On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 2:30 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 11:19 AM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]> > wrote: > > The nations of the British Commonwealth, meeting in Australia, agree > > that heirs to the throne -- after centuries the other way -- need > > longer be exclusively male nor non-Catholic... > > > > > http://news.yahoo.com/girl-british-royal-succession-rules-change-103251289.html > > That whole idea made my head spin? Since when does the monarchy answer > to the commonwealth? When these "reforms" were proposed, was there an > option to vote for disposing of the monarchy altogether in the spirit > of fairness? The monarchy doesn't answer to the Commonwealth, but it has been recognized in the UK since 1701 that Parliament governs succession to the throne. What that means is that each Commonwealth country that has the Queen as head of state does so through laws in their own country, since the UK Parliament no longer legislates for any of these countries. So, they each independently recognize the Queen as Queen of <fill in the blank>, so Queen Elizabeth is not only Queen of England, she is also Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, etc. What that means is that any change in the royal succession rules requires laws to be passed not only in the UK, but in each of the 16 countries involved, in order to ensure that the succession remains the same throughout. Otherwise, you could potentially have Australia and Canada recognizing different people as the rightful monarch, particularly if William and Kate's first child is a girl, or if said person were to marry a Catholic. The question of abolition is a matter for each individual country. There are far more than 16 countries in the Commonwealth, and most have abandoned the monarchy. Australia had a referendum on the subject 12 years ago, which failed. The eventual death of Queen Elizabeth may cause some re-examination of the topic, but as of now it appears to be a non-starter in most places. John -- John Edwards "You can insure against the weather, but you can't insure against incompetence, can you?" - Phil Tufnell -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
