History
Prior to 1937, there was no permanent, general provision in British law for a regent to be appointed if the British monarch were incapacitated or absent from the country. Nor was there a general provision for a regent to rule on behalf of an heir apparent or heir presumptive who succeeded to the throne as a minor. Before the Glorious Revolution, it was up to the sovereign to decide who would be regent in any event, although this decision was often implemented by legislation. For example, section XI of the Treason Act 1554 made King Philip, husband and co-ruler of Queen Mary I, regent in the event that Mary died and her heir was male and under 18, or an unmarried female under 15.
The passing of the Bill of Rights 1689 by the Parliament of England confirmed in law that Parliament, not the sovereign, decided the order of succession. By the Act of Settlement 1701, Parliament passed the line of succession to Electress Sophia of Hanover; this decision was confirmed and extended to all of Great Britain by the Acts of Union 1707. With the doctrine of Parliamentary supremacy firmly established in British law, it became possible for Parliament to pass legislation to determine who would act as regent during the absence, incapacity or minority of the ruling monarch. Since then several Regency Acts have been passed.
Read more about this topic: Regency Acts
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“The steps toward the emancipation of women are first intellectual, then industrial, lastly legal and political. Great strides in the first two of these stages already have been made of millions of women who do not yet perceive that it is surely carrying them towards the last.”
—Ellen Battelle Dietrick, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 13, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)