I was delighted to read in this morning's press that the Prime Minister has spoken to the Queen about female members of the Royal family being treated as equals to males. I brought a Primogeniture Bill before the House of Lords in 1997, and although it received overwhelming backing from the House, I was asked by the then leader of the Lords, Baroness Jay, to withdraw it, as the Government wished to bring in such a Bill themselves. It's been a long wait, and now a Liberal Democract MP, Mr Evan Harris, has raised the subject in the Commons 12 years after my Bill was presented to the House of Lords. Mind you, the Liberals are always happy to steal other peoples' ideas.
My Bill stated clearly that when Prince William becomes King, if his first child were to be a girl, she would automatically succeed to the throne. The current law states that should William have several daughters in a row and then a son, the son would automatically become King on his father's death.
I'm sure the young today would find this anomaly not only unacceptable, but unbelievable. Naturally I would have liked this Bill to have gone through the Lords in my name, but am pleased that the Government has finally come round to it. Perhaps someone's heard that Prince William is about to announce his engagement?
My Bill stated clearly that when Prince William becomes King, if his first child were to be a girl, she would automatically succeed to the throne. The current law states that should William have several daughters in a row and then a son, the son would automatically become King on his father's death.
I'm sure the young today would find this anomaly not only unacceptable, but unbelievable. Naturally I would have liked this Bill to have gone through the Lords in my name, but am pleased that the Government has finally come round to it. Perhaps someone's heard that Prince William is about to announce his engagement?
4 Comments:
Jeffrey, I believe you collect Muriel Pemberton's paintings. She was a friend of mine and one of her paintings was given to me after she died. I would like to sell it now and wonder if you would be interested. I can send you a picture on an email if you like. Sincerely, Marian Mason
The proposed change has been used in Sweden since a constitutional reform in 1979 and is accepted by virtually everybody. The King opposed one feature of the change: it made Victoria Crown Princess although her little brother was already the Crown Prince. He preferred the change to apply to future instances. In any case, congratulations on this progress!
dear Sir
One more question on "royalty" could be, if the Prince of Wales has an offspring thru the Duchess of Cornwall, would he/she precede Prince Andrews (the Duke of York) in the order of succesion. I know its an improbability at this age, but hey this question could become relavant in the future...cheers
Sachal (Pakistan)
In politics, "who raised the Bill?" supersedes "what the Bill is all about".
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