Fiancée of British royal abandons Catholicism to preserve succession
May 2, 2008 / 02:16 am (CNA).- A woman engaged to a member of the British royal family has renounced her Catholic faith to maintain her fiancée’s position in the line of succession.
The Times Online reports that Autumn Kelly, 31, was received into the Church of England. She is to be married to Peter Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest grandson, on May 17.
British monarchs and their heirs are barred from becoming or marrying Catholics according to the 1701 Act of Settlement. Phillips, who is currently eleventh in line to the throne, would have had to renounce his claim had she not converted. (So Peter's at the ready in case his grandmother, three uncles, six cousins, and his mother should all go home to God. You think someone's a little miffed that his parents didn't want him to have a royal title?)
Kelly was reportedly advised for several months before deciding to convert. “She was not asked to do this; she did it of her own accord,” a source told the Daily Telegraph.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman confirmed the conversion had taken place and said that, "She was welcomed into the Church of England some time ago."
Kelly, a management consultant from Canada, met Phillips at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in 2003. She moved to the United Kingdom to be with him shortly thereafter.
Her parents are said to be enthusiastic about their daughter’s engagement (well, c'mon, how many weddings involve Buckingham Palace? It's gotta beat a wedding reception at the local VFW hall!). I’ve met him a few times and he’s a great guy, a really nice person,” her mother, Kathleen, told the Times Online (Your future son-in-law, the man marrying your little girl, and the best you can say is that he's "really nice"?).
She said that she did not think that there would be a problem with her daughter being a “foreigner”.
“I think attitudes to things like that have changed,” she said. “Autumn is a very serious and intelligent young woman. She may be young, but she knows the world. And he’s a great guy. Isn’t that what counts?” (Well actually, no.)
It is not known whether Kelly was a practicing Catholic, though she was educated at Catholic schools. (NEWSFLASH: and I could spend 9 years in a zoo and it wouldn't make me into a practicing giraffe!)
2 comments:
Let's hope this is a decision that she won't regret down the road. I have been married for almost 18 years and my husband isn't Catholic, but the one thing I told him when we were dating is that my children would be raised Catholic (that was a deal breaker), and he didn't have to convert but the kids would be Catholic. And he agreed. We got married in the church eight years into our marriage to the day we got married.
That's why I can't be upset with her decision. Entering into a marriage decisions have to be made about how to raise the children, what church to belong to, etc. Even without coercion it is best for Peter and Autumn to be of one faith. But that doesn't mean the Act of Settlement doesn't need updating, especially as it singles out only Catholics. They're both Christian, but if Autumn had been Hindi or Muslim his succession would not have been in question ( http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/religion/2008/04/a-nice-day-for-a-royal-wedding.html )
Post a Comment