An interesting story about the Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and his son, Hereditary Prince Gustav ... and the bison back into the wild.
The Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who is better known as Prince Richard of Sayn-Witttgenstein-Berleburg, is married to Princess Benedikte of Denmark.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/174037372/german-prince-plans-to-put-bison-back-in-the-wild
my sister & i were talking about william & kate's baby, and came up with a question that i wonder if you would have the answer to. is there any provision for a situation (in the UK or elsewhere) where a child in direct line to the throne is born with a mental disability, such as down syndrome, accident at birth, etc.? is there a way to pass over that child legally to the next in line, or can they somehow give up their own rights, or would there be a regent? i've looked online and there don't seem to be any well-known cases where this has happened. obviously there was a regency during george iii's reign, but he had reigned for many years before becoming ill. any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteIn the UK, Parliament can change the succession. Parliament can exclude someone as well. In the late 19th century, King Otto of Bavaria was mad (mentally ill) and incapable of ruling, so he had a regent. If the first child has mental disability, it is entirely possible that the Parliament (and not just in the UK) would pass a law to exclude that person from the succession. I think a Regency would be less likely in the 21st century. The Count of Paris has largely bypassed his elder son as heir (who is mentally disabled) in favor of his second son the Duke of Vendome.
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