21 March 2005

Queen Camilla

Britain's Department of Constitutional Affairs has confirmed that, as the consort of the future king, Camilla Parker Bowles will become queen, unless legislation is explicitly enacted to the contrary. The difficulty with such legislation is that it would have to be passed in all 17 countries which recognize Britain's monarch as head of state. This includes Canada, whose monarchy is entrenched behind an amending formula in the Constitution Act, 1982 (section 41) requiring unanimous provincial approval. Whether this covers the status of the consort of the reigning monarch is unclear. Could the objection of, say, Prince Edward Island derail the requisite constitutional amendment and leave Camilla the queen of Canada alone?


Nettavisen

Our next queen?


My educated guess is that the federal government would choose to regard this as a mere statutory matter subject to an ordinary parliamentary majority and that the courts would probably agree.

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