Regency Acts

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 [the succession] in such a method as was not to be resisted but by open force of arms and a public declaration for the Pretender".[2]

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.[3] 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.[4]

The Act made it treason for any unauthorized person to open them or to neglect to deliver them to the Privy Council.[5] 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.[6]

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.[1]

Regency During the King's Absence Act 1728
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act to enable her Majesty to be Regent of this Kingdom, during his Majesty's Absence, without taking the Oaths.
Citation	2 Geo. 2. c. 27
Dates
Royal assent	14 May 1729
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1867
Status: Repealed

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 (2 Geo. 2. c. 27). 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[lower-alpha 1][7]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act to provide for the Administration of the Government, in case the Crown should descend to any of the Children of his late Royal Highness Frederick Prince of Wales, being under the Age of eighteen Years; and for the Care and Guardianship of their Persons.
Citation	24 Geo. 2. c. 24
Dates
Royal assent	22 May 1751
Commencement	17 January 1751
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1867
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

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[lower-alpha 1][7] (24 Geo. 2. c. 24).[lower-alpha 2] 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.

Minority of Heir to the Crown Act 1765
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act to provide for the Administration of the Government, in case the Crown should descend to any of the children of his Majesty, being under the Age of eighteen Years; and for the care and guardianship of their Persons.
Citation	5 Geo. 3. c. 27
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1867
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

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 (5 Geo. 3. c. 27)[lower-alpha 3] 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.

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
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the Administration of the Royal Authority, and for the Care of His Majesty's Royal Person, during the Continuance of His Majesty's Illness; and for the Resumption of the Exercise of the Royal Authority by His Majesty.
Citation	51 Geo. 3. c. 1
Dates
Royal assent	5 February 1811
Status: Repealed

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 (51 Geo. 3. c. 1). 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.

In 1830, the throne passed to George IV's younger brother (George III's third son), 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 Act (1 Will. 4. c. 2) 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.[8]

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.

Lords Justices Act 1837
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the Appointment of Lords Justices in the Case of the next Successor to the Crown being out of the Realm at the Time of the Demise of Her Majesty.
Citation	7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 72
Dates
Royal assent	15 July 1837
Repealed	19 March 1937
Other legislation
Repealed by	Regency Act 1937
Status: Repealed

In 1837, Victoria succeeded her uncle at 18 while she was still unmarried and without children. The next in the line of succession was her uncle, the 66-year-old Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who succeeded King William IV in the Kingdom of Hanover. Ernest Augustus left the United Kingdom to take up his role in Hanover. That meant that until the Queen married and had legitimate children, the heir presumptive to the throne and his children would reside abroad. Although they would almost certainly return to the United Kingdom in the event of Victoria dying without having been survived by a legitimate child, that would take some weeks by using 19th-century transport.

To provide for the continuation of government in such an instance, Parliament passed the Lords Justices Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 72, long title: An Act to provide for the Appointment of Lords Justices in the Case of the next Successor to the Crown being out of the Realm at the Time of the Demise of Her Majesty). The Act did not provide for a specific regent to be appointed, as it was expected that the new monarch would arrive in the country within a reasonable time. Thus the Act provided only for Lords Justices, including such people as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chief Justice, to take up some of the monarch's duties. Unlike the powers granted to prospective regents in previous legislation, the powers of the Lords Justice were more limited; for example, they could not dissolve Parliament or create peerages.

Regency Act 1840
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the Administration of the Government in case the Crown should descend Issue of Her Majesty whilst such Issue shall be under the Age of Eighteen Years, and for the Care and Guardianship of such Issue.
Citation	3 & 4 Vict. c. 52
Dates
Royal assent	4 August 1840

By 1840, Queen Victoria had married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and soon gave birth to Princess Victoria. It was expected that the Queen would have many other children; however, they would be in minority for at least the next 18 years, and Parliament again would have to provide for a regent in the event of Victoria's death. The previous Lords Justices Act 1837 would not apply to the Queen's children, as they resided in the UK. Parliament therefore passed the Regency Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 52), which provided for Prince Albert to rule as regent until the eldest son (or daughter, if no sons) reached the age of 18. The Act did not require a Regency Council to operate alongside Prince Albert, which potentially gave him more power than earlier proposed regents. The Act was fairly controversial at the time, as the British people were suspicious of Prince Albert, and he was generally unpopular in Parliament. However Victoria lived until 1901 (thus her surviving children were adults by then), and in any case, Albert predeceased her and so he did not become the regent.

