Succession to the Crown Act 2013
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| Long title | An Act to make succession to the Crown not depend on gender; to make provision about Royal Marriages; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 2013 c. 20 |
| Introduced by | Nick Clegg |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 25 April 2013 |
| Commencement | 26 March 2015 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (c. 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It altered the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement. The act replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those born in the line of succession after 28 October 2011, which meant the eldest child regardless of gender would precede his or her siblings. The act also ended the disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from the line of succession, and removed the requirement of those outside the first six persons in line to the throne to seek the Sovereign's approval to marry. It was brought into force on 26 March 2015, at the same time as the other Commonwealth realms implemented the Perth Agreement in their own laws.
Under the Act of Settlement 1701 the throne of the Kingdom of England was settled on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and the "heirs of her body", this phrase being understood under English common law to imply male-preference primogeniture, meaning that brothers would precede sisters in the line of succession. It also prevented a "papist" (Roman Catholic) from inheriting the English throne and removed those who had married Roman Catholics from the line of succession.
The treaties that created the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 specifically applied these provisions to the new British throne. Article II of the Acts of Union 1707 stated that the "Succession of the Monarchy" is settled by the Act of Settlement 1701, and the ban of "Papists" from inheriting the throne was to continue according to that Act. Article 2 of Acts of Union 1801, again maintained that the succession rules in place in the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland should be "continued limited and settled in the same manner".
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