country's royal succession, the convention does not apply. Agreement among the realms does not mean the succession laws cannot diverge. During the abdication crisis in 1936, the United Kingdom passed His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act with the approval of the parliament of Australia and the governments of the remaining dominions. (Canada, New Zealand and South Africa gave parliamentary assent later.) The act effected Edward's abdication in
21210-471: The death of her grandson and ruled until 1003 CE. Another example is Qudsia Begum who became the Nawab of Bhopal in 1819 CE after the death of her husband and ruled until 1837 CE. Other famous queens include Rudrama Devi , Keladi Chennamma , Ahilyabai Holkar , Velu Nachiyar and Gowri Lakshmi Bayi . Razia Sultana was a rare example of a queen who succeeded her father even when her brothers were alive. She
21412-471: The desire for a male heir saw the women themselves excluded from the succession in favor of their sons, so that women could transmit claims but not inherit themselves. Such a system was called "quasi-Salic". In 1317, to illegitimize Joan II of Navarre 's claim on France, Philip V of France declared "women do not succeed to the throne of France". In 1328, Philip's successor, Charles IV of France , also died sonless; Charles' sister, Isabella of France , claimed
21614-474: The disqualification of those who married Catholics, and limit the requirement for those in line to the throne to acquire permission of the sovereign to marry. The prohibition on Catholics becoming monarch would remain. The bill put before the Parliament of the United Kingdom would act as a model for the legislation required to be passed in at least some of the other realms. The Queen was understood to support
21816-489: The eastern European monarchies except Greece, i.e. Albania , Bulgaria , Montenegro , Romania , and Serbia . During this era, Spain (in the Carlist conflicts ) fought a civil war which pitted the Salic and female-line heirs of the ruling dynasty against one another for possession of the crown. Many English nobility descend by Salic, male primogeniture so have a greater average rate of extinction. For many other titles, if
22018-623: The efficiency of the existing machinery." Within three years following the end of the Second World War, India , Pakistan and Ceylon became independent dominions within the Commonwealth. India would soon move to a republican form of government. Unlike in Ireland and Burma, there was no desire on the part of India to leave the Commonwealth, prompting a Commonwealth Conference and the London Declaration in April 1949, which entrenched
22220-689: The eight held, three were successful: in Ghana, in South Africa and the second referendum in Gambia. Referenda that rejected the proposal were held in Australia, twice in Tuvalu, and in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Interest in holding a second referendum was expressed in Australia in 2010. During the 2020 Jamaican general election , the People's National Party promised to hold a referendum on becoming
22422-576: The eldest sister automatically receives the titles, and rules in her own right, not in the right of her son. A famous example of this is Marjorie, Countess of Carrick , mother of Robert the Bruce , who was the Countess of Carrick in her own right. During the High Medieval period, there arose a trend where the extinction of agnatic lineages forced the consideration of women's claims; nevertheless,
22624-461: The elevated status of the dominions. Many unofficial designs were often displayed for patriotic celebrations such as coronations and Empire Day . These new developments were explicitly codified in 1931 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster , through which Canada, the Union of South Africa, and the Irish Free State all immediately obtained formal legislative independence from the UK, while in
22826-545: The elimination of the terms grace of God and defender of the faith ; by the will of the people was suggested as a replacement. All that was agreed at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in 1949 was that each of George VI's countries should have a different title, but with common elements, and it would be sufficient for each realm's parliament to pass a local law. The matter went unresolved until Elizabeth II became queen in 1952, upon which
23028-467: The emperor and his council at court. Other than meeting requirements for personal wealth, the qualifications for belonging to the senatorial or equestrian orders varied from generation to generation, and in the later Empire, the dignitas ("esteem") that attended on senatorial or equestrian rank was refined further with additional titles, such as vir illustris , that were not inherited. Most Roman emperors indicated their choice of successor, usually
23230-423: The expectant queen consort such as to James II of England "in a bedpan." Under any of these considerations, sons, some of whose lives were in times of war likely to be lost in battle, could be expected to produce more heirs. Eldest daughters could find themselves under a situation of duress on remarriage, and the concept of the trophy bride if the husband were slain is one resonant in many cultures especially before
