I13Consent of Sovereign required to certain Royal Marriages
1
A person who (when the person marries) is one of the 6 persons next in the line of succession to the Crown must obtain the consent of Her Majesty before marrying.
2
Where any such consent has been obtained, it must be—
a
signified under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom,
b
declared in Council, and
c
recorded in the books of the Privy Council.
3
The effect of a person's failure to comply with subsection (1) is that the person and the person's descendants from the marriage are disqualified from succeeding to the Crown.
4
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (which provides that, subject to certain exceptions, a descendant of King George II may marry only with the consent of the Sovereign) is repealed.
5
A void marriage under that Act is to be treated as never having been void if—
a
neither party to the marriage was one of the 6 persons next in the line of succession to the Crown at the time of the marriage,
b
no consent was sought under section 1 of that Act, or notice given under section 2 of that Act, in respect of the marriage,
c
in all the circumstances it was reasonable for the person concerned not to have been aware at the time of the marriage that the Act applied to it, and
d
no person acted, before the coming into force of this section, on the basis that the marriage was void.
6
Subsection (5) applies for all purposes except those relating to the succession to the Crown.