Succession to the Throne Act 1937

Succession to the Throne Act 1937

The Succession to the Throne Act (1 Geo. VI, c.16) was the Act of the Canadian Parliament thatratified Canadian consent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that allowed King Edward VIII to abdicate the throne, and passed the succession to Prince Albert, Duke of York (who became King George VI). The Canadian government had already given consent for the Act to apply in Canada under the provisions in the Statute of Westminster 1931 that allowed the British Parliament to legislate for the Commonwealth Realms with their consent.

Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson, after facing opposition from the government of the United Kingdom and the Dominions, including Canada (See Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII). Although Edward VIII had signed a declaration of abdication the previous day, he was still King until Royal Assent was granted to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936.

His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed through the British Houses of Parliament in one day, with no amendments. The Canadian government gave its consent to the Act applying in Canada under the terms of the Statute of Westminster 1931, which allowed the British Parliament to pass legislation for the Domionion with their consent. The Cabinet passed an Order-in-Council to authorise their inclusion in the Act. [ [http://century.guardian.co.uk/1930-1939/Story/0,6051,127047,00.html King Edward renounces the throne] , "The Guardian", December 1936] The governments of other realms that had not yet ratified the Statute of Westminster (Australia, the Union of South Africa, and New Zealand) also gave their permission for the British Act to apply in their respective realms. The Irish Free State passed the External Relations Act, recognising the Duke of York as King; however, the Irish act passed one day later than the British Act, which meant that Edward was King of Ireland one day longer than elsewhere.

The Succession to the Throne Act ratified the changes to the rules of succession in Canada and to assure consistency with the changes in the rules then in place in the other realms. However the Act was not legally required, as His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 already applied in Canada, and the Governor General had already proclaimed the Duke of York as King George VI. However constitutional experts noted that "Whether necessary or not, it was clearly designed to demonstrate Canada's equality with Britain in the British Commonwealth and to display the Canadian aspect of the monarchy" [ [http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html Canadian Independence] , Andrew Herald, 1980]

ee also

* List of Acts of Parliament of Canada

References

External links

* [http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/abdicate.html Text of the British Act] that includes a photograph of the Instrument of Abdication


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