April 29, 2011. 9th Wedding anniversary of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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Carole Middleton, Catherine Middleton, Charles Prince of Wales, Diana Princess of Wales, Michael Middleton, Prince William Duke of Gloucester, royal wedding, The Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke of Cambridge, Westminster Abbey

On November 16, 2010, Clarence House announced that Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton were to marry; the couple had become engaged in Kenya in October. The engagement ring given by William to Catherine had belonged to his mother.

Prince William was born at Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, London, at 9:03 pm on June 21, 1982 as the first child of Charles, Prince of Wales—heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II—and Diana, Princess of Wales. His names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace on June 28. He was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August, the 82nd birthday of his paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on January 9, 1982 into an upper-middle-class family. She was baptised at St Andrew’s Bradfield, Berkshire, on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to Michael Middleton (b. 1949), and his wife, Carole (née Goldsmith; b. 1955), a former flight dispatcher and flight attendant, respectively, who in 1987 founded Party Pieces, a privately held mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations with an estimated worth of £30 million.

The wedding took place on April 29, 2011 in Westminster Abbey, London. A few hours before the ceremony, HM The Queen conferred on HRH Prince William the new titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus.

The couple have three children:

HRH Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge; born July 22, 2013
HRH Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge; born May 2, 2015
HRH Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge; born 23 April 2018

Succession: Act of Settlement of 1701

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Act of Settlement 1701, Electress Sophia of Hanover, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Mary II of England, Prince William Duke of Gloucester, Queen Anne of Great Britain, William III of England

When William III and Mary II ruled jointly any of their offspring would have inherited the throne. After William and Mary the next in line was Mary’s sister the Princess Anne, Duchess of Cumberland. In 1700 Princess Anne was married to Prince George of Denmark who was the younger son of King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His mother was the sister of Ernst-August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, later Elector of Hanover. Prince George was therefore first cousin to King George I of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover his wife’s successor!

George and Anne were married on July 28, 1683 in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, London, by Henry Compton, Bishop of London. The guests included King Charles II, Queen Catherine, and the Duke and Duchess of York. In England George remained HRH Prince George of Denmark and Nowray until April 10, 1689 when King William III raised his brother-in-law to the peerage by granting him the title Duke of Cumberland. Throughout their marriage they had 17 pregnancies with the majority of them being stillbirths or miscarriages. Two daughters, Mary and Anne-Sophia both lived for a year or so. Another daughter named Mary and a son named George lived only a short while after birth. The longest lived child of The Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, was HRH Prince William, Duke of Gloucester. His death in 1700 age of 11 created a crisis for the succession. Just prior to his death this was the succession to the Crown.

HM King William III of England and Scotland.

1. HRH Princess Anne, The Duchess of Cumberland
2. HRH Prince William, The Duke of Gloucester
3. HRH Prince James, The Prince of Wales *
4. HM Queen Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Savoy *
5. HRH Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont *

I only listed the first five. Those with the asterisk were not even in the line of succession at this time. Although the Act of Settlement was not the law of the land at this time all those would not have been acceptable due to being Catholic. I included them to show what the succession may have looked like had Catholics been allowed, and also to demonstrate that after the future Queen Anne and her son, the rest in line to the throne were Catholic. That is why Prince William, Duke of Gloucester’s death created a crisis for the throne. Although Prince James was technically still Prince of Wales, his title would not be attained until March 2, 1702 and his presence on the throne was not desired. If Catholics had been allowed to succeed to the throne the line of succession would have looked more like this:

1. HRH Prince James, the Prince of Wales
2. HRH Princess Anne, The Duchess of Cumberland
3. HRH Prince William, The Duke of Gloucester
4. HM Queen Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Savoy
5. HRH Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont

HSH Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the closest Protestant and just prior to the Act becoming law she was around 150th in line to the throne.

On the day of William III’s death, March 8 1702, the line of succession to the English throne was determined by the Act of Settlement 1701 and his sister-in-law, Anne, second daughter of the deposed King James II-VII of England and Scotland (who had died September 16, 1701), assumed the throne as Queen Anne. Electress Sophia (age 70), five of her children (ages 35 to 41), and three legitimate grandchildren (ages 14 to 18) were alive. Although Sophia was in her seventy-first year, older than Anne by thirty-five years, she was very fit and healthy, and invested time and energy in securing the succession either for herself or her son.

