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18 May 2018 / Neil Parpworth
Issue: 7793 / Categories: Features
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Succession rules

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Royal births & royal marriages: legislation & tradition reign supreme, says Neil Parpworth

Two recent royal events provide us with an opportunity to reconsider how the law was changed by Parliament in 2013 with regard to the succession to the throne and the need for an heir to obtain the monarch’s consent in order to marry. Despite its brevity, the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is an important piece of constitutional legislation. Its underlying policy was agreed to at the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held in Perth, Western Australia, on 28 October 2011, and its enactment was subsequently reflected in laws passed in a number of the other 15 Commonwealth Realms which recognise the Queen as their Head of State.

Royal birth

At 11.01 pm on Monday 23 April 2018 a third child was born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. While Prince Louis has become the Queen’s sixth great-grandchild, he has leapt above some of the other royal great-grandchildren in the line of succession by virtue of the fact that his father

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