Is there anything official dictating that British Royals must be white, anglo-saxon protestant?

Question

It has become fashionable to depict the British Monarchy as liberal and progressive.

On the other hand, I have heard that the institution is tied to constitutional restraints such as the preservation of their WASP heritage through arranged marriages: in other words, if I were a black or Asian man, I would never be heir to the throne.

The family contains no black or Asian people. Is this just co-incidence?

Answer 1

Well generally speaking, people have children who look like themselves... plus the arranged marriages typically stem from political motives, meaning that they choose to unite two countries through monarchial marriage. And seeing as the rest of Europe's sovereign population isn't exactly diverse, the result is a white, anglo-saxon British royal family.

Now in, say, Asia or Africa, where asians and blacks are typically abundant, it would be rather unusual for a white, anglo-saxon protestant to exist among their extended family. This is most likely because countries that would fit the above description are trying to preserve their cultural heritage, and the appearance of their royals is one aspect of this preservation effort. Similarly, the British royal family is historically white/anglo-saxon/protestant, hence any attempts at having their family remain that way. I am not in any way trying to be discriminatory, this is just a fact of life: the British royal family is WASPy, the Japanese royal family has an asian appearance, the royals in Ghana are typically africa.

Answer 2

It has to do with bloodlines. I don't think they have any blacks or asians in the royal bloodline.

Answer 3

The religion of the Royals is a matter of law, set by Parliament centuries ago ... the rest is more likely to be tradition and proximity.

In the past, the 'pool' of available spouses was pretty small, and set by tradition to Royal families of certain kinds. And the people they mixed with were all pretty much the same kind ~ English aristocracy with families going back centuries, naturally all white, all Prot, all survivors of the various purges and movements that have made England the way it is, over many hundreds of years.

One thing is well worth remembering ~ the Royals are among the most wealthy families in the world, and people don't attain that position and hang onto it for centuries by being 'progressive' and trendy.

At heart, the Monarchy is a deeply conservative institution, but one made up, after all, of people, and people who are finding in these modern times that the rules about who they can wed are not to their liking.

It would be hard to say that if a member of the royal family met a black or asian person and wanted to marry them, they would be prevented from doing so, and if the public liked the person, what would be controversial about it?

Your own lack of opportunity is probably more about not knowing any royals than being a certain type of person!

Cheers :-)

Answer 4

There is no official dictating that British Royals must be “white” Anglo-Saxon protestant, however, the line of succession to the British Throne is an ordered list of the people in line to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom. The succession is regulated by the Act of Settlement 1701, which limits it to the heirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, as determined by male-preference primogeniture, religion, and legitimate birth:

- A person is always immediately followed in the succession by his or her own legitimate descendants (his or her "line"). Birth order and gender matter: older sons (and their lines) come before younger sons (and theirs); a person's sons (and their lines), irrespective of age, all come before his or her daughters (and their lines).

- The monarch must be a Protestant at time of accession, and enter into communion with the Church of England after accession.

- Anyone who is Roman Catholic, becomes Roman Catholic, or marries a Roman Catholic is permanently excluded from the succession.

- A person born to parents who are not married to each other at the time of birth is not included in the line of succession. The subsequent marriage of the parents does not alter this.

Traditionally any royal family would only "allow" their children to marry within their social class, and back in the days, there weren't many Blacks or Asians that were "considered" wealthy enough or equally "privileged" enough to marry an English aristocrat or royal members. Queen Victoria's grandchildren eventually married into almost all of Europe's royal families. They included the Queens Consort of Norway, Greece, Romania and Spain, the Crown Princess of Sweden, The Empress of all the Russia, the King of the United Kingdom, and the German Emperor.

Apparently, the only European Prince that married a woman of another ethnicity background was Prince Joachim of Denmark. His ex-wife was Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg, who was born in Hong Kong and is of Chinese, British, Polish, and Austrian ancestry.

Answer 5

Apart from Catholics being forbidden from ascending the throne, there are no laws regarding race or religion in the Royal family.  There are a few Catholics in the extended Royal Family, who are officially still part of the family but not in the line of succession.

It's not much of a coincidence that there are no blacks or Asians in the Royal family - The United Kingdom is roughly 92% white, so it's likely that anyone marrying into the family would also be white.

Answer 6

Well, the King or Queen of England is the head of the Anglican Church, so... yes, there is something that says the person must be Protestant, specifically Anglican.  Other than that, I don't think there are race requirements.  So, if Prince William were to marry an Asian woman, their child(ren) would be the heirs to the throne.

Answer 7

The only restraint is that of religion.Since the monarch is head of The Church of England,being Protestant is necessary.

From http://www.royal.gov/uk

"The succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by statute; the Act of Settlement confirmed that it was for Parliament to determine the title to the throne.

The Act laid down that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia - the Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I - are eligible to succeed. Subsequent Acts have confirmed this.

Parliament, under the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, also laid down various conditions which the Sovereign must meet. A Roman Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne; nor may the Sovereign marry a Roman Catholic.

The Sovereign must, in addition, be in communion with the Church of England and must swear to preserve the established Church of England and the established Church of Scotland. The Sovereign must also promise to uphold the Protestant succession."