What would happen if the Queen of England became Catholic?

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British royalty was headlines in the last few days. One of the headlines said Harry would get a dressing down back at the palace. Just goes to show what goes in Vegas does not stay in Vegas for British royals where he dressed down in public to spend a little time with some Vegas ladies. Apparently it was quite an or*y.

Last time we looked he was next in line after Wills. He is line to receive from British civil government the title Defender of the Faith.

One of the offenses that might displace him is marriage, coming home with the wrong girl whose religious affiliation bans her from British princesshood. What goes on outside marriage with a half dozen Vegas princesses is not a problem.

Dressing down indeed.

What is astonishing is not the behavior of a lost soul, but that the British continue the royal silliness, the pretentious pageantry and costumery they gush over. There is no question of moral fitness for high titles. Anything goes as long as the breach with Rome remains. The only threat to their nation is the Catholic religion.
 
grandfather said:
British royalty was headlines in the last few days. One of the headlines said Harry would get a dressing down back at the palace. Just goes to show what goes in Vegas does not stay in Vegas for British royals where he dressed down in public to spend a little time with some Vegas ladies. Apparently it was quite an or*y.

Last time we looked he was next in line after Wills. He is line to receive from British civil government the title Defender of the Faith.

One of the offenses that might displace him is marriage, coming home with the wrong girl whose religious affiliation bans her from British princesshood. What goes on outside marriage with a half dozen Vegas princesses is not a problem.

Dressing down indeed.

What is astonishing is not the behavior of a lost soul, but that the British continue the royal silliness, the pretentious pageantry and costumery they gush over. There is no question of moral fitness for high titles. Anything goes as long as the breach with Rome remains. The only threat to their nation is the Catholic religion.
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With due respect, Harry is Third in line, and as soon as William becomes a dad, Harry will be put down to Fourth(I believe they, William and Kate, will have a kid soon)

Unless Charles abdicates his authority and William dies(I doubt he’d be the abdicating type, and I even doubt Charles would do it either, but he knows William’s more popular) before giving birth to a son or daughter(the law was changed recently to allow the first born daughter to be ahead of any son), I don’t see how Harry will ever make it to king. So why worry about what he’s doing? He probably won’t be king… and if the British royals hate Catholics still like you seem to believe, why was the Cardinal sitting front row centre at the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving service? Why did they give him and the rest of the Catholic Bishops an invitation if they don’t like catholics as much as you belive they don’t? It wasn’t legal that they had to invite them, they/she CHOOSE to invite him! Pretty strange thing to do to someone you apparently don’t like the religion of!
 
colliric said:
With due respect, Harry is Third in line, and as soon as William becomes a dad, Harry will be put down to Fourth(I believe they, William and Kate, will have a kid soon)

Unless Charles abdicates his authority and William dies(I doubt he’d be the abdicating type, and I even doubt Charles would do it either, but he knows William’s more popular) before giving birth to a son or daughter(the law was changed recently to allow the first born daughter to be ahead of any son), I don’t see how Harry will ever make it to king. So why worry about what he’s doing? He probably won’t be king… and if the British royals hate Catholics still like you seem to believe, why was the Cardinal sitting front row centre at the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving service? Why did they give him and the rest of the Catholic Bishops an invitation if they don’t like catholics as much as you belive they don’t? It wasn’t legal that they had to invite them, they/she CHOOSE to invite him! Pretty strange thing to do to someone you apparently don’t like the religion of!
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I really try to understand the British attachment to the royals. I used to think it was something sentimental, something to make them all feel British, an identity thing. What I think now is that is part of it, but it is more a sense of security. As long as the queen is in her palace all is well. She is a symbol of the nation. It does not matter that the nation is falling apart at the seams. They have the royals to cling to and it gives them a sense of well being.

Americans live in a similar fantasy with the President and the trappings of office, Hail to the Chief, presidential seal, the White House, Air Force 1, etc.
 
colliric said:
(Likely he learn’t from Queen Mary’s mistakes in attempting to force the two Churches back together). And it’s most likely he choose to recieve confirmation on his deathbed due to political obstacles that he thought would cause serious issues to his subjects if his catholocism became public knowledge while he was alive(simular to Constantine), although he had Catholic family members and known friendships already.
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Ha ha! I expect more recent history than Queen Mary influenced his silence! When “political obstacles” are known to include being beheaded and overthrown by puritans, we can hardly fault the man for keeping the peace. Add to that the supposed “Popish Plot”, and it’s pretty clear he was sitting on a barrel of dynamite. Even if he hadn’t been worried about his own head, think of what it would do to the kingdoms again.
 
