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Article: Britain's royal line has been flexible: Only Parliament has final word.(World)(Briefing/Europe)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- September 14, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The British monarchy and its rules of succession are far more flexible than Americans generally realize.
Under the flexible, informal and unwritten British constitution, supreme legislative power is embodied in Parliament, mainly in the popularly elected lower house, the House of Commons.
So great is the power of Parliament that, constitutional tradition has it, it can do anything except "change a man into a woman."
Parliament certainly has the power to dictate the terms of succession to the British throne, and has exercised it on many occasions.
That power is the result of a long political evolution that began in 1215 when King ...