The Succession to the Crown Bill was a British Private Member's Bill aimed at reforming the manner of succession to the British Monarchy published in the House of Lords by Labour peer Lord Dubs on December 9, 2004, and withdrawn by him on January 14, 2005, after the Government said that it would block the Bill.
It would have involved three major measures: firstly, the change of the form of primogeniture used from agnatic ("male") to cognatic ("absolute") primogeniture — that is, that males and females would inherit equally; secondly, that the Acts of Union 1707, both in Scotland and in England, be altered to remove the clause requiring the monarch to be non-Catholic; and, thirdly, the revocation of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which prevents the monarch marrying a Catholic.
The most immediate effect of the Bill passing and becoming law would have been the moving of Princess Anne from her current position of ninth on the British Line of Succession to fourth, displacing Prince Andrew, Duke of York. It was unclear as to how, were the Bill to have come into effect, it would affect the lines of succession to the other 15 Commonwealth Realms' Thrones.
The Bill drew on the recommendations of the Fabian Society's Commission on the Future of the Monarchy, which reported in 2003. Lord Dubs is a member of the Fabian Society's Executive Committee.
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Last updated: 08-21-2005 10:00:38
