Royal Marriages Act

The Royal Marriages Act was passed in 1722 as a response to the secret marriage of Henry, Duke of Cumberland. It secured that no royal family member under the age of 25 was able to get married . The formal consent of the sorveign was needed for the nuptials. Without any agreement of the monarch , the marriage would be declared as void . The act is still in use and created problems for George IV, who secretly married Mrs Fitzherbert at the age of 23 , and for Princess Margaret, who wanted to marry the divorced Peter Townsend.

Cannon, John and Anne Hargreaves. The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford UP.2001.

Cannon, John. A Dictionary of British History. Oxford UP. 2001