Men banned from becoming Queen as 700 years of law redrafted ahead of gay marriage
Words such as “widow” removed from statutes while medieval treason laws and even rules on royal titles amended ahead of gay marriage
By聽John Bingham,聽Social Affairs Editor
10:30PM GMT 21 Feb 2014
Men are to be banned from becoming Queen or Princess of Wales as part of an ______________________ effort to rewrite more than 700 years of law to prevent unintended consequences of gay marriage.
Even a 14th Century act declaring it high treason to have an affair with the monarch's husband or wife is included in the ______________________ redrafting exercise.
Civil servants have drawn up a list of scores of statutes and regulations dating back as far 1285 to be __________________ed or specifically excluded when the Government's Same-Sex Marriage Act ____________________ next month.
Under proposals to be debated by MPs and Peers as early as next week, terms such as “widow” will be deleted or _______________________ed in legislation covering topics as diverse as seamen's pensions and London cab licences to take account of the new definition of marriage.
References to mothers, fathers, husbands and wives are also to be amended to avoid future confusion.
Legal experts said it was a necessary “tidying up” exercise, but the Coalition for Marriage, which ________________________ed against same-sex marriage, said it showed the change had left the law in a “complete mess” and accused the Government of trying to “sneak” the changes through while political attention was on the floods.
Colin Hart, its director, said it was a “systematic drive to ____________________” words like husband, wife and widow from the law.
A draft order to be debated next week sets out amendments to 36 Acts dating back to 1859; special _______________________s from the effects of the Same-Sex Marriage Act for a further 67 other pieces of legislation dating back 729 years and changes to dozens of pension regulations which have legal force.
It also clarifies centuries-old Common Law customs determining how aristocratic and even royal titles are awarded to _______________________ future constitutional crises.
The order makes clear that a clause in the Act giving gay and heterosexual marriage the same legal effect does not apply to the rights of anyone “who marries, or who is married to, the King Regnant, to the title of Queen”. It also makes clear that were a future Prince of Wales to marry a man his husband could not be called Princess of Wales.
More immediately, the order rules out the possibility of Dukes, Earls and other male peers who marry other men making their husbands Duchess, Countess or Lady.
Meanwhile dozens of other laws are to be excluded from the _____________________ of the Act.
They include the Second Statute of Westminster from 1285, which deals with inheritance matters, and even the Treason Act of 1351. It makes it high treason to “violate the King's companion” - meaning the husband or wife of the monarch - or that of the heir. A Government spokeswoman explained that it would still be considered _____________________ to have sex with a king's wife - but not his husband.
Julian Lipson, head of the family law practice at Withers LLP, explained that because titles such as Queen consort were ___________________ed through marriage, by custom rather than law, the issue had not arisen when civil partnership was introduced a decade ago.
But now that marriage itself is being redefined, the clarification had to be made, he added.
“The route the Government has chosen seems to be to admit that the “equalness” of same-sex marriage has its limits,” he said. “They presumably don't want to end up with the situation of, for example, there being two duchesses or a man with the title of duchess. It seems that they are getting it all tidied up before these changes take effect to avoid uncertainties. While there is nobody who is currently likely to be affected by this clarification of the titles of Queen and Princess of Wales in real terms, if the question arises in 100 years time, the uncertainty will have been addressed as the ship will have sailed. It would be odd if the Government had undertaken a comprehensive tidying-up exercise in other respects of legislation needing to be adapted and to have forgotten to have addressed this, notwithstanding whether everyone will agree with the manner in which it has been addressed.”
Colin Hart, campaign director for the Coalition for Marriage commented: “We repeatedly warned that the Government's plans were _______________________, complicated and would have a damaging effect on those who support traditional marriage. Those warnings were dismissed, yet just a few months later we have Ministers engaged in an unprecedented and systematic ____________ to airbrush out of law words like husband, wife and widow in order to make the legislation work. Worse still the Government has tried to sneak these changes out, when most of the country is worried about the plight of those families and areas affected by flooding. It is clear the Government is in a complete mess, which could have been prevented had they engaged in an open and meaningful debate, instead of _________________ing this through Parliament. These changes cover legislation going back nearly 800 years, affecting legislation covering inheritance, taxation, social security and children. Surely the Government should have tried to get this right before approving the bill? This is yet another attack on those who opposed the redefinition of marriage, or believe that equality is not just about destroying the institutions that have helped to bind us together for centuries for the sake of political correctness.”
