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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Duchess of Cambridge and babies

Standing in line at the checkout counter at my local supermarket a few days, I noticed one of the trashy and salacious rags with a cover story about the Duchess of Cambridge being infertile.  Balderdash.   So the question arises: can an adopted child succeed to the throne. 

The answer is an unequivocal NO! 

The Act of Settlement (1701), promulgated by Parliament, states that the succession to the throne is limited to the Protestant descendants of the Electress Sophia of Hannover.   An adopted child would not be a descendant of the Electress Sophia.  There are instances where British aristocratic families have adopted issue, but these children do not have succession rights to the titles, and do not bear courtesy titles.

If the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge do not have children,  Prince Harry will be heir presumptive to the throne.
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10 comments:

  1. DaphneMay 24, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    I was wondering about that a few weeks ago when I saw an article discussing how quickly the couple should start having children. But here's another question: what if the child was conceived via some sort of assisted method (in vitro, etc)?

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  2. Marlene Eilers KoenigMay 24, 2011 at 5:30 PM

    as long as the sperm and the egg came from the duke and duchess ... not someone else.

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  3. RonMay 24, 2011 at 7:34 PM

    I believe that since 2004 adopted children of British peers are allowed to assume the courtesy title/style of a younger son/daughter of the peer.

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  4. EmmaMay 25, 2011 at 9:01 AM

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  5. Marlene Eilers KoenigMay 25, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    Hi Emmma

    sweet blog, but FYI, the Queen is "Your Majesty," not HRH
    HM The Queen HM Queen Elizabeth II

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  6. EmmaMay 25, 2011 at 4:39 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Marlene Eilers KoenigMay 25, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Hi Emma,

    Your Majesty is for a king or a queen. Your Royal Highness is for a prince or a princess, which applies to the rest of the royal family.

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  8. EmmaMay 25, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Marlene Eilers KoenigMay 25, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    You are reading it incorrectly -- it assumed that you know that Your Majesty is for the sovereign and royal highness is for the rest of the royals - someone will say Your Majesty, your royal highnesses and so on.

    So if you are writing to the Queen it is Your Majesty. To everyone else it is Your Royal Highness - from Philip to Princess Michael, but not the husbands of royal princesses because men do not take their wives' rank. But women take their husbands' rank.

    I admit that the statement is poorly written but in the UK it is Your Majesty for the Queen ... she stopped being a royal highness when her father died.

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  10. EmmaMay 26, 2011 at 2:52 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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