Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711
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The Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711 (10 Ann. c.8) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act is still in force.
It reiterated the Act of Settlement 1701, that the line of succession to the British throne, in the absence of any children of Queen Anne, passed directly to Electress Sophia of Hanover and "the heirs of her body being Protestants". As such, Sophia was heir presumptive, followed by her children.
This being so, it provided that the formal order of precedence be modified to reflect this; Sophia was given precedence after Queen Anne, followed by her son George; any other Protestant heirs of Sophia were to to take precedence before the Archbishop of Canterbury, the great officers of state and the nobility, effectively ranking them with the royal family.
[edit] References
- Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711 (c.8), Statute Law Database
