UK: A Man Cannot Be A “Queen”

By Wendy Wright | February 28, 2014

British civil servants are busily re-writing 700 years of laws to accommodate the “Same Sex Marriage Act,” which goes into effect in March.

Lest anyone thinks same-sex unions are equal to man-and-woman, the British made clear in the Act that it does not apply rights to anyone “who marries, or who is married to, the King Regnant, to the title of Queen”.

Neither can a “husband” of a future Prince of Wales become a Princess of Wales.

The same for Dukes, Earls and other royalty.

Another exception is the Treason Act of 1351. To “violate the King’s companion” — the husband or wife of the monarch — is high treason. But this will not apply if the spouse is the same sex.

“They presumably don’t want to end up with the situation of, for example, there being two duchesses or a man with the title of duchess,” Julian Lipson, head of the family law practice at Withers LLP, told the Telegraph.

Christian Concern reports:

This week, MPs approved sweeping changes to legislation dating back as far as 1285AD to avoid unintended consequences of the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Act 2013.

Meanwhile, a leading lawyer has pointed out that anomalies raised by the new legislation mean that the UK Government must admit that “equalness of same-sex marriage has its limits”.

Draft Order

A committee of MPs voted in favour of a draft order outlining amendments to 36 Acts going back to 1859 and an additional 67 pieces of legislation dating back 729 years.

Under the proposals, references to mother, father, husband and wife will be amended, whilst a number of other laws, including the 1351 Treason Act, will be excluded from the new legislation.

This means that while it will remain high treason to have sexual relations with the wife of a future King, this will not be the case where adultery is committed with a King’s same-sex ‘spouse’.

The order makes clear that a man who ‘marries’ a King of Britain cannot be referred to as Queen, and the same-sex partner of a future Prince of Wales cannot be entitled Princess of Wales.

“Mess”

The amendments, described by critics as a “complete mess”, extend to dukes, earls and other male peers in order to stop same-sex partners from becoming a duchess, countess or lady.

The term “widow” will also be removed or replaced with “surviving spouse” or in some instances with the “woman whose deceased spouse was a man”.

Amendments are even proposed to the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869, which allows cab licenses of deceased husbands to be transferred to their widows by way of a London cab order.

A date has not been set for the debate of a further order which sets out proposals for the provision of fertility treatment for same-sex couples.

“Legal confusion”

Commenting on the proposals, Andrea Williams of Christian Concern said: “The Government was warned time and again that its plans would result in legal confusion and do away with the common understanding of historic terms such as ‘husband’, ‘wife’ and ‘widow'”.

“We now have a situation where laws dating back 700 years must be revised and tampered with in order to accommodate the new legislation. Proposed amendments in areas ranging from cab licenses to royal titles show what a mess the Government has created.

“It is now attempting to disguise the absurdities thrown up by the move by rushing the changes through Parliament at a time when other high-profile issues are dominating media attention.”

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