23432-963: The family estate to maintain their standard of living accelerated the death of the landed aristocracy and, in his view, thus, quickened the shift to democracy . In Christian Europe , the Catholic Church originally had a monopoly on the authority to sanction marriage. Its teachings forbid polygamy and state divorce is an impossibility per se . Consequently, in Europe, given morbidity and infertility, succession could not be assured solely by direct male descendants or even direct male or female progeny. In Islamic and Asian cultures, religious officials and customs either sanctioned polygyny , use of consorts, or both, or they had no authority of marriage; monarchs could consequently ensure sufficient numbers of male offspring to assure succession. In such cultures, female heads of state were rare. The earliest account of primogeniture to be known widely in modern times
23634-488: The final test of sovereignty—that of war—Canada is not a sovereign state... and it remains as true in 1937 as it was in 1914 that when the Crown is at war, Canada is legally at war," and, one year later, Arthur Berriedale Keith argued that "issues of war or neutrality still are decided on the final authority of the British Cabinet." In 1939, Canada and South Africa made separate proclamations of war against Germany
23836-543: The functions of the head of state beyond the purely constitutional; the international monarchy, where the monarch is head of state in the 15 realms and holds the position of head of the Commonwealth; the religious monarchy, meaning the sovereign as head of the Church of England and his relationship with the Presbyterian Church of Scotland; and the welfare/service monarchy, wherein the sovereign and other members of
24038-444: The functions of the monarch of New Zealand. The sovereign resides in the oldest realm, the United Kingdom. The king appoints viceroys to perform most of the constitutional and ceremonial duties on his behalf in the other realms: in each, a governor-general as his personal national representative, as well as a lieutenant governor as his representative in each of the Canadian provinces and governor as his representative in each of
24240-479: The government's decision not to hold a referendum on the issue as being undemocratic. Primogeniture Philosophers Works Primogeniture ( / ˌ p r aɪ m ə ˈ dʒ ɛ n ɪ tʃ ər , - oʊ -/ ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relative. In most contexts, it means
24442-482: The government's plans to fast-track the bill, which led to the government's decision to observe normal legislative time limits in the House of Lords. The act received royal assent on 25 April 2013, passing into law, but its provisions altering the law of succession would not come into force until a time to be formally appointed by the Lord President of the Council (another office held by Clegg). When publishing
24644-422: The governments of the 16 Commonwealth realms which have a common monarch—Elizabeth II at that date—announced the Perth Agreement , a plan to legislate changes to absolute primogeniture. This came into effect with the necessary legislation on 26 March 2015. Other monarchies have considered changing to absolute primogeniture: Monaco , the Netherlands , and Norway also deviated from traditional primogeniture in
24846-425: The governors-general now acted solely as a personal representative of the sovereign in right of that dominion. Though no formal mechanism for tendering advice to the monarch had yet been established—former Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes theorised that the dominion cabinets would provide informal direction and the British Cabinet would offer formal advice —the concepts were first put into legal practice with
25048-459: The grace of God, but her position as head of the Commonwealth was a secular arrangement. In the end, it was decided the common wording in the titles was to be Queen of her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth . Regardless, Ceylon and South Africa used Queen of [Ceylon/South Africa] and her other Realms and Territories , omitting by the grace of God and defender of the faith , while Australia, Canada, and New Zealand opted for of
25250-409: The hereditary titles are inherited through male-preference primogeniture, where in the extinction of a male line, the eldest sister automatically receives the titles, and rules in her own right, not in the right of her son. A famous example of this is Marjorie, Countess of Carrick , mother of Robert the Bruce , who was the Countess of Carrick in her own right. A similar system was practised in many of
25452-433: The idea that republics be allowed in the Commonwealth so long as they recognised King George VI as Head of the Commonwealth and the "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations". Pakistan became a republic in 1956. As these constitutional developments were taking place, the dominion and British governments became increasingly concerned with how to represent the more commonly accepted notion that there
25654-508: The immediacy had gone out of the matter and given that the next three people in line to the monarchy are males, it did not arise." In February 2015 the Attorney-General, Michael Mischin, acknowledged "it is significantly overdue but that is just one of the facts of life". Western Australia finally passed its legislation on 3 March 2015. The Australian parliament passed the Succession to the Crown Act on 19 March 2015 and royal assent
25856-456: The inheritance of the firstborn son (agnatic primogeniture); it can also mean by the firstborn daughter (matrilineal primogeniture), or firstborn child (absolute primogeniture). Its opposite analogue is partible inheritance . The common definition given is also known as male-line primogeniture, the classical form popular in European jurisdictions among others until into the 20th century. In
