The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1745: Chapter 78: Offending the Sir and Still Wanting to Marry the Princess?

In fact, discussions about Victoria’s future husband have been a hot topic in British society for several years.

As the girl with the richest dowry in the world, Victoria is widely regarded as an ideal marriage prospect.

Although not many people have actually seen her, this does not prevent many unmarried men from being fascinated by her. Fleet Street newspapers frequently discuss the seemingly endless list of Victoria’s potential suitors. Gambling Londoners have even opened various bets, with gamblers wagering on the future queen’s marriage prospects.

According to the recent odds trends, the leading candidates among the suitors are: the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, a brother of King William I, the Duke of Nemour from the July Monarchy of France, Crown Prince William of Prussia, King Otto I of Greece, and Victoria’s uncle’s son, the heir of the Duke of Cumberland, George Cumberland.

Of course, strange options occasionally infiltrate these lists. Victoria’s uncle, Belgian King Leopold I, was also included in the betting pool before he got married.

These lists may appear long, but when considering the Act of Settlement and the Royal Marriage Law,

the potential partners for Victoria would actually be confined to a very narrow scope.

According to the Act of Settlement: any person who practices Catholicism, or marries a person who practices Catholicism, is ineligible to succeed to the throne.

This single provision effectively rules out Catholic countries such as Spain and Austria.

Of course, if members of these royal families are willing to convert to the Anglican Church to marry into Britain, it might be negotiable.

However, considering the domestic situations in these countries, if they truly did so, the marriage alliance with Britain might succeed, but they would lose their succession rights in Spain and Austria.

After all, Austria and Spain are traditional Catholic countries, and their citizens mostly cannot accept a Protestant ruler.

The official title of the King of Spain is: ”In the name of God and the Constitution, King of Spain, Defender of the Catholic Faith.”

The Habsburg family in Austria has long prided itself as the ”Secular Protector” of the Catholic world.

The ceremonial title used by the Austrian Emperor in public occasions always incorporates the dual title of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, ”His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of the Apostles,” meaning that changing faith would relinquish the Catholic title of King of the Apostles and thus the legal right to succession in the Hungarian Kingdom.

Unless their monarchs go mad, these two countries would never ally with Britain through marriage.

Of course, the Act of Settlement strictly targets Catholicism, without specific stipulations regarding Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It seems that there might still be a possibility of breaking through in other directions.

But in reality, if you are really determined to marry a non-Christian, you must prepare yourself for Parliament’s refusal to approve the marriage or the British National Church’s refusal to bless the wedding.

And if such a situation occurred, would you still believe that your right to the throne would remain unaffected?

However, should such a situation arise, it would not even reach Parliament and the National Church because the King would disapprove first.

According to the 1772 Royal Marriage Law: member of the royal family under 21 years old must obtain the monarch’s permission for marriage, and cannot arrange marriages privately. Those over 21 must receive the monarch’s written consent before marrying. Without this consent, their marriages are legally void, and their descendants do not enjoy inheritance rights.

The background of this law’s creation was due to George III’s outrage that his sons, the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Gloucester, married lower-ranking noblewomen without prior notification.

If even such unequal status cannot gain the King’s approval, do you still think of marrying a non-Christian?

Therefore, Victoria’s future husband can basically only come from Protestant countries, at most adding in liberal France and Eastern Orthodox Russia.

However, considering Parliament’s opinion, France and Russia can also be largely excluded from the candidate list.

Of course, the journalists of Fleet Street will not hold their tongues due to these legal and realistic obstacles. So, even though Catholic princes, an Eastern Orthodox Tsar, or even exiled descendants in North America are unlikely to move in, they still enthusiastically make the list longer and more absurd.

However, Fleet Street may talk nonsense, but Arthur cannot.

Victoria’s marriage concerns the direction of British politics for the coming decades, and even the balance of power between the Conservative and Whig Party.

If he proposes a candidate and unintentionally facilitates something unwanted by both parties, being criticized by both parties could be the least of his worries.

Facing the problem put forward by King William IV, Arthur couldn’t help but feel anxious in his heart.

If he had known that coming to Kensington today was for this matter, he certainly wouldn’t have come even if it killed him.

Because among his social circle, there is simply no candidate who matches with Victoria; oh, wait, perhaps there is a young man from the Bonaparte family.