Royal Mixed Marriages

[Becky]

**From what I understand, in an average mixed marriage between an RC and a non-RC the couple must promise to raise any children that they have as RCs. What about in the case of a Royal Mixed Marriage? **

**I ask because this has happened before. Anglican Prince Michael of Kent married an RC, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, and their two children, being so close to the British throne, were raised as Anglicans.

More recently, Protestant Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married a Catholic woman named Máxima Zorreguieta. They just recently celebrated the baptism of their daughter (and future Dutch Queen) Catharina-Amalia. I seriously doubt that little Catharina-Amalia is being raised as an RC.**

**Do Mixed Marriage Royal couples have to make a promise to raise the children RC? Is this kind of thing left in the hands of a bishop?

TIA

Becky**

 

[Greg_McPherran]

**Do Mixed Marriage Royal couples have to make a promise to raise the children RC? **

In general this is true, but it may also depend on circumstances. You can work with the Church on it.

Greg

 

[Grayton]

Becky:

More recently, Protestant Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married a Catholic woman named Máxima Zorreguieta. They just recently celebrated the baptism of their daughter (and future Dutch Queen) Catharina-Amalia. I seriously doubt that little Catharina-Amalia is being raised as an RC.

**Do Mixed Marriage Royal couples have to make a promise to raise the children RC? **

The Dutch wedding ceremony apparently was not Catholic; therefore, it may be that no one asked the couple to make a commitment to raise their children as Catholics. For details on the wedding, please see:

rnw.nl/holland/marriage/html/wedding020202.html

That same website includes speculation that the children would not be raised Catholic due to the historic antagonism between the House of Orange and the Catholic Church.

It would be similar to the many thousands of Catholics who marry outside the Church. They make no public commitment to commit to raise their children as Catholics. But that does not mean that the Catholic party to the marriage has no moral obligation to raise his or her children in the Faith, if possible.

As for the English marriage, I do not know the details.

 

[Grayton]

Anglican Prince Michael of Kent married an RC, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, and their two children, being so close to the British throne, were raised as Anglicans.

I did a quick search using Google and learned that the couple was married in a civil ceremony, and that Marie-Christine von Reibnitz is divorced. So, again, I suspect that nobody asked the couple to make a commitment to raise their children as Catholics.

Source:

members.tripod.com/~royalty10/page9.html

 

[seeker63]

Prince Michael of Kent and another one of the Queen’s younger cousins, the Earl of St. Andrews, married Catholics. My understanding is that the royal who marries a Catholic must give up his place in the line of the succession, but his children are still eligible, provided they are Protestants. (The son and brother of the Earl of St. Andrews, by the way, became Catholics and took themselves out of the line of the succession, although the Earl’s daughters are Protestants.)

My understanding is that Prince Charles doesn’t especially care for this law. He has a strong ecumenical streak and has said that he hopes that when he becomes King he would prefer not to be “Defender of the Faith” but rather “Defender of Faith.”