The Brits must be desperate. Prime Minister David Cameron in the U.K. is hoping to get all the colonials to agree to a change in the law of succession to the British throne. He wants to revise the law of primogeniture. What he really wants is the women’s vote.
The English interpretation of the law of primogeniture has always been that it meant the eldest male offspring was the one to inherit all estates, wealth and titles when the father died. This has been the way Britain has tried to prevent the dissipation of wealth for the landed gentry for more than 2000 years. And the Brits really do like their traditions.
But times are changing. Cameron can hardly continue to piss off British feminists who recognize the insult to women inherent in the male-only provision of the British Act of Settlement that was passed into law in 1701. Cameron also has to recognize the problems created by Charles and Camilla, as they have first dibs on the throne when Elizabeth dies.
What makes revising the succession laws a problem is that the Commonwealth nations, the ones who share the British monarchy, have to agree to the change. That means that 16 nations (out of 54 in the Commonwealth) have to agree.
Canada is no problem. While he has already said he does not want Canadians to have an open debate on the issue, a monarchist like Prime Minister Harper will hop to and do the proper thing: agreeing to the change. After all, it is sort of a motherhood issue!
The change means that the weight of the empire falls on poor Kate. This lady is expected to produce an heir who will be number three in succession to the throne. That is a lot of weight for her to carry. If she does not get pregnant soon, the monarchists will be looking to younger brother Harry to prove that he is virile. Such are the trials and tribulations of monarchy.
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Copyright 2011 © Peter Lowry
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