Royal Discrimination
There is one group which it is still legal to discriminate against in Britain - Catholics. Under the 1701 Act of Settlement, no British monarch may be or marry a Catholic. To do so would require abdication. This has come into the news because Peter Phillips, the Queen’s eldest grandson and tenth in line to the throne, may well have to renounce his right to the succession because his fiancée is Catholic.
Why is this acceptable in modern Britain? Even though the monarch may be by right “Supreme Governor of the Church of England” that can, and should be changed anyway - it should be something that the C of E can choose to offer to the monarch if they so wish. Britain is a secular nation now - the Church of England and all other religions should be removed from our governmental system and the C of E should be independent. The right of the Prime Minister to select bishops and archbishops is very much outdated, and the very position of the Church of England is out of sync with our society and laws.
Discrimination is discrimination. Really, the whole hereditary system needs to be overhauled, with women not being automatically discriminated against any more than Catholics. I support the monarchy as a whole, but some changes/modernisations are essential.
Source: The Telegraph
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