If Prince William married an American, would he still become king?

Question

Are there any rules from that don't allow Prince William of England to become king if he happens to marry an American?

Answer 1

There are two restrictions on Prince William in terms of who he can marry if he is to become king. He cannot marry a Catholic and he cannot marry a divorced woman unless the husband she divorced has already died. As long as these two restrictions are taken care of, he can marry an American if he chooses.

Answer 2

"It's legal in the UK, right?" No, it's wrong. Same-sex couples are now able to contract a "civil partnership", which has some of the same effects as marriage (e.g. pension rights, joint ownership of homes, inheritance of property, etc.) but in law is explicitly not the same thing as marriage. Thus, if Prince William were to contract a civil partnership with a man, the laws pertaining to royal marriages (e.g. the one about not marrying Roman Catholics) would not apply, and there is no royal rank or title that the partner would automatically be entitled to. A role and title would have to be invented for him, rather as the royal family of Norway have recently had to invent a role for "the illegitimate commoner son of the Crown Princess from before she married the prince", not a role that has a long body of precedent behind it! All that said, I'm not sure that public opinion is ready for a King in a publicly-acknowledged gay relationship, and I suspect that if it were to happen the King in question would simply abdicate rather than put it to the test.

Answer 3

Sure. The problem back in the 30s with the King's marriage to Wallace Simpson was that she was divorced. Remember that when Charles and Dianna were headed that way, there was a huge uproar. I think William cannot become Catholic and probably can't marry one since when/if he becomes king, he will be head of the Anglican Church. Probably, he'd have to live in Britain, though maybe not. It's an interesting question.

Answer 4

A black American.

Answer 5

He'd still be king. The only king who had to abdicate because of who he married was Edward, in the 1920's, because the woman he loved was an American divorcee. He couldn't marry her because at the time the Anglican church didn't recognize divorce, and as leader of the church, he couldn't marry a divorcee whose husband was still alive.

Answer 6

Prince William can marry anyone, a divorced person or one not of the Protestant faith maybe would cause a problem. The Queen is married to Prince Phillip who is Greek.

Answer 7

No royals have often married people from other nationalities. In fact the Royal family probably has more foreign blood than English blood.

Answer 8

He would still be eligible to be King if he married an American. The Queen married a Greek and it didn't stop her becoming Queen.

Answer 9

Yes he would become king, but she would possibly have to give up her American citizenship and become British, as the Australian-born Princess Mary of Denmark did.

Answer 10

Provided she was not divorced yes.

Answer 11

Yes, he could still become King (if he lives long enough - look how long Lizzie the II has reigned for!)

Theoretically, he wouldn't be able to become King if he married a divorcee, but now that his father has married his slapper - also a divorcee - without giving up his place in the pecking order I think they'd have a hard time convincing William to obey the old 'rules'! (And Andrew Parker-Bowles is still VERY much alive and kicking!!)
8 )

Just as long as he doesn't marry a member of the Bush clan - then he'd need to be certified, and obviously they can't crown a loony!