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19 February 2016 / Michael L Nash
Issue: 7687 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
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Complications of a queen

Michael L Nash considers the legal pitfalls of Mary Tudor & Queen Elizabeth II

This week marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of our first Queen regnant, Mary Tudor, the elder daughter of Henry VIII. After the paralysing disappointment of the birth and death of a boy and heir in 1511, Mary was born in the Palace of Greenwich on 18 February 1516. She was baptised the following Wednesday in the monastery of Greyfriars with all the solemnity due to her rank.

Rather different was the birth and baptism of the future Elizabeth II in 1926. She was born in a private house at 17 Bruton Street, a few yards from Bond Street on 21 April 1926. She was christened by Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang, then Archbishop of York, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May 1926.

Both the house in which she was born, and the chapel where she was christened, were destroyed in the Blitz. When she became Queen, Elizabeth II rebuilt the chapel, which is now

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NEWS
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The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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