When I am King, dilly, dilly...

It is rumoured that Gordon Brown is considering plans to abolish the Act of Settlement. This is the Act passed in 1701 which restricts succession to the throne to Protestants, and which forbids the monarch from marrying a Roman Catholic. It is interesting to note that it does not prevent the monarch from marrying anyone of any other religion - or indeed of no religion. Also, although it refers to it, the Act is not responsible for the idea that male children are to take precedence over female - the so-called doctrine of primogeniture - this is a common-law concept which goes way, way back. The Act certainly would appear to have little relevance today - it was passed under very different circumstances and for reasons which were seen as important at the time. One major difficulty is that it could mean that a Roman Catholic monarch would become head of the Church of England, which would be a nonsense. So it's a tricky matter, and as there is no immediate prospect of the provisions of the Act causing any problem, I reckon it will go on the back burner.