26058-547: The initiative and advice of its own ministers in these States". Another catalyst for change came in 1926, when Field Marshal the Lord Byng of Vimy , then Governor General of Canada , refused the advice of his prime minister (William Lyon Mackenzie King) in what came to be known colloquially as the King–Byng Affair . Mackenzie King, after resigning and then being reappointed as prime minister some months later, pushed at
26260-427: The king would have socially entrenched powers over his new spouse: financial and any rivalry of a new queen consort by her personal and companions' physical strength was within the chivalric norm far-fetched so far as it might present a challenge to her ruling husband, if proving relatively able. Times of turbulence were more likely when a queen regnant/female main heir allowed to inherit was married to or remarried to
26462-542: The kingdoms in Kerala practised this system, including the Kingdom of Calicut , Kingdom of Cochin , the kingdom of Kolathunadu and the Kingdom of Valluvanad , to name a few. The Arakkal kingdom followed a similar matrilineal system of descent: the eldest member of the family, whether male or female, became its head and ruler; the male rulers were called Ali Rajah and female rulers were called as Arakkal Beevis. Usually after one king, his nephew through his sister succeeded to
26664-596: The kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent from the Middle Ages to the Indian independence movement . In many of these kingdoms, adoption was allowed from a relative if a monarch did not have children, and the adopted child could succeed to the throne at the death of the monarch. ( Shahu I adopted Rajaram II who ruled as king and he in turn adopted Shahu II who ruled as the next king. Princess Bharani Thirunal Parvathy Bayi,
26866-419: The late 20th or early 21st century by restricting succession to the crown to relatives within a specified degree of kinship to the most recent monarch. Agnatic primogeniture or patrilineal primogeniture is inheritance according to seniority of birth among the sons of a monarch or head of family , with sons inheriting before brothers, and male-line male descendants inheriting before collateral male relatives in
27068-650: The late estate holder had no descendants his oldest brother would succeed, and his descendants would likewise enjoy the rule of substitution where he had died. The effect of English primogeniture was to keep estates undivided wherever possible and to disinherit real property from female relations unless only daughters survived in which case the estate thus normally results in division. The principle has applied in history to inheritance of land as well as inherited titles and offices, most notably monarchies, continuing until modified or abolished. Other forms of inheritance in monarchies have existed or continue. Currently, succession to
27270-507: The legislature's acquiescence to the British Succession to the Crown Bill 2013. On 13 March 2013, Lord Wallace of Tankerness said that the countries of Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands would not require amendments to their constitutions as the wording of each explicitly state that the heirs and successors to the monarch in each realm are the same as those to the monarch of the United Kingdom. Papua New Guinea's and
27472-538: The legitimate female line of the original titleholder. In England, Fiefs or titles granted "in tail general" or to "heirs general" follow this system for sons, but daughters are considered equal co-heirs to each other, which can result in abeyance. In the medieval period, actual practice varied with local custom. While women could inherit manors, power was usually exercised by their husbands ( jure uxoris ) or their sons ( jure matris ). However, in Scotland, Salic law or any of its variations have never been practised, and all
27674-422: The line of succession to the British throne from male-preference to absolute. In 2011, the deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg , announced that the British government was considering a change in the law. At about the same time, it was reported that Prime Minister David Cameron had written to the prime ministers of each of the other 15 Commonwealth realms, asking for their support in changing
27876-520: The line of succession for the Commonwealth and all the states. However, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman disagreed, citing Section 7 of the Australia Act 1986 and concluding from it that each state is sovereign and each should therefore pass its own legislation affecting the succession laws in its jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Queensland state government introduced its own Succession to
28078-436: The male line ceases to exist, the title automatically passes to the closest elder sister and her descendants. It could sometimes also pass through a line of descendants to the last holder, as abeyant holders, until they become parents or ancestors to a male descendant who is first born to 'settle the abeyance'. Some senior agnatic cadets are granted from the outset courtesy or subsidiary titles. Notable English exceptions are
28280-461: The male line, and to the total exclusion of females and descendants through females. This exclusion of females from dynastic succession is also referred to as application of the Salic law . Another variation on agnatic primogeniture is the so-called semi-Salic law, or "agnatic-cognatic primogeniture", which allows women to succeed only at the extinction of all the male descendants in the male line of
