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| The '''Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927''' |
The '''Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927''' was an ] of the ] that authorised the alteration of the British monarch's royal style and titles, and altered the formal name of the British Parliament, in recognition of much of Ireland separating from the United Kingdom as the ]. It received the ] on 12 April 1927, and extended to the United Kingdom itself, the ]s, and the rest of the ]. | ||
| The Act is also conventionally considered to have altered the formal name of the United Kingdom from "]" to "]", although this change was not explicitly made by the terms of the Act. | |||
| ⚫ | == |
||
| ===Name of the Kingdom=== | |||
| The Act had two consequences. The first was to change the full name of the United Kingdom (UK) to the ''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'' from the former '']'', in recognition of the fact that all of Ireland except 6 counties in the northeast had seceded to form a separate ], the ]. | |||
| ===Title of the King=== | |||
| A second function was to modify the ]'s title, altering George V's title from King "of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas" to King "of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas". The full title of the Act was ''An Act to provide for the alteration of the Royal Style and Titles and of the Style of Parliament and for purposes incidental thereto''. This change was likely a product of an agreement at the ] of 1926 changing the relationship between Britain and the ]s as outlined in the ]. It was the Balfour Declaration in which it was agreed that the United Kingdom and the dominions were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the ]". | |||
| ==Background to the Act== | |||
| ==Other statutes== | |||
| As a result of the ], most of ] was detached from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1922 as the ]. However, six north-eastern counties remained part of the UK as ]. | |||
| However, most constitutional historians concentrate their focus on either the ] or the ] as being the crucial milestone in the evolution of the relationship between the Crown and what was becoming known as the British Commonwealth. | |||
| At the ] it was agreed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the various ]s that the existing royal style and titles of their shared monarch "hardly accorded with the altered state of affairs arising from the establishment of the Irish Free State as a Dominion".<ref>''Imperial Conference, 1926: Summary of Proceedings'' Cmd 2768, p. 15 (London: HMSO, 1926).</ref> The Conference concluded that the existing wording (]) be changed to:<ref>Cmd 2768, p. 16</ref> | |||
| ==Parliamentary title== | |||
| <blockquote>"George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"</blockquote><!--Note that the quote marks are in the original text.--> | |||
| The 1927 Act did not change the title of the United Kingdom explicitly. Rather, it did this by changing the title of the British Parliament. Section 2 of the Act changed Parliament's title from the ''Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland'' to the ''Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''. Historians generally retrospectively date the coming into being of the modern United Kingdom to December ], when the Irish Free State seceded, even though the formal change of title did not occur for another five years. Despite the change of name, the Act provided that there would be no change in the numbering of Parliaments. Thus the legislature then in session continued to be the Thirty-fourth Parliament, and its successors have been numbered accordingly. | |||
| Under the existing constitutional arrangements for the ], it was necessary for legislation to be passed by the ] in order for the royal style and titles to be altered; the resulting Act would then extend automatically to the law of the various Dominions. The British Government introduced the necessary ] into the ] in March 1927, and easily secured its passage through both Houses of Parliament. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act was passed following the ] of ] in which, under the shadow of the ], ] led a push among the ]s for a reinterpretation of the relationship between Britain and the dominions so that the latter would be equal to the former rather than subordinate. This required a change in the relationship between the Crown and its realms so that the dominions related to the crown independently and directly rather than as subjects of the ]. | |||
| ⚫ | ==Provisions of the Act== | ||
| The government of the ] put the changes introduced by the Act into immediate effect, assuming the right to select its own ], demanding a direct right of audience with the King, and beginning to accept the credentials of international ambassadors to the Irish state—something no other Dominion up until that time had done. | |||
| The Act contained three substantive provisions. | |||
| Firstly, the ] was authorised to issue a ] within six months of the Act's passing, authorising him to alter the royal style and titles.<ref>''Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927'', s. 1</ref> Following the precedent set by similar legislation in the past, the Act did not itself set out the form of the new style and titles that were to be adopted. | |||
| The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act was followed by the ] which granted Dominon parliaments the power to enact or amend almost any legislation they chose, and removed the right, in most circumstance, for the ] to legislate for the Dominions. | |||
| Secondly, the Act formally renamed the United Kingdom's parliament from "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".<ref>s. 2(1)</ref> | |||
| Most Dominions were slower than the Irish Free State to respond to the constitutional changes of 1927 and 1931 with moves to sever such ties with the United Kingdom, and many, when they did, were faced with determined, though ultimately futile, opposition from the ]'s government of the day. Many Dominions waited until the accession of ] in ] to codify their new autonomy into domestic law. | |||
| Finally, the Act established that the term "United Kingdom", when used in "every Act passed and public document issued after the passing of this Act", would mean Great Britain and Northern Ireland (unless the context required otherwise).<ref>s. 2(2)</ref> | |||
| In 1948 and 1953, further changes were made to the title of the monarch by British Acts of Parliament. However the law passed in 1953 was the first to apply only to the United Kingdom and its dependencies. In that year the practice was begun of using separate styles for each of the ] in which the monarch is ], the style in each case determined by the native parliament. | |||
