There are many rules in the royal family, and some of them are strict and some of them are not. But even if they are maybe strange to us, they need to be obeyed. Many years have passed and some of the rules that were normal and very strict many years ago are now a bit more relaxed, and much more acceptable. We all know that today there are several members of the royal family that are married to commoners, but was it ever illegal for a member of royal families to do that? We are going to find out.
Source: vogue.com.au
There are many marriage rules in the royal family
If you are a royal and you want to get married than there are some things that you need to do. You are not the only one who decides everything. There are some things that you need to obey, before the wedding and during the wedding. For example, the bride needs to wear white on her wedding day. You may think that’s something normal, but in the royal family, there are no exceptions, the wedding dress needs to be white, not a shade different. Another interesting thing is that the groom doesn’t have a best man, he has a “supporter”. But both brothers, William and Harry broke this rule, as they named one another their best man.
Source: Business Insider
In 1772 King George III put in place the 1772 Royal Marriages Act. The act says that nobody in the royal family can marry without approval from the current monarch. He made up this rule because his younger brother married Lady Anne Horton in secret, and King George didn’t approve it. And that means that you also need approval from the monarch if you want to marry a commoner.
It was never illegal to marry a commoner, but it is illegal to marry a commoner if you don’t have permission from the monarch. And back in the days, it was not usual for royals to marry commoners, so if the monarch didn’t like a specific commoner, he could easily reject the proposed marriage. Today you still need to get the approval from the monarch, but only if you are within the six closest royals in the life for the throne. And if you are not, you can marry whoever you want without permission from the monarch.
Source: The Independent
And if you need the permission and you decide to not ask for permission and marry without it, then that’s illegal and your marriage is recognized. William and Harry both had to ask for permission and they both got it and married commoners. If the queen didn’t give them the permission their marriages wouldn’t be recognized by the royal family. And if their marriage isn’t recognized their wives wouldn’t get royal titles. And it happens, the former Duke of Sussex was married but his marriage wasn’t accepted and officially recognized, so Meghan Markle is now the first-ever Duchess of Sussex.
Source: cheatsheet.com