The Act would have prohibited the monarch from marrying during the regency without written consent from the Regent and both houses of Parliament 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 a bill to repeal or alter the Act of Uniformity 1662 or the Scottish Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707.[9]

Regency Act 1910
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the Administration of the Government in case the Crown should descend to any issue of His Majesty while such issue shall be under the age of eighteen years, and for the care and guardianship of such issue.
Citation	10 Edw. 7. & 1 Geo. 5. c. 26
Dates
Royal assent	3 August 1910
Text of statute as originally enacted

In 1910 King Edward VII's son, King George V, succeeded to the throne. However, his children were all under the age of 18. Therefore, Parliament passed a new Regency Act (10 Edw. 7. & 1 Geo. 5. c. 26) in 1910, that named the King's consort, Queen Mary, as regent. No regency council was provided for, following the Regency Act 1840. Once again, the provisions of this Act never came into operation, as the Prince of Wales was well over 18 by the time George V died.

Regency Act 1937

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for a Regency in the event of the Sovereign being on His Accession under the age of eighteen years, and in the event of the incapacity of the Sovereign through illness, and for the performance of certain of the royal functions in the name and on behalf of the Sovereign in certain other events; to repeal the Lords Justices Act 1837; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation	1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 16
Introduced by	Stanley Baldwin[10] (Commons)
Dates
Royal assent	19 March 1937
Commencement	19 March 1937
Other legislation
Amended by	Regency Act 1943 Regency Act 1953 Succession to the Crown Act 2013
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Regency Act 1937 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

In 1936, George VI (George V's second son) became king, with his elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth, as heir presumptive. However, Elizabeth was under the age of 18, leading to the need for a new regency act.

Rather than pass a specific regency act relating to the death or incapacity of George VI only, Parliament passed the Regency Act 1937 (1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6 c. 16), which provided for the incapacity or minority of all future monarchs. It also repealed the Lords Justices Act 1837, and established in statute the office of counsellor of state, to be appointed during the monarch's absence abroad, or temporary illness not amounting to complete incapacity.

The Act ordered that a regent should perform the royal functions if 'the Sovereign is by reason of infirmity of mind or body incapable for the time being of performing the royal functions or that they are satisfied by evidence that the Sovereign is for some definite cause not available for the performance of those functions'.[11] Such a determination must be made by at least three of:

• the wife or husband of the Sovereign
• the Lord Chancellor
• the Speaker of the House of Commons
• the Lord Chief Justice of England
• the Master of the Rolls[11]

The Act required that the regent should be the next person in the line of succession who was:

• over the age of 21
• a British subject domiciled in the United Kingdom
• capable of succeeding to the Crown under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701

The counsellors of state were to consist of:

• the monarch's consort
• the next four people in the line of succession over the age of 21, excluding any person who is disqualified from being regent

Thus, at the time of the passing of the Act, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester would have become regent in the event that King George VI died while Princess Elizabeth was still a minor. The current prospective regent under the Act, who would assume the functions of regent should the King become incapacitated, would be his elder son William, Prince of Wales.

Section 4 of the Act prohibits the regent from giving royal assent to a bill to change the line of succession to the British throne or to repeal or alter the Scottish Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707.

Regency Act 1943

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the law as to the delegation of royal functions to Counsellors of State.
Citation	6 & 7 Geo. 6. c. 42
Introduced by	Viscount Simon[12] (Lords)
Dates
Royal assent	11 November 1943
Commencement	11 November 1943
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

This Act (6 & 7 Geo. 6. c. 42) modified the Regency Act 1937 so that counsellors of state who were absent during the Sovereign's absence would not be listed among the appointments. It also declared that the heir-apparent or presumptive to the throne (first in the line of succession) only had to be 18 to be a counsellor.

Regency Act 1953

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide that, in the event of a Regency becoming necessary under the Regency Act 1937, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh shall in certain circumstances be the Regent, to provide that the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Throne shall be deemed for the purposes of that Act to be of full age if he or she has attained the age of eighteen years, to add Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to the persons to whom royal functions may be delegated as Counsellors of State, and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation	2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 1
Introduced by	Winston Churchill[13] (Commons)
Dates
Royal assent	19 November 1953
Commencement	19 November 1953
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

In 1952 King George VI died and was succeeded by his elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. With her eldest son and heir apparent, Prince Charles, under the age of 21, the Regency Act 1937 would provide for the next person over the age of 21 in the line of succession, the Queen's sister Princess Margaret, to act as regent. However, although a regency was already provided for, Parliament made a new law creating a provision specific to the scenario of the succession to the throne of a son or daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, while still under the age of 18 years. That provision, which ceased to have any relevance in law once all children of Elizabeth and Philip reached adulthood, was to the effect that Prince Philip, if living, would act as regent in case of an underage succession to the Crown by one of the children born of his marriage to Queen Elizabeth II. Furthermore, if a regency was necessary during Elizabeth II's reign, the Duke of Edinburgh would act as regent if the Queen had no eligible children or grandchildren.

