Regency Acts


The Regency Acts are acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed at various times, to provide a regent in the event of the reigning monarch being incapacitated or a minor. Prior to 1937, Regency Acts were passed only when necessary to deal with a specific situation. In 1937, the Regency Act 1937 made general provision for a regent, and established the office of Counsellor of State, a number of whom would act on the monarch's behalf when the monarch was temporarily absent from the realm or experiencing an illness that did not amount to legal incapacity. This act, as modified by the Regency Acts of 1943 and 1953, forms the main law relating to regency in the United Kingdom today.
An example of a pre-1937 Regency Act was the Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act 1811 which allowed Prince George to act as regent while his father, King George III, was incapacitated.

History

Prior to 1937, there was no permanent, general provision in British law for a regent to be appointed if the British monarch were incapacitated, a minor or absent from the country. Before the Glorious Revolution, it was up to the sovereign to decide who would be regent in any event although the decision was often implemented by legislation. For example, section XI of the Treason Act 1554 made King Philip, the husband and co-ruler of Queen Mary I, regent if Mary died and her heir was male and under 18 or an unmarried female under 15.
By the Act of Settlement 1701, Parliament passed the line of succession to Electress Sophia of Hanover. That decision was confirmed and extended to all of Great Britain by the Acts of Union 1707. With the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy firmly established in British law, it became possible for the British Parliament to pass legislation to determine who would act as regent during the absence, incapacity or minority of the ruling monarch. Since then, several Regency Acts have been passed.

Regency Act 1705 and Succession to the Crown Act 1707

With the passage of the Act of Settlement 1701 establishing the Protestant Succession and making Sophia of Hanover the heir presumptive to the throne, it became likely that upon Queen Anne's death the country would be without a monarch in residence. The Regency Act 1705 was passed "to put it in such a method as was not to be resisted but by open force of arms and a public declaration for the Pretender".
The act required privy counsellors and other officers in the event of Anne's death, to proclaim as her successor the next Protestant in the line of succession to the throne, and it was made high treason to fail to do so. If the next Protestant successor was abroad at the death of Anne, seven great Officers of State named in the act and others whom the heir apparent thought fit to appoint, called "Lords Justices", would form a regency. The heir would name these others through a secret instrument that would be sent to England in three copies and delivered to the Hanoverian Resident, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor. The Lords Justices were to have the power to give royal assent to bills except that they would be guilty of treason if they amended the Act of Uniformity 1662.
Two years later, after the union of Scotland and England, the new Parliament of Great Britain passed the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 to reaffirm the above procedure and modify it slightly. Under the act, if the monarch died while the heir to the throne was overseas, the government would be run until the new monarch returned by between seven and fourteen "Lords Justices". Seven of the Lords Justices were named in the act, and the next monarch could appoint seven others, who would be named in writing, with three copies to be sent to the Privy Council in England.
The act made it treason for any unauthorised person to open them or to neglect to deliver them to the Privy Council. The Lords Justices were to have the power to give royal assent to bills, except that they would be guilty of treason if they amended the Act of Uniformity 1662 or the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707.
Upon Anne's death in 1714, the new king, George I, was in his home realm of Hanover. In accordance with the Succession to the Crown Act, Thomas Parker, Lord Chief Justice, became head of the regency. He served for a little over a month.

Regency Act 1728

The second act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain to deal exclusively with a regency was in 1728, the Regency During the King's Absence Act 1728. It specified that Queen Caroline would act as regent in the absence of her husband, King George II rather than their son Frederick, Prince of Wales, whom he despised. The act was necessary because George II was also the elector of Hanover and was returning to his homeland for a visit.

Minority of Successor to Crown Act 1750

In 1751, Prince Frederick died. That left Frederick's eldest son, Prince George, as the new heir apparent. However, George was then only 12. If the King were to die before Prince George turned 18, the throne would pass to a minor.
That made Parliament provide for a regent by passing the Minority of Successor to Crown Act 1750. The act provided that George's mother, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, would act as regent and specified that a Council of Regency be put in place to rule alongside Princess Augusta. The Council of Regency was to act as a brake on the regent's power; some acts of the royal prerogative, such as declarations of war or the signing of peace treaties, would require a majority vote of the council. The provisions of the act actually never came into force since Prince George had already come of age by the time that his grandfather died in 1760.

