ROYAL SUCCESSION DILEMMAS

The proposed change to the laws regarding succession to the throne of the United Kingdom have, of course, been welcomed by all of those who claim to despise discrimination wherever it occurs. However, one wonders to what extent these people have considered the possible negative implications of this current proposal.

 

For one thing, if the rule of male primogeniture had not existed, the Quenn would not now be Queen. In fact, on the death of Queen Victoria, the crown would have passed to the warmongering German Kaiser, Wilhelm II; where we would now be is anyone's guess.  Another consequence could be a constantly changing royal 'House' name, something which normally remains static through male lines and only usually changes after a female heir or monarch marries, or when there is a revolution. In the most recent times, this wouldn't have been an issue, however, following King James II, we could have had a House of Orange, followed by a House of Oldenburg, had either of his daughters produced surviving children.

 

It's also the case that James II may never have become King anyway as he would have been outranked by his elder sister Mary; Mary married William II, Prince of Orange, and died before her elder brother Charles II, so her son William III, Prince of Orange, would have succeeded to the throne in his own right in 1685, rather than being invited here in 1688 on the expulsion of James II. Such an apparently minor change could, however, have had major implications as we would never have experienced the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688, probably never had the Bill of Rights of 1689 and on William II's death in 1702, the destination of the crown may have been disputed. William and Mary had no children and William was an only child, so the heir would have been found through an earlier generation; whether this would have been on his father's or mother's side is open to debate. 

 

This is, of course, all just fantasy as any change to history would almost certainly have caused many more and the history which we currently recall simply wouldn't have happened. However, pondering on this matter, one hopes that the government has actually done some 'in depth' thinking around the issue in order to try to prevent such complications happening in the future.

 

One hopes !