28482-482: The matter to an end. The Bill of Rights 1688 and Act of Settlement 1701 are, and The Royal Marriages Act 1772 was, part of the laws of New Zealand. The Royal Succession Bill was introduced to the Parliament of New Zealand by Justice Minister Judith Collins on 18 February 2013 and received royal assent on 17 December 2013. The act removed the Royal Marriages Act 1772 as a law of New Zealand and amended
28684-510: The monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is the head of that Church." Along with the changes in the succession law, Cameron proposed that the necessity for royal consent to marriages in the royal family should be limited to the first six people in line to the throne. Under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 , almost every descendant of King George II needed the Queen's permission to marry, which by 2011
28886-611: The monarch should be titled. Ahead of the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain , suggested the King have the title King of Great Britain and Ireland and of Greater Britain Beyond the Seas . Canadian officials preferred explicitly mention of the dominions: King of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India, King of Canada, Australasia, South Africa and all
29088-577: The monarch's style and title. This first came into play when the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act was amended in 1948, by domestic law in Britain and each of the dominions, to remove George VI 's title Emperor of India . Within the year, discussions about rewording the monarch's title began again when Ireland repealed legislation conferring functions on the king. The governments of Pakistan and Canada this time wanted more substantial changes, leading South Africa and Ceylon to also, along with Pakistan, request
29290-428: The monarch, as head of state of two different realms, may be simultaneously at war and at peace with a third country, or even at war with themself as head of two hostile nations. The evolution of dominions into realms resulted in the Crown having a shared and a separate character, with one human equally monarch of each state and acting as such in right of a particular realm as a distinct legal person guided only by
29492-423: The mother of the reigning Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore , had been adopted). Often, the wife or mother of a childless king were allowed to succeed to the throne as well and allowed to rule as queen regnants in their own right, until their death, after which the throne passed to the next closest relative. An early example of this is Queen Didda of Kashmir , who ascended the throne of Kashmir in 980 CE after
29694-472: The next generation could inherit, the principle of inherited rank in general was little used. Rather, Roman aristocracy was based on competition, and a Roman family could not maintain its position in the ordines merely by hereditary succession or title to land. Although the eldest son typically carried his father's name in some form, he was expected to construct his own career based on competence as an administrator or general and on remaining in favor with
29896-655: The nobility had no prospect of inheriting by death any property, and commonly sought careers in the Church, in military service (see purchase of commissions in the British Army ), or in government. Some wills made bequests to a monastic order for an already suitably educated, disinherited son. Many of the Spanish Conquistadors were younger sons who had to make their fortune in war. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, many younger sons of English aristocrats chose to leave England for Virginia in
30098-543: The office. Most feature a lion passant atop a St. Edward's royal crown with the name of the country across a scroll underneath, all on a blue background. The two exceptions are those of, since 1981, Canada (bearing on a blue background the crest of the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada ) and, since 2008, New Zealand (a St. Edward's Crown above the shield of the Coat of arms of New Zealand ). The lieutenant governors of
30300-452: The only surviving child of Louis X of France , was debarred from the throne in favor of her uncle, Philip, Count of Poitiers . After this it was declared that women could not inherit the French throne. Then in 1328, after the death of Charles IV , his paternal cousin, Philip, Count of Valois , became king, notwithstanding the claims of Edward III of England . By proximity of blood , Edward
30502-558: The order of precedence for the realms' high commissioners or national flags is set according to the chronological order of, first, when the country became a dominion and then the date on which the country gained independence. Conflicts of interest have arisen from this relationship amongst independent states. Some have been minor diplomatic matters, such as the monarch expressing on the advice of one of his/her cabinets views that counter those of another of his/her cabinets. More serious issues have arisen with respect to armed conflict, where
30704-518: The order would continue to be identical in every realm. In legislative debates in the United Kingdom, the term Commonwealth realm was employed, but, it remained unused in any law. In addition to the states listed above, the Dominion of Newfoundland was a dominion when the Statute of Westminster 1931 was given royal assent but effectively lost that status in 1934, without ever having assented to