Minority of Heir to the Crown Act 1765

In 1760, King George III ascended the throne, with his brother Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, as heir presumptive. However, the new King soon married and had several children. By 1765, the King had three infant children in the order of succession. Parliament again passed a Regency Act to provide for a regent in the event of the King's death.
The Minority of Heir to the Crown Act 1765 provided that either the King's wife, Queen Charlotte, or his mother, Princess Augusta, would act as regent. The Act also required the formation of a Council of Regency. As with the previous act, the provision of the new act actually never came into force since when George III died, his eldest son was already aged 57.

Regency Bill 1789

The Regency Bill 1789 was a proposed Act of Parliament to provide that George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, would act as regent because of the King's incapacity caused by mental illness. With no legislation already in place, there was no legal basis for providing a regent, and the King was in no fit state to give royal assent to the Act. Parliament decided to have the Lord Chancellor, Lord Thurlow, approve the bill by fixing the Great Seal of the Realm to give royal assent. However, the King recovered in time before the bill could be passed. Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and others thought the Act to be illegal, but after his recovery, the King declared that the government had acted correctly.
The King's continuing mental problems throughout the rest of his life confirmed the need for a suitable Regency Act to be in place. However, the King was hostile to the passing of such an Act while he was of sound mind.

Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act 1811

In late 1810, King George III was once again overcome by mental illness after the death of his youngest daughter, Princess Amelia. Parliament agreed to follow the precedent of 1789. Without the King's consent, the Lord Chancellor affixed the Great Seal of the Realm to letters patent naming Lords Commissioners. Such letters patent were irregular because they did not bear the Royal Sign Manual, and only letters patent signed by the King himself could provide for the appointment of Lords Commissioners or for the granting of royal assent. However, because the King was already incapacitated de facto, resolutions by both Houses of Parliament approved the action and directed the Lord Chancellor to prepare the letters patent and to affix the Great Seal to them even without the signature of the monarch. The Lords Commissioners who were appointed in the name of the King signified the granting of the royal assent to a bill that became the Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act 1811. Under the Act, the King was suspended from the personal discharge of the royal functions, and George, Prince of Wales discharged those functions in the name and on behalf of the King from 1811 to 1820, when the King died and the Prince of Wales succeeded to the throne.
Parliament restricted some of the powers of the Prince Regent, as the Prince of Wales became known. These constraints were in regards to appointments to certain offices, though they expired one year after the passage of the Act. The period from 1811 to 1820 is known as the Regency era.
The importance of this Regency Act was that it did not require a Council of Regency, as required by previous legislation. One reason was that the Prince Regent was heir apparent to the throne in any case and so would assume full powers upon his father's death.

Regency Act 1830

In 1830, the throne passed to George IV's younger brother, King William IV. However, William IV had no surviving legitimate children. The heir presumptive to the throne was his niece, Princess Victoria of Kent, the 11-year-old daughter of William's dead brother Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn.
As Parliament mistrusted the surviving younger sons of George III, the Regency Act 1830 placed any potential regency caused by the King's death before Victoria had reached 18, in her mother, Victoria, Dowager Duchess of Kent. However, if Queen Adelaide gave birth to a child, that child would become king or queen instead of Victoria, and Adelaide would become regent.
If such a birth occurred after the King's death, his child was to immediately succeed Victoria in Victoria's lifetime as king or queen. The Act prohibited either monarch from marrying during the regency without the Regent's consent and made it high treason to marry the monarch without such consent, or to assist in or be concerned in the marriage. The Act also prohibited the regent from giving royal assent to a bill to change the line of succession to the throne or to repeal or alter the Act of Uniformity 1662 or the Scottish Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707.
However, since Victoria became queen at 18, and Queen Adelaide had no more children, a regency was unnecessary and so the Act never came into force.