| A royal proclamation was subsequently issued under the terms of the Act on 13 May 1927. The proclamation followed the recommendation of the Imperial Conference by altering the ] and ] forms of the existing royal style and titles, the former by replacing "Britanniarum" with "Magnae Britanniae, Hiberniae", and the latter by replacing "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of" with "Great Britain, Ireland and".<ref>royal proclamation dated 13 May 1927: ''The London Gazette'' (issue no. 33274) of 13 May 1927, p. 3111</ref> | |||
| In 1953 the Dominion governments agreed that the practice of separate titles should continue in the reign of the new ]. Each country adopted its own titles, and the British act of parliament clearly stated that it applied only to the United Kingdom and those overseas territories whose foreign relations were controlled by the UK government. | |||
| ==Subsequent developments== | |||
| Over the next quarter of the century the relationship between the various members of the Commonwealth continued to evolve. In particular, the outcome of the ] (and the resultant ]), the ] by the Irish state of its republican status and its consequent secession from the Commonwealth, and the request by ] that it remain a member of the Commonwealth despite adopting a ], all altered both the nature and composition of the Commonwealth. | |||
| The royal style and titles were altered in 1948, to reflect the independence of ] the previous year by omitting the title "Emperor of India". However, the accession of a new monarch (]) in 1952 was taken as an opportunity to completely alter both the form of the style and titles, and the manner in which they would be legislated for; henceforth, each ] would pass its own legislation establishing its own version of the style and titles. The resulting legislation for the United Kingdom and its dependencies was the ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{wikisource|Royal and Parliamentary Titles Proclamation 1927}} | {{wikisource|Royal and Parliamentary Titles Proclamation 1927}} | ||
| * |
*<br />(Full text of the 1927 Act and royal proclamation) | ||
| {{Commonwealth of Nations key documents}} | {{Commonwealth of Nations key documents}} | ||
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The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that authorised the alteration of the British monarch's royal style and titles, and altered the formal name of the British Parliament, in recognition of much of Ireland separating from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. It received the Royal Assent on 12 April 1927, and extended to the United Kingdom itself, the Dominions, and the rest of the British Empire.
The Act is also conventionally considered to have altered the formal name of the United Kingdom from "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", although this change was not explicitly made by the terms of the Act.
Background to the Act
As a result of the Irish War of Independence, most of Ireland was detached from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1922 as the Irish Free State. However, six north-eastern counties remained part of the UK as Northern Ireland.
At the 1926 Imperial Conference it was agreed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the various Dominions that the existing royal style and titles of their shared monarch "hardly accorded with the altered state of affairs arising from the establishment of the Irish Free State as a Dominion". The Conference concluded that the existing wording (established in 1901) be changed to:
"George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"
Under the existing constitutional arrangements for the Commonwealth, it was necessary for legislation to be passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in order for the royal style and titles to be altered; the resulting Act would then extend automatically to the law of the various Dominions. The British Government introduced the necessary bill into the British House of Commons in March 1927, and easily secured its passage through both Houses of Parliament.
Provisions of the Act
The Act contained three substantive provisions.
Firstly, the King was authorised to issue a royal proclamation within six months of the Act's passing, authorising him to alter the royal style and titles. Following the precedent set by similar legislation in the past, the Act did not itself set out the form of the new style and titles that were to be adopted.
Secondly, the Act formally renamed the United Kingdom's parliament from "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Finally, the Act established that the term "United Kingdom", when used in "every Act passed and public document issued after the passing of this Act", would mean Great Britain and Northern Ireland (unless the context required otherwise).
A royal proclamation was subsequently issued under the terms of the Act on 13 May 1927. The proclamation followed the recommendation of the Imperial Conference by altering the Latin and English forms of the existing royal style and titles, the former by replacing "Britanniarum" with "Magnae Britanniae, Hiberniae", and the latter by replacing "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of" with "Great Britain, Ireland and".
Subsequent developments
Over the next quarter of the century the relationship between the various members of the Commonwealth continued to evolve. In particular, the outcome of the 1930 Imperial Conference (and the resultant Statute of Westminster 1931), the formal declaration by the Irish state of its republican status and its consequent secession from the Commonwealth, and the request by India that it remain a member of the Commonwealth despite adopting a republican constitution, all altered both the nature and composition of the Commonwealth.
The royal style and titles were altered in 1948, to reflect the independence of India the previous year by omitting the title "Emperor of India". However, the accession of a new monarch (Elizabeth II) in 1952 was taken as an opportunity to completely alter both the form of the style and titles, and the manner in which they would be legislated for; henceforth, each Commonwealth realm would pass its own legislation establishing its own version of the style and titles. The resulting legislation for the United Kingdom and its dependencies was the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953.
References
- Imperial Conference, 1926: Summary of Proceedings Cmd 2768, p. 15 (London: HMSO, 1926).
- Cmd 2768, p. 16
- Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, s. 1
- s. 2(1)
- s. 2(2)
- royal proclamation dated 13 May 1927: The London Gazette (issue no. 33274) of 13 May 1927, p. 3111
See also
External links
- Royal Arms, Styles, and Titles of Great Britain: Documents
(Full text of the 1927 Act and royal proclamation)
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