long does it wave

[calimac]

The UK Parliament is considering, and indeed has been considering for a period of time, a change in the law regarding the succession to the monarchy. From males-first primogeniture it would go to primogeniture regardless of sex.

This is an obvious blow for gender egalitarianism, but I'd just like to point out that if such a law had been in effect at the time of Queen Victoria (or at any previous time back to George III; if it had been in effect before then, there never would have been a George III, which may be a feature, not a bug), then Kaiser Wilhelm would have become King of Great Britain. I'm not sure that would have been a good idea.

Also, if the idea of males taking automatic precedence over females is so inherently ludicrous in our modern time, why isn't the idea of automatic precedence of the eldest also considered ludicrous? Instead, this law change would reinforce it.

In other monarchial news, this brief history of ladies in waiting looks good until the end, when it refers to Wills' cousin Lady Sarah Chatto. Then there's a terminological error. She should be on later reference called Lady Sarah, not Lady Chatto, because she is the daughter of an earl, not a peer or the wife of one herself. (If she were "Lady Chatto", it'd have been incorrect to also call her "Lady Sarah Chatto." Just remember, you can't be Lord (or Lady) Firstname and Lord (or Lady) Lastname at the same time, and 90% of the terminological errors people make over British nobility would disappear.)

Comments

[supergee.livejournal.com]

It certainly would have complicated World War I.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

So is Peter Wimsey properly Lord Peter or Lord Wimsey? I would assume that Sayers got that right, but it's a while since I read that series.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

He's Lord Peter, because he's the younger son of a duke. He has no substantive title of his own. I think there are a couple places where ignorant characters call him "Lord Wimsey" and he frosts them out for that faux pas; it's clear that it's the characters' error, not the author's.

His wife, by the way, is neither "Lady Wimsey" (who would be the wife of a "Lord Wimsey") nor "Lady Harriet" (who would be the daughter of a duke, as Peter's sister is Lady Mary, even after her marriage), but "Lady Peter", an odd locution which means she's the wife of a Lord Firstname. Real-life example: Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie, who was Lady Randolph Churchill.

Sayers made only one tiny error in terminology: when Peter's brother the Duke is on trial in Clouds of Witness, he is formally said to be in the peerage of the United Kingdom. That can't be; his title has to be older than the U.K. and he'd be in the peerage of England instead. On catching the error, Sayers tried to explain it away, but her explanation doesn't work. Otherwise, she's impeccable. Would that newer authors would learn from her.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I think I'd seen Lady Peter used somewhere, but I didn't understand the nuances. Thanks!

[irontongue.livejournal.com]

I get frosted when I see Dame Firstname Lastname - who should be addressed and referred to as Dame Firstname - called Dame Lastname.

Looking back at the possible effects of current gender egalitarianism is interesting, but not relevant as far as what should be done currently and going forward, given that the power of the British monarch is so limited. I also think that the chances of more Europe-based world wars like the 20th c. wars are fairly slim, thank goodness.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I don't recall seeing Dame Lastname, but I have seen the male equivalent, Sir Lastname, which gives the the person saying it an air of not being able to speak English.

It's true that awkward foreign inheritances like Kaiser Wilhelm's would be unlikely to happen today, given that the regal practice of marrying daughters off to foreign potentates to seal alliances has fallen into abeyance. (The last time it was done to a British princess was in 1896.) I just find the irony amusing. And it's very interesting historically, given that inheritances by the lines of women who'd been married off this way explains how the Scottish Stuarts and the German Hanoverians came to the English throne.