Separate guidelines last year made clear that some other pieces of _____________________ would be read in such a way as to allow the term “wife” to apply to men and “husband” to women.
Match the expressions below with their definitions. Then complete the gaps in the article.
remit
legislation
amend
confer
ill-thought-out
ram
avert
drive (N)
campaign (V)
high treason
unprecedented
reword
come into force
exclusion
airbrush (V)
sweeping
that has never happened, been done or been known before
a law or a set of laws passed by a parliament
[usually singular] (British English) the area of activity over which a particular person or group has authority, control or influence
to prevent something bad or dangerous from happening
[transitive] to give somebody an award, a university degree or a particular honour or right.
to take part in or lead a campaign, for example to achieve political change or in order to win an election.
carelessly, badly planned
to write something again using different words in order to make it clearer or more acceptable
(of a law, rule, etc.) to start being used
[usually before noun] having an important effect on a large part of something:
to change a law, document, statement, etc. slightly in order to correct a mistake or to improve it
to change a detail in e.g. in a photograph (with an airbrush)
the crime of doing something that could cause danger to your country, such as helping its enemies during a war
to push something somewhere with force, also figuratively
[countable] a person or thing that is not included in something
[uncountable] (approving) a strong desire to do things and achieve something; great energy
Among the words in the exercise above find those that nicely fit the blanks in the sentences or phrases below
An honorary degree was _________________________ed on him by Oxford University in 2009.
We have ___________________________ed against whaling for the last 15 years
Such decisions are outside the _____________________ of this committee.
There were ______________________ scenes of violence in the city's main square.
Talks are taking place in an attempt to ______________________ a strike
Check the list of ________________________ in the insurance policy
Security forces were given ______________________ powers to search homes
The spending cuts had been ______________________ed through Congress.
Questions for discussion:
What is the purpose of having these matters clarified ahead of time?
How serious are the terminological concerns expressed here?
What can be the motivation behind these legal actions?
Are the doubts or protests expressed by The coalition for Marriage premature and unnecessary?
If Poland passes a law on same-sex marriages, ought we to try and introduce similar terminological changes?
Language changes all the time - shouldn't completely new terms be invented to name e.g. the spouses of the same sex or other family relations?
Couldn't we leave all that to common law and common sense?
Comment on the validity of the Government Spokesperson's words: it would still be considered high treason to have sex with a king's wife - but not his husband.
Thematic glossary
Family and kinship terms: marital status, spouse, partner, single, engaged, married, separated, divorced, widowed, (former) mistress, late/former/ex-husband / wife, broken home, single-parent family, triplets, quads, blood relatives, flesh and blood, foster parents, in-laws
Expressing attitudes and beliefs: passionate believers in, fierce opponents of, suspect, advocate, (wholly) disapprove, (strongly) approve, reckon, dread to think, refuse to accept, feel strongly, share a viewpoint, be under the impression that, have great respect for
Ranks and positions: Politics: Prime Minister, Secretary of State, Junior Minister, Back-bencher, Parliamentary Private Secretary, Mayor, Councillor; Company: Chairman/woman, Director, Shareholder; Aristocracy: King, Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Count, Viscount + Queen, Princess, Duchess, Marchioness, Countess, Viscountess; Unions: Unon Leader, Member of the Executive, Shop steward, Branch Secretary, Conference Delegate
Government and society: Nouns: administration, cabinet, sovereign, council, authorities, bill, motion, poll, power, reign, brochure, manifesto, synopsis, the establishment, a radical, majority; Adjectives: compulsory, voluntary, reactionary, privileged, conventional, progressive, oppressed; Verbs: abolish, illegal, permit, restrict, license, consult