act of settlement

Act of Settlement 1701

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The Act of Settlement (12 & 13 Wm 3 c.2) was an Act of the Parliament of England to settle the succession to the English throne on the heirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I. It remains the main Act of Parliament governing the succession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, whether by deference to the Act as a British statute or as a patriated part of the particular Realm's constitution.

As such, the Act remains a key part of the constitutions of the United Kingdom and of the other Commonwealth Realms. The Act was originally filed in the Parliament of England in 1700, passed in 1701, and was later extended to Scotland by the terms of the Acts of Union 1707 before it was ever needed. It has since been incorporated in all such matters as noted above, including that establishing the United Kingdom.

Because of a change in the way bills are named, the Act is also sometimes referred to as the Act of Settlement 1700. The measure contains neither date in its title, making the minor name ambiguity in some references to it now a matter of mere interesting historical/clerical trivia. Today it is generally always referred to as Act of Settlement 1701.

Against an aging background

Originally an Act of the Parliament of England, it was passed formally in June 1701[1] during the late reign of King William III to set the succession and avoid a crisis. As the King was childless and his wife Mary II had died in 1694, the throne would pass to Mary's sister Princess Anne on the King's death.

Anne's last surviving child, William, Duke of Gloucester, died in 1700, inspiring the need to set the future succession as, given her age, she was unlikely to have any more children. Further, under the Bill of Rights 1689, the line of succession was limited to the descendants of Mary II and Anne, thus there was a need for a new law to allow the succession to continue in the Protestant line, and to avoid any crises and potential conflict as in the prior century by excluding any possible claims by the deposed James II or his son, James Francis Edward Stuart.

Act of Union

This Act was, in many ways, the major cause of the Union of Scotland with England and Wales to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Parliament of Scotland was not happy with the Act of Settlement and, in response, passed the Act of Security in 1704, which gave Scotland the right to choose its own successor to Queen Anne.

As a result, the Parliament of England decided that to ensure the stability and future prosperity of Great Britain, full union of the two Parliaments and nations was essential before Anne's death, and used a combination of exclusionary legislation (the Alien Act of 1705), politics, and bribery to achieve it within three years under the Act of Union 1707. This was in marked contrast to the four attempts at political union between 1606 and 1689, which all failed owing to a lack of political will in both kingdoms. By virtue of Article II of the Treaty of Union, which defined the succession to the British Crown, the Act of Settlement became part of Scots Law as well.

Sophia died before Anne, so the result of the Act was the succession of Sophia's son George as King George I, in preference to many of his cousins.

Pursuant to the Act of Settlement, several members of the British Royal Family who have converted to Roman Catholicism or married Roman Catholics have been barred from succeeding to the Crown, though since George I no individual has actually been excluded from the throne on the grounds of religion.

Current effects

Since the passing of the Act, the most senior royal to have married a Roman Catholic and thereby been removed from the line of succession is Prince Michael of Kent, who married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in 1978. Prince Michael of Kent was 15th in the line of succession at the time of his marriage.

The current most senior living descendant of the Electress Sophia who is ineligible to succeed due to the Act is George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, the eldest son of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who married the Roman Catholic Sylvana Palma Tomaselli in 1988. He would be 23rd in the line of succession if he had not lost his place. His son, Lord Downpatrick converted to Roman Catholicism in 2003, and is the most senior descendant to be barred as a Catholic himself.

Only one member of the Royal Family (i.e. with the style Royal Highness) has converted to Roman Catholicism since the passing of the Act: The Duchess of Kent, wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The Duchess converted to Roman Catholicism on January 14, 1994. Her husband, the Duke, did not lose his place in the succession, as the Duchess was an Anglican at the time of their marriage.