30906-428: The other dominions adoption of the statute was subject to ratification by the dominion's parliament. Australia and New Zealand did so in 1942 and 1947, respectively, with the former's ratification back-dated to 1939, while Newfoundland never ratified the bill and reverted to direct British rule in 1934. As a result, the parliament at Westminster was unable to legislate for any dominion unless requested to do so, although
31108-415: The other realm governments had confirmed that they would be "able to take the necessary measures in their own countries." While some realms deferred to the British legislation, a number of the other realms passed their own laws effecting the changes in succession. The English Bill of Rights 1689 and Act of Settlement 1701 are, and the Royal Marriages Act 1772 was, incorporated into Australian law, and
31310-532: The particular legislator. Such were the cases of Bourbon Spain until 1833 and the dominions of Austria-Hungary , as well as most realms within the former Holy Roman Empire , i.e. most German monarchies. This was also the law of Russia under the Pauline Laws of 1797 and of Luxembourg until absolute primogeniture was introduced on 20 June 2011. There are various versions of semi-Salic law also, although in all forms women do not succeed by application of
31512-442: The particular one used depending on which realm she was in or acting on behalf of at the time. All are heraldic banners incorporating the arms for that state and, save for those of the UK, were defaced in the centre with the device from the Queen's Personal Flag . The Queen would use that personal flag in realms where she did not have a royal standard. Many other members of the royal family have their own personal standards ;
31714-461: The passage in 1927 of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act , which implicitly recognised the Irish Free State as separate from the UK, and the King as king of each dominion uniquely, rather than as the British king in each dominion. At the same time, terminology in foreign relations was altered to demonstrate the independent status of the dominions, such as the dropping of the term "Britannic" from
31916-706: The perceived nature of the tasks and role of the monarch: a monarch/ prince (the latter means in Latin, chieftain) most usually was, first and foremost, a military leader, as in the Book of Numbers . Social norms pointing to kings further flow from making clear, first-generation survivors, so to avoid civil war . Lacking advanced healthcare and resource-conscious family planning , mothers faced high risk in enduring such regular childbirth . Also in pre-20th century medicine about 10% of women could not have children . Added to this, on any necessary remarriage from death in childbirth,
32118-506: The preference for males over females (absolute male-preference primogeniture). Most monarchies in Europe have eliminated this, including: Belgium , Denmark , Luxembourg , Netherlands , Norway , Sweden and the United Kingdom . The exceptions are Spain and Monaco (male-preference primogeniture) along with Liechtenstein (agnatic primogeniture). English primogeniture endures mainly in titles of nobility: any first-placed direct male-line descendant (e.g. eldest son's son's son) inherits
32320-556: The press before the birth of Prince George of Cambridge about Canada having a different line of succession to the other realms if the Canadian law were eventually found to be unconstitutional. An application was made to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice seeking to find the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, unconstitutional due to allegedly contravening both section 2 of the Canada Act 1982 and section 15 of
32522-713: The pretender to the Travancore throne is still determined by matrilinear succession. The Akans of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, West Africa have similar matrilineal succession and as such Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II , Asantehene inherited the Golden Stool (the throne) through his mother (the Asantehemaa ) Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II . The preference for males in most systems of primogeniture (and in other mechanisms of hereditary succession) comes mostly from
32724-416: The principle of either received law, by statute law, or both, the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement, and the conventions related to royal succession were a part of the Canadian constitution; and whether the Canadian law assented to the Succession to the Crown Bill 2012 as had been presented to the United Kingdom parliament or as amended by that body and passed into law. There was some speculation in
32926-527: The proposed legislation the government had announced that it was expecting to bring the provisions into force at the same time as the other realms would be bringing into force any changes to their legislation or other changes necessary for them to implement the Perth Agreement. According to the Lord Wallace of Tankerness , who sponsored the British government's Succession to the Crown Bill in
33128-475: The queenship upon turning 18. A ceremony to celebrate her anticipated queenship was officially held in 2018. In May 2021, however, the Royal Council announced that Masalanabo would instead be appointed khadi-kholo (great aunt). The late queen's son, Lekukela was installed in October 2022, becoming the first Rain King since the 18th century. In Kerala , southern India, a custom known as Marumakkathayam
