Our sexist monarchy

[hippie_cyndi]

24dash.com

Well - I've referred to the Equality Commission the demotion in the line of succession to our throne of Lady Louise (daughter to Prince Edward) in favour of her newborn brother.

;)

[Elisevonblah]

There are a lot of reforms I would like to see take place in the BRF and the first is to get rid of male preference. It is out dated and there is no real reason for it. If you look at the history of England, some of the most influential and important rulers have been women; QEI, QEII, Victoria. Before QEI England was an also-ran power, she helped make it a super power. Victoria reigned over the largest empire in history and, so far, reigned the longest of anyone and QEII will have reigned over some of the most turbulent and troubled times and over a time of significant change unparalleled to other monarchs.

[Stix Chix]

you know you have a sexist monarchy when there is a woman reigning at the head of it.  :rolleyes: :laugh:

[hippie_cyndi]

I think the article speaks from the legal aspect......QEII is there by default....if she had a brother.....the crown would have automatically gone to him no questions asked.

[heather]

   Charles likes to do new things, he is a standard bearer for new ideas :)......we should suggest he puts up the title of Monarch to a vote, the contenders would the living Monarchs off spring....Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward

    That way they would all behave better,  and we could get Princess Anne if the majority rejected Charles. :thumbsup:

[sandy]

If William has a daughter as the first child it would be time to put the reform into place instead of having the younger brother displace the sister. If he's married to Kate who is an "old fashioned" woman who would have achieved the degree in MRS she may not speak up for her daughter's rights. And William might be too lazy to put up any protest about the sexist rules. Let's see what happens.

[sillyjobug]

I think it should be changed as soon as possible. I hope Charles will make that change. It's a ridiculous and outdated practice--isn't Princess Anne actually lower in the line of succession than Edward's son! That's appalling. I admit I doubt HM will change it, but when Charles ascends the throne I believe he will.

[Elisevonblah]

It's ridiculous that Anne is lower than her younger brothers do only to her sex, or that, again do to their sex, there are cousins of the Queen whose children can have titles but not her own grandchildren.

[Windsor]

Change in the succession laws... hmm not gonna happen!

[Countessa]

It's happened in every other Kingdom in Europe (Spain's reform is on the docket and Denmark is working it through the system even though CP Mary had a boy as her first child). What's taking the Brits so long? They don't practice what they preach now do they?

[Elisevonblah]

It will have to happen. As the years go on, more and more people want to see the monarchy modernized. It is quite frankly embarrassing that Britain is so far behind some of the other countries. Sweden's law was changed in what, the late seventies early eighties?

[Lillianna]

I think it is better to wait until the children have achieved a certain level of maturity and education before deciding (the monarch) who the heir to the throne will be. That way, it the characters of each child would have been developed enough to enable one to see which ones will be absolute wusses and which ones would be perfect for the role. I bet HM wishes she could have done so, after having observed the way Charles turned out!

[Kuei Fei]

Isn't the whole point of having royalty so we have these archiac customs? I mean, royals aren't supposed to be modern, they're the standard bearers for tradition and a link to the past. It's a quaint way of doing things, not some evil sexist domination and hatred of women in authority. If you want that, go to Saudi Arabia. If anything, at least females are in the line of succession, unlike the Salic Law of France where if a daughter was born and no one else, the daughter would marry her husband and the husband would be king.

[fawbert]

Other countries can play with the laws of succession (Sweden/Belgium etc) but Britain's laws are tied to the Statute of Westminster and the agreement of all the Commonwealth countries is necessary.

We also have the Dukedom of Cornwall to contend with. It's tied to the eldest son of the Sovereign.

[sandy]

The British royal family has had to adjust with the times (e.g. the QUeen paying taxes down to the style of dress for coronations and investitures has changed over the years). I don't think sexism is "quaint"--it's like saying that not giving women the right to vote is OK because that's the way it was always done and people might miss this custom. This law goes down to the time when royal daughters were used as bargaining chips in dynastic marriages and it was paramount for the male to be king not the female. Elizabeth I was never supposed to be QUeen, Henry ruthlessly married and remarried to get a male heir and ironically the child from the woman he had executed was the most successful of all his children as a monarch. I read a theoretical case where this law can get ridiculous. Say WIlliam has a daughter Princess Mary and she is his only child with his wife. Mary is primed and prepared to be Queen her entire life and is extremely popular. Now suppose William's first wife dies when they are in their fifties and William marries someone in her twenties and their child is a son. Now Mary who the people want to be Queen is in her twenties and now the baby boy who is an unknown quantity all of a sudden displaces his qualified sister because of some archaic laws. Think about it.

[lurker]

I agree!  :thumbsup: The position in the line of succession shouldn't depend on the sex. William's first born child should be heir apparent no matter whether it's a boy or a girl. And it's actually surprising that the law has not yet been amended. I mean Britain is famous for its Queens. Now would actually be a good time for a change since it wouldn't affect the first three in line of succession. Charles is the first born and he has two sons.  Go for it (whoever is responsible to make the necessary change)!  :Jen:

[dizzylizzy13]

Yes, but why would it then be OK to discriminate on the basis or age or birth order? If you truly want to make things equal, let there be a family vote on who should succeed old Pa. :notamused:

Btw I'm fine with the old way, it keeps things tidy.

[Savanna]

I mean Britain is famous for its Queens.

:crazylaugh:  Indeed!   ...      Sorry  :blush:

[lurker]

 :blush: oops ... you know which Queens I was referring too.  :laugh:  :happytears:

[Savanna]

   :happy:

[sandy]

I don't think it at all right that girls must be moved down in line of succession when a brother is born. And it seems to be very tidy for the other royal houses who changed the sexist rules.

[fawbert]

Gender-blind succession does tend to bugger the dynasties somewhat. In Sweden for instance, Crown Princess Victoria will wed and I suppose she'll change the name of the Royal House to that of her hubby - meanwhile her younger brother lives on as head of the Bernadottes.

[Elisevonblah]

Having a queen on the throne hasn't "buggered" the current British royals, everyone still considers them Windsors, no? The fact is that there is nothing about Victoria as a woman that makes her any less of a Bernadotte than her brother or her children any less than his, it is simply the way that society views it. She could just as easily be the head of the family, there is no logical reason why not.

and the agreement of all the Commonwealth countries is necessary.

And you think they would oppose it?

We also have the Dukedom of Cornwall to contend with. It's tied to the eldest son of the Sovereign.

Yet this doesn't seem to have been a problem with past queens, they seem to have a solution.

[fawbert]

Past Queen's didn't have a younger brother.

[sandy]

Queen Elizabeth I had a younger brother who died first after a short reign. I can imagine how men would react if the antiquated law specified that little sisters shove aside their elder brothers down one notch in the succession line.