1. HRH Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover
2. HRH Prince George Louis, Elector of Hanover
3. HRH Prince George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Hanover
4. HRH Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
5. HRH Prince Maximilian Wilhelm of Hanover
6. HRH Prince Christian Henry of Hanover
7. HRH Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover
8. HRH Princess Sophia, Queen in Prussia
9. HRH Prince Frederick William of Prussia, Crown Prince of Prussia

The electress was eager to move to London, however, the proposal was denied, as such action would mortally offend Anne who was strongly opposed to a rival court in her kingdom. Anne might have been aware that Sophia, who was active and lively despite her old age, could cut a better figure than herself.

Although considerably older than Queen Anne, Sophia enjoyed much better health. According to the Countess of Bückeburg in a letter to Sophia’s niece, the Raugravine Luise, on the 5th of June 1714 Sophia felt ill after receiving an angry letter from Queen Anne. Two days later she was walking in the gardens of Herrenhausen when she ran to shelter from a sudden downpour of rain and collapsed and died, aged 83 a considerable advanced age for the era. Shortly, a little over a month later, in August, Queen Anne died at the age of 49. Had Anne died before June 1714, Sophia would have been the oldest person to ascend the British throne.

Upon Sophia’s death, her eldest son Elector Georg-Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1660-1727) became heir presumptive in her place, and weeks later, succeeded Anne as King George I.

Royal succession laws set to be changed: Part II The Act of Settlement.

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Buckingham Palace, England, king James I-VI of England and Scotland, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince James, Prince William Duke of Gloucester, Queen Anne, Scotland, The Act of Setlement, the Princes of Wales, William III and Mary II

Another law that is being changed is the 1701 Act of Settlement. This Act was made when another succession crisis occured. In 1700 William III sat on the English and Scottish thrones. His wife, Queen Mary II, died in 1694 and they had no issue. The future Queen Anne (1702-1714) had terrible fortune with her pregnancies with many still-births and only one son that lived beyond a few months. Her only surving son, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, died on July 30, 1700 at the age of 11. Although the Anne was only 35 at the time of her son’s death, given her health problems and that in 1700 35 was old for child bearing, the need to find an heir had become a problem.

The top candidate for heir to the throne was her half-brother, Prince James, the Princes of Wales. The main problem with James was that he was a Roman Catholic. The Catholicism of his father, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, was part of the reason for his downfall. England, as a Protestant nation, did not want another Catholic to sit on the throne. Unable to convince Prince James into becoming a Protestant he was passed over for the succession.

Bill of Rights 1689 placed the succession on the Children of William III and Mary II and Princess Anne and her descendants. The Act of of Settlement confirmed the right of succession to any children William III had with a future wife if he ever remarried (which he did not) and the right of Princess Anne and her descendants. After the descendants of Princess Anne the right to succeed was placed in the person of the Elctress Sophia of Hanover, a grand daughter of king James I-VI of England and Scotland, the closest Protestant. The Act by passed any Catholic in line for the throne and also barred any Prince or Princess from marrying a Roman Catholic. To marry a Catholic meant that you would lose your place in succession. The Act assured that there never again would be a Catholic monarch sitting on the throne of Great Britain.

This is the way it has stood ever since. People have recognized the need for change in this Act for years. It took time, but gradually the prejudices against Catholicism has lifted. But from what I have read concerning the changes that will be made in this area I wonder if it doesn’t go far enough and in the end…has anything really changed?

From what I understand, the first 6-8 people in line for the throne will not be able to either marry a Catholic or convert to Catholicism and maintain their place in succession. This still assures that the monarch will stay in communion with the Church of England. People further down the line will be able to marry a Catholic and not loose their place in succession. I am not sure if they can convert and stay in line for the throne though. All this does is it throws a bone to those not close in line to the throne.

At the heart of the problem is that the monarch is also the head of the Church of England. There has been talk of disestablishing the monarch as head of the Church of England and I think this would give a true change and allow the possibility that the monarch could be Catholic if he or she so chooses. This would also require a change to the Constitution Oath the monarch takes which promises to uphold the Protestant Faith. Faith is personal and I think the monarch should be allowed to maintain their privacy in this manner. One of the ironic things about being in Communion with the Church of England is that it sets up the possibility of deception. A monarch, who may be an atheist at heart, would be more acceptible than a devout Catholic as long as that monarch lies that he is an Anglican. I have a hard time believing that all who have sat upon the throne since 1701 have truly been seriously religious.

I do find it rather sad that still 311 years later there still is opposition and prejudices toward Catholics and that the Protestant vs Catholic debate is still alive.