33330-557: The realms and the Crown , including a convention that any alteration to the line of succession in any one country must be voluntarily approved by all the others. The modern Commonwealth of Nations was then formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949 when India wanted to become a republic without leaving the Commonwealth ; this left seven independent nations sharing the Crown: Australia, Canada, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ), New Zealand, Pakistan , South Africa , and
33532-463: The realms issued their respective accession proclamations using different titles for their monarch. Debate ensued thereafter. The Australian government preferred that the monarch's title name all of the realms, but said it would accept Elizabeth II (by the Grace of God) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, [name of realm], and all of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of
33734-459: The realms' consent; the realms were relatively freer to alter their constitutions than was the UK itself" and that this inversion of the constitutional situation under imperialism was surprising to some. However, as a corollary, they pointed to Peter Boyce's earlier assertion in The Queen's Other Realms: The Crown and Its Legacy in Australia, Canada and New Zealand that the fact that the change in
33936-415: The requirement for them to be in communion with the Church of England was not altered. The Agreement was signed in October 2011 in Perth , Australia , which hosted the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The institutional and constitutional principles of Commonwealth realms are shared equally as enacted in the Statute of Westminster 1931 , which made the process of implementing
34138-402: The restriction on the monarch being married to a Catholic, and to reduce the number of members of the Royal Family who need the monarch's permission to marry. These changes came into effect on 26 March 2015. Alternatively, a Commonwealth realm may choose to cease being such by making its throne the inheritance of a different royal house or by becoming a republic, actions to which, though they alter
34340-399: The royal family give their patronage to charities and other elements of civil society. To guarantee the continuity of multiple states sharing the same person as monarch, the preamble of the Statute of Westminster 1931 laid out a convention that any alteration to the line of succession in any one country must be voluntarily approved by the parliaments of all the realms. This convention
34542-405: The sacred unity of the Crown throughout the empire, and some in the dominions not wishing to see their jurisdiction have to take on the full brunt of diplomatic and military responsibilities. What did follow was that the dominion governments gained an equal status with the United Kingdom, a separate and direct relationship with the monarch, without the British Cabinet acting as an intermediary, and
34744-452: The same kind of primogeniture as was in effect among males in the family. Rather, the female who is nearest in kinship to the last male monarch of the family inherits, even if another female of the dynasty is senior by primogeniture. Among sisters (and the lines of descendants issuing from them), the elder are preferred to the younger. In reckoning consanguinity or proximity of blood the dynasty's house law defines who among female relatives
34946-595: The same person as its monarch, the diplomatic practice of exchanging ambassadors with letters of credence and recall from one head of state to another does not apply. Diplomatic relations between the Commonwealth realms are thus at a cabinet level only, and high commissioners are exchanged between realms (though all other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations also follow this same practice, for traditional reasons). A high commissioner's full title will thus be High Commissioner Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for His Majesty's Government in [Country] . For certain ceremonies,
35148-416: The same reason that it has generally taken place in that of monarchies, though not always at their first institution. Also known as agnatic primogeniture, is a system that excludes any female from inheritance of a monarch's principal possessions. Generally known in western Europe as an application of the " Salic law ". This rule developed among successions in France in the later Middle Ages. In 1316, Joan ,
35350-426: The separateness and equality of the countries involved, and replaced the phrase "British Dominions Beyond the Seas" with "Her Other Realms and Territories", the latter using the word realm in place of dominion . Further, at her coronation, Elizabeth II's oath contained a provision requiring her to promise to govern according to the rules and customs of the realms, naming each one separately. The change in perspective
35552-405: The sovereign. This is available for 100th, 105th and beyond for birthdays; and 60th ("Diamond"), 65th, 70th ("Platinum") and beyond for wedding anniversaries. It is solely in England that the King plays a role in organised religion where he acts as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and nominally appoints its bishops and archbishops. In Scotland, he swears an oath to uphold and protect
35754-409: The succession to absolute primogeniture, and notifying them he would raise his proposals at that year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth , Western Australia. While discussions took place during the summit, it was an agenda side accord, as most Commonwealth member states do not have a monarchical form of government - the across-the-board function of Head of the Commonwealth
