Prince William and Kate Middleton8217;s could be the last royal wedding not to face major legal complications as the laws which regulate the royal marriage 8220;are not fit8221; in the 21st century,a study has suggested.
Professor Rebecca Probert of the University of Warwick8217;s School of Law,who has written a book entitled 8216;The Rights amp; Wrongs of Royal Marriage8217; said the UK royal marriage law is in its most confused state for centuries.
He said William and Middleton8217;s wedding could be the last royal marriage not to face major legal complications.
Professor Rebecca,an expert in current and historical marriage law,says 8220;The laws which regulate royal marriage are not fit for purpose in the 21st century,an age when human rights and free choice are valued.8221;
He said that files in the National Archives show that previous governments have been aware of all of these problems and absurdities of royal marriage law,but have left them for
future generations to tackle.
8220;It8217;s only through good luck,rather than good law,that William and Kate8217;s wedding is free of these issues this could be the last royal wedding to avoid major legal complications if the law is not resolved,8221; he said.
Professor Probert8217;s research outlines the contradictory legislative and legal mess that constitutes the last 300 years of Royal marriage law,and how that mess potentially became ten times worse when it was brought into shuddering contact with the Human Rights Act as a consequence of the wedding of Charles and Camilla.
8220;Nobody knows for sure how the Human Rights Act might apply to the rest of the law on royal marriage. Strasbourg judges might decide that it is discriminatory for royals to be unable to marry without the Queen8217;s consent,or to have to choose between love,religious faith and duty.
8220;The law has become so confused that no one can agree on how many people need the Queen8217;s consent to marry it might be just a handful of aristocrats in Scotland and Germany,or an unknown number of people throughout the world who can trace their descent from King George II,8221; he said.