If our Queen became Catholic she would simply have to abdicate as a matter of the Law - as it stands, no Catholic may sit on the English throne. She is the head of the Church of England.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem because she would be succeeded by her son Charles. If he became Catholic, well there is over a hundred in the line of succession after him … as long as they are Protestant.
 
roveau said:
If our Queen became Catholic she would simply have to abdicate as a matter of the Law - as it stands, no Catholic may sit on the English throne. She is the head of the Church of England.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem because she would be succeeded by her son Charles. If he became Catholic, well there is over a hundred in the line of succession after him … as long as they are Protestant.
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And they do not see the absurdity in it all.
 
grandfather said:
And they do not see the absurdity in it all.
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The problem is that it’s up to parliament to change it, the Queen has nothing against Catholics. They recently changed the Sucession laws to make the first born daughter the heir apparent, so it’s not like changes to their traditions/laws are out of the question.
 
colliric said:
Unfortunatly the Queen doesn’t have a say in it, because it would require parlimentary bills to pass both houses,
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Actually it isn’t nearly that easy. Because of a desire to keep the Commonwealth together in a Personal Union, the parliaments of all the countries which recognize her as Queen would have to get together to approve the change.

This is doable, as recently proven with the switch to equal primogeniture, where all the Realms agreed, and proceeded to pass laws, to allow succession on seniority alone.
 
So, what would happen in Philip decided to become Catholic? As far as I know you cannot be Queen if your spouse is Catholic. Would the Queen have to decide between divorce and abdication?
 
Matopos said:
So, what would happen in Philip decided to become Catholic? As far as I know you cannot be Queen if your spouse is Catholic. Would the Queen have to decide between divorce and abdication?
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As of the law I mentioned in my post right above yours, the non-reigning spouse can be Catholic. I’m not sure about other religions, or Orthodoxy (Which is Prince Philip’s background, and which Prince Charles has shown a certain affinity for).
 
Nine_Two said:
As of the law I mentioned in my post right above yours, the non-reigning spouse can be Catholic. I’m not sure about other religions, or Orthodoxy (Which is Prince Philip’s background, and which Prince Charles has shown a certain affinity for).
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It is my understanding that while all the Commonwealth Realms have agreed in principal to amend their succession statutes, the actual changes in legislation have yet to take place.

Because Prince Philip was born Orthodox instead of Catholic, he remains in the line of succession in his own right via his mother, a great-granddaugher of Queen Victoria.

Currently, non-reigning spouses can be Catholic as long as they converted to Catholicism after the wedding.
 
SKWill said:
It is my understanding that while all the Commonwealth Realms have agreed in principal to amend their succession statutes, the actual changes in legislation have yet to take place.
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That is possible. It isn’t exactly an urgent matter.
Because Prince Philip was born Orthodox instead of Catholic, he remains in the line of succession in his own right via his mother, a great-granddaugher of Queen Victoria.
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Orthodox can’t be monarchs either. Prince Philip converted to Anglicanism upon marriage, although there is evidence that this was just a token gesture.
Currently, non-reigning spouses can be Catholic as long as they converted to Catholicism after the wedding.
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Never heard that. Since when? What law changed things?
If they did it quietly they’ve been able to get away with it for some time, but it has never been officially allowed as far as I can see.
 
Nine_Two said:
Orthodox can’t be monarchs either. Prince Philip converted to Anglicanism upon marriage, although there is evidence that this was just a token gesture.
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All I meant was since Philip was not Catholic before becoming CofE, he’s still eligible should a “King Ralph” scenario play out.
Nine_Two said:
Never heard that. Since when? What law changed things?
If they did it quietly they’ve been able to get away with it for some time, but it has never been officially allowed as far as I can see.
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Best as I can tell, the Act of Settlement of 1701 has never excluded potential heirs whose spouses became Catholic after marriage (per en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne#Religion). The examples of the current Duke of Kent and his son, the Earl of St. Andrews, show the difference between a UK royal whose spouse converted after marrying and one whose spouse was Catholic before marrying.
 
SKWill said:
All I meant was since Philip was not Catholic before becoming CofE, he’s still eligible should a “King Ralph” scenario play out.
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I’m not sure what you’re saying. But he is eligible because he is Anglican.
Best as I can tell, the Act of Settlement of 1701 has never excluded potential heirs whose spouses became Catholic after marriage (per en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_British_throne#Religion). The examples of the current Duke of Kent and his son, the Earl of St. Andrews, show the difference between a UK royal whose spouse converted after marrying and one whose spouse was Catholic before marrying.
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That seems to say the precept is untested and there are a few interpretations. 😉
 
Nine_Two said:
I’m not sure what you’re saying. But he is eligible because he is Anglican.
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The “King Ralph” reference is to the 1991 movie of the same name, in which an American, Ralph Jones (played by John Goodman) succeeds to the British throne after the entire royal family is electrocuted while posing for a family photo.
 
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