35956-473: The succession was initiated by the United Kingdom government was a reminder to the other Commonwealth realms that "their crown is derivative, if not subordinate" to the crown of the United Kingdom. The Cabinet Secretary of New Zealand chaired a working group to discuss the best way of accomplishing the reforms in all the Commonwealth realms. The realms agreed that the United Kingdom would be the first to draft legislation, but that it would not be introduced without
36158-555: The throne in each of the Commonwealth realms is governed both by common law and statute. Under common law, the Crown was transmitted by male-preference primogeniture , under which succession passed first to the monarch's or nearest dynast's legitimate sons (and to their legitimate issue) in order of birth, and subsequently to their daughters and their legitimate issue, again in order of birth, so that sons always inherit before their sisters, elder children inherit before younger, and descendants inherit before collateral relatives. Succession
36360-422: The throne not for herself, but through her to her son, Edward . However, Philip VI of France took the throne and added another rule to illegitimize Edward, that being nemo dat quod non habet – one cannot transmit a right that one does not possess. A variation of this form of primogeniture allowed the sons of female dynasts to inherit, but not women themselves, an example being the Francoist succession to
36562-542: The throne of Spain that was applied in 1947–1978. A case of agnatic primogeniture is exemplified in the French royal milieu , where the Salic Law (attributed to the Salian Franks ) forbade any inheritance of a crown through the female line. This rule was adopted to solve the dispute over the legitimate successor of John I of France , the short-lived son of deceased Louis X of France in favour of Philip V of France (brother of Louis and uncle of John) over Joan II of Navarre (daughter of Louis and sister of John),
36764-428: The throne, and his own son receives a courtesy title but has no place in the line of succession. In the absence of nephews, nieces could also succeed to the kingdom, as in the case of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi who was the queen regnant from 1810 to 1813. Since Indian Independence and the passing of several acts such as the Hindu Succession Act (1956), this form of inheritance is no longer recognised by law. Regardless,
36966-515: The throne, as a governing rule for the French succession. Although Salic law excludes female lines, it also mandates partible inheritance , rather than primogeniture. This rule developed among successions in France in the later Middle Ages. In the lands of Napoleon Bonaparte 's conquests, Salic law was adopted, including the French Empire , the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Kingdom of Holland . Other states adopted Salic primogeniture as well, including Belgium, Sweden, Denmark ( in 1853 ) and all of
37168-417: The title before siblings and similar, this being termed "by right of substitution" for the deceased heir; secondly where children were only daughters they would enjoy the fettered use (life use) of an equal amount of the underlying real asset and the substantive free use (such as one-half inheritance) would accrue to their most senior-line male descendant or contingent on her marriage ( moieties ); thirdly, where
37370-418: Was appealed by the plaintiffs and was heard by the Quebec Court of Appeal in February 2018. The court released its decision upholding the lower court judgement on 28 October 2019. In December 2019, the appellants filed an application with the Supreme Court of Canada seeking leave to appeal the Quebec Court of Appeal's decision. In April 2020, the Supreme Court declined to grant leave to appeal, bringing
37572-415: Was being asserted by Buckingham Palace officials that the Queen was "equally at home in all her realms". Robert Hazell and Bob Morris argued in 2017 that there are five aspects to the monarchy of the Commonwealth realms: the constitutional monarchy, including the royal prerogative and the use thereof on the advice of local ministers or according to convention or statute law; the national monarchy, comprising
37774-481: Was challenged in court but has been upheld. On the day the changes came into effect in March 2015, the first of the persons affected by the headline provision were the children of Lady Davina Windsor , the elder daughter of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester ; the succession positions of Lady Davina's son Tāne (born 2012) and daughter Senna (born 2010) were reversed, Tāne becoming 29th and Senna becoming 28th in line. Succession to
37976-525: Was chosen by a small number of powerful prince electors from among Imperial magnates, while kings of Poland-Lithuania were elected directly by the nobility . Intermediate arrangements also exist, such as restricting eligible candidates to members of a dynasty (as is currently done in Cambodia ). Research shows that authoritarian regimes that rely on primogeniture for succession were more stable than forms of authoritarian rule with alternative succession arrangements. Scholars have linked primogeniture to
38178-501: Was closest related as eldest son of the sister of Charles, Isabella . The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris resolved that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded. This ruling became a key point of contention in the subsequent Hundred Years War . Over the following century, French jurists adopted a clause from the 6th century Pactus Legis Salicae , which asserted that no female or her descendants could inherit
