# An Abortion Issue with/and a Royal Twist **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 24, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445 "2012-08-24T02:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/1 "2012-08-24T02:26:15Z")
Scenario. Charles III is dead. King William V dies in a helicopter crash. Case I Prince Harry is coronated Three weeks later it is revealed the Kate was pregnant during the coronation . Is her fetus destined to bump Harry off the throne ? Case II Kate is pregnant. Will Harry still be coronated ? Case III Kate wants to abort the Roya Fetus. Can she ? This question goes whether William has died or not. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/2 "2012-08-24T02:54:10Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Case I > > Prince Harry is coronated > Three weeks later it is revealed the Kate was pregnant during the coronation . Is her fetus destined to bump Harry off the throne ? Apparently yes. The precedent is that when Victoria acceded to the throne, the proclamation included a condition “…saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty’s consort”. ([see here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasciturus_fiction).) If Queen Adelaide hads been pregnant with a son, he would replace Queen Victoria. > [@](#): > > Case II > > Kate is pregnant. Will Harry still be coronated ? Coronation is not important - the new monarch automatically accedes to the throne on the death of the old monarch. QE2’s coronation was more than a year after the death of her father; there should be no problem in delaying the coronation in your scenario until after the result of the pregnancy is known. Whether Harry would be King in the interim, I don’t know. Maybe he would be some sort of Regent. > [@](#): > > Case III > > Kate wants to abort the Roya Fetus. Can she ? This question goes whether William has died or not. Nothing in the Abortion Act 1967 excludes the royal family from its provisions, as far as I can see. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/3 "2012-08-24T03:29:01Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > If Queen Adelaide hads been pregnant with a son, he would replace Queen Victoria Or a daughter. William was older than Victoria’s father, Edward, Duke of Kent, so any issue he had posthumously would have excluded Victoria from the throne. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/4 "2012-08-24T03:31:51Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > Apparently yes. The precedent is that when Victoria acceded to the throne, the proclamation included a condition “…saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty’s consort”. ([see here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasciturus_fiction).) If Queen Adelaide hads been pregnant with a son, he would replace Queen Victoria. There was also an Act of Parliament made especially for that situation, though. Did it temporarily change the law, or did it just create a framework so that the institutions would know what to do in order to follow the already-existing law? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/5 "2012-08-24T04:05:55Z")
Coronated? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/6 "2012-08-24T05:04:29Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Coronated? Better that than photosphered. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/7 "2012-08-24T05:06:23Z")
The same rules of succession apply to English, Scottish and British peers as do to royalty. Several peers have succeeded to their father’s titles after their father’s death, most notably Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, born on 28 January 1457 after his father ([Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Tudor,_1st_Earl_of_Richmond)) died on 1 or 3 November 1456. (Other notable things about the birth were that the mother was just 13 years old at the time, and that Henry Tudor went on to become King Henry VII of England, after killing his cousin Richard at Bosworth Field.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/8 "2012-08-24T15:00:05Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Coronated? > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Better that than photosphered. Either is certain to give the Royal in question a prominenced place in _The Sun_ (and other tabloids). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/9 "2012-08-24T16:13:43Z")
I’m going to be pedantic. Fair warning. The verb associated with “coronation” is “crown”. “Crowned”, not “coronated”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/10 "2012-08-25T02:43:51Z")
As a subject of Queen Elizabeth, I’m somewhat embarrassed to be corrected by a republican on this matter. Thankyou **jayjay** ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/11 "2012-08-25T03:03:40Z")
Well that’s the **factual** part covered - now can someone move this to IMHO so I can speculate like a motherfuck please? ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/12 "2012-08-25T03:12:04Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The same rules of succession apply to English, Scottish and British peers as do to royalty. Several peers have succeeded to their father’s titles after their father’s death, most notably Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, born on 28 January 1457 after his father ([Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Tudor,_1st_Earl_of_Richmond)) died on 1 or 3 November 1456. > > (Other notable things about the birth were that the mother was just 13 years old at the time, and that Henry Tudor went on to become King Henry VII of England, after killing his cousin Richard at Bosworth Field.) Are there any other examples of this you can point to? Henry had the best claim to the throne in the Lancaster camp at that point, but it was through his mother, so there were some pretty big political reasons why Edmund’s brother Jasper might not have wanted to take those titles from Henry. It seems pretty clear that an unborn heir inheriting is _possible_, but it seems like in every example so far offered political expediency was a factor. Are there any examples where it was simply standard operating procedure? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/13 "2012-08-25T03:12:14Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > …Nothing in the Abortion Act 1967 excludes the royal family from its provisions, as far as I can see. True. If for some reason the Abortion Act didn’t apply toward royalty then both Queen Katherine and her doctor would technically be commiting high treason. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/14 "2012-08-25T03:21:36Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Well that’s the **factual** part covered - now can someone move this to IMHO so I can speculate like a motherfuck please? Or Cafe Society as I am dying to get recipes for “abortion issue with a lemon twist” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/15 "2012-08-25T15:33:27Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > As a subject of Queen Elizabeth, I’m somewhat embarrassed to be corrected by a republican on this matter. > > Thankyou **jayjay** Were you born in Ireland before 1949? ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/16 "2012-08-25T15:43:41Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > Nothing in the Abortion Act 1967 excludes the royal family from its provisions, as far as I can see. Also if the British royals are anything like the Danish royals then they are above the law. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/17 "2012-08-25T15:56:02Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Also if the British royals are anything like the Danish royals then they are above the law. Well, they’re something like the Danish royals in that Prince Charles’s patrilineal line is Danish (his paternal grandfather’s paternal grandfather was Christian IX of Denmark). On the other hand, Parliament has been making it clear for several centuries now that they are not above the law. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/18 "2012-08-25T17:13:25Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Were you born in Ireland before 1949? No. Why ? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/19 "2012-08-26T04:47:34Z")
Queen Adelaide actually did have at least two children, – one who died shortly after birth, and one who lived for about three months. I think she also had several stillbirths. (Twin boys in one case) > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Well, they’re something like the Danish royals in that Prince Charles’s patrilineal line is Danish (his paternal grandfather’s paternal grandfather was Christian IX of Denmark). On the other hand, Parliament has been making it clear for several centuries now that they are not above the law. You’re off a generation. [Christian IX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_IX_of_Denmark) was [George VI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI)’s _great_ grandfather. His paternal grandmother, [Queen Alexandra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_of_Denmark), was Christian’s eldest daughter. BTW, there was actually a similiar situation in Spain, with Juan Carlos’s grandfather. His great-grandmother was pregnant when her husband, [Alfonso XII](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_Xii), died of tuberculosis. They had a “vacancy” of sorts until the baby was born, since he only had two daughters at the time. So if the baby was a girl, the throne would go to the current heir, Infanta Mercedes. If there was a boy, then he’d become King. The child ended up being a boy, Alfonso XIII) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445/20 "2012-08-26T05:21:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You’re off a generation. Oops, you’re right. Thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-abortion-issue-with-and-a-royal-twist/632445.md?page=2)