So finally, girls have equal opportunity to succession of the throne in Britain. I know we briefly discussed this in class, but it is pretty significant because this rule undoes about three-hundred years of British monarch tradition—and without baby steps!
Albeit, it took them a really long time for this aspect of gender equality, but it is impressive nonetheless.
With this new law, not only could William and Kate’s potential daughter be queen over her potential younger brothers, but the law that states that the monarch has to marry a Roman Catholic was also overturned (Britain, Mrs. Garber’s AP Comparative Government Class would formally like to welcome you to 21st century). This is a huge deal because we all know how rapt Britain is with their history and traditions and taking things slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.
Changes to and consideration of the following documents will ensue: >the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701, the Coronation Oath Act 1689, the Act of Union with Scotland 1706, Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711, the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the Union with Ireland Act 1800, the Accession Declaration Act 1910 and the Regency Act 1937. This change is a great one and will require a lot of revision of previous rules.
This plan may not be implemented for about four years, but so far has received unanimous support and realization that the old law was seriously obsolete in modern times.
What you may not have known about this is that members of Parliament have been trying to pass a bill almost identical to this at least eleven times in the past few years. Why now? Is it because of William and Kate (and how much everybody loves them)? Do you think the Queen supports it (not that it matters)? Seriously, why now? Will Britain start changing other things now? Do you think the House of Lords or House of Commons had more control on this issue?
I think the recent marriage did play a role in this change of thought. It reminded everyone of the attention women receive in groups of social elites such as the royal family. While everyone loves William and Harry, and lots of male monarchs have been popular throughout history, women have also been loved by many. Generally speaking, the three most popular monarchs in English history would probably be Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. And with this marriage, and the attention and popularity Kate has gotten, most Britons recognize the equal standing of men and women. So William and Kate might be why this 12th attempt was the successful one. Also, I would assume the Queen supports it, since she's a woman herself. But you never know with those Brits.
ReplyDeleteThis change is both very surprising and not at the same time.
ReplyDeleteConsidering Britain's suffocating grasp on tradition, it's amazing that such a drastic change that would affect so many other documents would even be considered. But, it is also expected considering the current era in which we now live in. Now that we live in a 'women are equal to men' society, this law seems completely reasonable and acceptable even to the old fashioned Brits.
I think that it really just had to do with timing, not only being in the 21st century and having "modern views" but many other factors could have prevented the bill from getting passed.
I agree with everyone that this definitely had something to do with the fact that William and Kate are so popular. It probably wasn't passed any other time previously because the British do love their tradition and didn't see any reason for such a big change. I'm sure that the queen supports this change, I mean why would she not want to support women's rights? I think this was long over due, but at least it finally happened.
ReplyDeleteAww I love when laws change for the better to make people's chances equal! :) It's about time British traditions and rules changed! This change is LONG LONGGGGGGG overdue.
ReplyDeleteYay. Equality is a good thing. But, this doesn't really effect much in the long run. This would have been HUGE 300 years ago, but now, this is going to go greatly unnoticed.
ReplyDelete