38380-473: Was first applied in 1936 when the British government conferred with the dominion governments during the Edward VIII abdication crisis . Prime Minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King pointed out that the Statute of Westminster required Canada's request and consent to any legislation passed by the British parliament before it could become part of Canada's laws and affect the line of succession in Canada. Sir Maurice Gwyer , first parliamentary counsel in
38582-402: Was granted on 24 March 2015. The change to the succession law in the United Kingdom finally came into effect on 26 March 2015. The Northern Territory government introduced a bill to request the federal parliament to change the law relating to royal succession in similar terms. On second reading it was explained that the Northern Territory's request or consent to the federal parliament enactment
38784-404: Was more critical, saying: "It is deeply disappointing that the reform has stopped short of removing the unjustifiable barrier on a Catholic becoming monarch." While welcoming the gender equality reforms, The Guardian also criticised the failure to remove the ban on Catholics sitting on the throne as "fanning a religious hostility the rest of Europe was already growing beyond." A representative of
38986-412: Was no distinction between the sovereign's role in the United Kingdom and his or her position in any of the dominions. Thus, at the 1948 Prime Ministers' Conference the term dominion was avoided in favour of Commonwealth country , to avoid the subordination implied by the older designation. The Commonwealth's prime ministers discussed the matter of the new monarch's title, with St. Laurent stating at
39188-408: Was not constitutionally necessary but that the government of the Northern Territory considered it desirable that arrangements in the Northern Territory would mirror those between the Australian Commonwealth and its states. The Act of Settlement 1701, the Bill of Rights 1689, and His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 are part of the laws of Canada. The Canadian government's Succession to
39390-406: Was not necessary. However in Canada the legislation was challenged in court (see Judicial review above) and the matter remained pending until April 2020. Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Charles III as its monarch and head of state. All the realms are independent of each other, although one person, resident in
39592-452: Was practiced by the Nair nobility, the Malabar Muslims and royal families. Through this system, descent and the inheritance of property were passed from the maternal uncle to nephews or nieces. The right of the child was with the maternal uncle or the mother's family rather than the father or the father's family. Through this bloodline, surnames, titles, properties, and everything of the child are inherited from his uncle or mother. Almost all
39794-401: Was simultaneously adopted by the other Commonwealth realms that have the same monarch as their head of state. With respect to hereditary titles , it is usually the rule everywhere in Scotland and baronies by writ in the United Kingdom, but usually these baronies by writ go into abeyance when the last male titleholder dies leaving more than one surviving sister or more than one descendant in
39996-518: Was summed up by Patrick Gordon Walker 's statement in the British House of Commons : "We in this country have to abandon... any sense of property in the Crown. The Queen, now, clearly, explicitly and according to title, belongs equally to all her realms and to the Commonwealth as a whole." In the same period, Walker also suggested to the British parliament that the Queen should annually spend an equal amount of time in each of her realms. Lord Altrincham , who in 1957 criticised Queen Elizabeth II for having
40198-477: Was the reigning queen of the Delhi Sultanate from 1236 to 1240 CE. Male-preference primogeniture is currently practised in succession to the thrones of Monaco (since 1454 ) and Spain (before 1700 and since 1830 ). Matrilineal primogeniture is a form of succession in which the eldest female child inherits the throne, to the exclusion of males. The Rain Queen of the Balobedu nation has been cited as an example of matrilineal primogeniture. Since 1800,
40400-412: Was thousands of people. While the Royal Marriages Act 1772 was in force, marrying without permission made the marriage void. Under the proposed new law, any already formalised marriage that was deemed invalid under the 1772 Act would be retroactively legalised; descendants of such a marriage would however remain excluded from the line of succession to the throne, to ensure that the validity of the descent of
40602-434: Was ultimately the minister in attendance, and the King did in public throughout the trip ultimately act solely in his capacity as the Canadian monarch. The status of the Crown was bolstered by Canada's reception of George VI. When the Second World War began, there was some uncertainty in the dominions about the ramifications of Britain's declaration of war against Nazi Germany . Australia and New Zealand had not yet adopted
40804-441: Was unnecessary at the time. The issue was raised again in January 2009, when a private member's bill to amend the Act of Succession was introduced in parliament. British Labour Member of Parliament Keith Vaz introduced to the House of Commons at Westminster, in early 2011, a private member's bill, which proposed that the Act of Settlement be amended to remove the provisions relating to Catholicism and change primogeniture governing
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