At the bill's second reading, David Maxwell-Fyfe, the Home Secretary, explained:

The Amendment is confined to the Duke, and accordingly, in the event of the Duke's death, which we all fervently hope will not occur for many years, the Amendment would cease to have effect, and in the circumstances in which provision is made by the Bill for the Duke being the Regent, the Princess Margaret would, if alive, be Regent. This is in no sense an exclusion Bill.[14]

The Act also allowed the Queen's mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to become a Counsellor of State again, a position she had lost on the death of her husband King George VI.

Most of the provisions of the Regency Act 1953 (2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 1) ceased to be applicable as the Queen's children came of age. The sole provision of the 1953 Act that is still relevant is section 2, which reduced to 18 the age at which the heir-apparent or heir-presumptive to the throne could become Regent. This was done to remove the perceived anomaly that a person aged 18 could become a counsellor of state and could, upon accession to the throne, personally discharge the royal functions, but could not act as a regent until 21. In fact, this had been intended in 1937. In 1937, when the bill was still in committee, the attorney-general Donald Somervell had said:

There might well arise a case where the heir to the Throne was under 18 years of age and where it would be necessary to have a Regent, but that such Regent would only be a few months older. It would then be rather absurd to appoint as Regent someone only six months older than the King. Consequently ... there should be a minimum difference of three years.[15]

Counsellors of State Act 2022

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to add His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex and Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to the persons to whom royal functions may be delegated as Counsellors of State.
Citation	2022 c. 47
Introduced by	Lord True[16] (Lords)
Dates
Royal assent	6 December 2022
Commencement	7 December 2022
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Act appointed Anne, Princess Royal and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (now Duke of Edinburgh) as additional Counsellors of State for their lifetimes,[17] a position each had previously held but subsequently lost when Prince William and Prince Harry respectively reached the age of 21.

According to the Regency Acts in force, if the monarch is under the age of 18 years when he or she succeeds to the throne, a regency is automatically established, and, until the monarch attains the age of 18 years, the royal functions are discharged by the regent in the name and on behalf of the monarch.

In that case, any oaths or declarations required by statute to be taken by the sovereign on or after succeeding to the Crown are postponed until the sovereign's personal assumption of the royal functions, and for the purpose of all such enactments regarding oaths and declarations that the new monarch must make upon accession "the date on which the Sovereign attains the age of eighteen years shall be deemed to be the date of His Accession".

Unlike any of the preceding Regency Acts, the Regency Act 1937 (which is still in force) established in law a procedure for determining the incapacity of the sovereign due to infirmity of mind or body or due to the monarch's unavailability for another definite cause.

When a declaration of incapacity is made in accordance with the procedure set out in the Regency Act 1937 a regency is established and the royal functions are transferred from the sovereign to a regent, who discharges them in the name and on behalf of the monarch until a declaration is made in accordance with the said Act to the effect that the monarch's incapacity has ceased.

According to section 2 of the Regency Act 1937, the people who can make a declaration of incapacity (or a declaration that the incapacity has ended) are the sovereign's consort, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and the Master of the Rolls. As of 12 March 2023 these positions are held by, respectively, Queen Camilla, Alex Chalk, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Ian Burnett, Lord Burnett of Maldon and Sir Geoffrey Vos.

Any declaration of incapacity or of cessation of incapacity needs to be signed by three or more of them. Declarations based on the monarch's unavailability for a definite cause need to be supported by evidence, and declarations attesting the sovereign's incapacity by reason of infirmity of mind or body need to be supported by evidence including evidence provided by physicians.

A declaration of incapacity or of cessation of incapacity needs to be made to the Privy Council and communicated to the governments of the dominions.

As of 2023, under the provisions of the Regency Acts in force, William, Prince of Wales, would become regent in the event of the incapacity of his father, King Charles III.

As of 2023, the first person under the age of 18 in the line of succession to the throne is William's eldest child (and elder son) Prince George of Wales, who is second in line to the throne after his father. If the prince were to succeed to the throne before his 18th birthday on 22 July 2031, his uncle, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (the King's younger son), would serve as regent (if domiciled in the United Kingdom, as required by the 1937 Act), as George's younger siblings Charlotte and Louis (currently third and fourth in line, respectively) would also be minors. In the event that Prince Harry would be unable to serve as regent (a possibility since his 2019 decision to take up residence in the United States), the next in line would be the King's brother (Prince George's grand-uncle) Prince Andrew, Duke of York, followed by the Duke of York's elder daughter Princess Beatrice.

If the King were to be declared incapable of discharging the royal functions, the legal guardianship of the incapacitated monarch would be vested in his consort, Queen Camilla. If she were to be unable to carry out the duties of legal guardian, they would then revert to the sitting regent.

Prince George of Wales, should he ascend to the throne prior to his 18th birthday on 22 July 2031, is the first person in the present line of succession who would require a regency and legal guardianship until he turns 18. According to the Regency Acts as currently in force, should this occur, his legal guardianship would be vested in his mother, Catherine, Princess of Wales. If she were to be unable to carry out the duties of legal guardian, they would then revert to the sitting regent.