THE ALL-INCLUSIVE LAW OF SUCCESSION FOR A PEOPLE’S MONARCHY

 THE ALL-INCLUSIVE LAW OF SUCCESSION FOR A PEOPLE’S MONARCHY 

John Freeman

My ideas for the succession law do not discrimination for order of birth or gender. These suggestions are respectful of patrilineal and matrilineal cultural systems present in all societies. I include paternal and maternal lines of succession, since the monarchy is a multi-dynastic institution with royal lines that come from both males and females.

These ideas are for future generations and never retroactively. My suggestions have four components:

1) If succession rights come from a mother, daughters have preference over men. If succession rights come from a father, sons have preference over daughters. The gender of the parent is the first precedent in succession rights.

2) Succession rights alternate from youngest to oldest in one generation and from oldest to youngest in the next, to avoid unequal treatment of any kind.

3) Rights of succession come from Proximity of Blood and Lineages. Proximity of Blood means that daughters/sons of a monarch come first in succession, followed by granddaughters and grandsons, or more distance blood descendants. Succession rights only go as far as the great great-granddaughters/grandsons

4) Lineages: Descendants of queens in direct female line have succession rights in perpetuity. Descendants of kings in direct male line have succession rights in perpetuity.

Why the preference for females, when succession rights comes from a mother? Why the preference for males, when succession rights comes from a father?

The monarchy at the present time is a patrilineal system; the monarchy only recognizes paternal lines. This is the reason for male-primogeniture and unequal treatment of female. A dual system of succession that is both matrilineal and patrilineal will brings equality to both genders.

This system would eventually produce a Netherland type of monarchy, where matrilineal Queens succeed one another, since in every monarchy there are kings that only have daughters. My suggestions promote the maternal/paternal lines of both sexes, and in the long run there is no gender discrimination. 

Why alternate succession from youngest to oldest in one generation and from oldest to youngest in the next generation? 

This is real equality in succession, since primogeniture of any kind is a hierarchical concept that favors the firs-born. My suggestion allows for succession of oldest, youngest, and middle daughters/sons, since order of birth is not gender specific. This idea allows for random succession of oldest, middle and youngest daughters/sons.

What can the monarchy do to be more inclusive of women?

At the present time the practice to name a dynasty only applies to men. If the Queen names the dynasty, the house of Bowes-Lyon Windsor after her mother and father, this is recognition of the dual maternal and paternal lineages of the monarchy.

This would be a positive example for society; it would grant women and their maternal lines equal social status. This is also historical recognition of female traditions and cultural awareness of the contributions of women.

Why is gender-blind primogeniture not equality?

Equality is a concept of universal application. Gender-blind primogeniture is a selective application of laws, and it discriminates against people who are not the first-born, and most people in the world are not the first-born.

The following are examples of selective application of laws, and these examples are not equality: Women and men have the right to vote, but women do not have equal pay. We are all citizens, but people of African ancestry are 3/5 of a person and do not have the right to vote.

Gender-blind primogeniture goes against the civil rights and laws of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, since these nations do not apply laws and civil rights selectively. 

Conclusion

Monarchies and cultures have lineage traditions where people from different societies find cultural meanings in maternal and paternal lines. Gender-blind primogeniture is comparable to re-inventing the wheel, because gender-blind primogeniture destroys the concept of maternal and paternal lines.

Primogeniture of any kind is all about who comes first; it is as if the monarch is and always was the senior person of the oldest line; this implied that the reason for the monarchy is primogeniture. But the real reason for the monarchy is that this is an institution of public service.

If the political leaders of the realms are sincere about the ideals of equality, then my suggestions meet the ideals of equality much better than gender-blind primogeniture. Also, my ideas are inclusive and respectful of cultural traditions of maternal and paternal lines.