PC: British Elective Monarchy?

This could be completely Assbee but maybe there's a surprise POD someone knows of.

I was reading old threads about a British Republic and for some reason thought about Queen Amidala, so...

Is there any possible way for a British Elective Monarchy by the present day?

The children of monarchs would obviously be recognized (traditionally) as frontrunners or even shoe-ins. Perhaps the outgoing monarch would ask the King or Queen Elect to form a government on the day of inauguration/coronation?

Just spitballing. Trying to combine the limited monarchy of the UK with the Premiership in a way that is distinctly British (i.e. John Adams style ;) ).

Anyone got any ideas on how it's possible and what the effects would be? What would it look like?
 
Well, there was a succession crisis ever since Henry VIII was convinced that he needed a male heir. Then the Tudors eventually died out with Elizabeth I.

The Stuart dynasty was then deposed twice...the second time permanently.

Parliament sorta changed the rules so that William III was able to rule as King on his own right after Anne died.

So, have the Hanoverians not last long, get another series of succession crises, and eventually, you get Parliament to have ultimate say on who the next monarch would be.
 
Yes, have a Hanoverian King get out of line just a couple monarchs after the Glorious Revolution. Before long a custom gets set of parliament electing every monarch.
 
Harold Godwinson survives Hastings and continues to rule. Over time the Witan grows in power, and becomes a more decisive institution, not rubber stamping a previous King's choice of heir. Eventally England developed into a quasi-Republic with an elected king for life elected by the legislature.
 
Who exactly gets to vote? Everybody or the members of some body like the Witan. If it is the second does anyone know how the Witan members were chosen?
 
Who exactly gets to vote? Everybody or the members of some body like the Witan. If it is the second does anyone know how the Witan members were chosen?
There were the local nobility, the seven (?) earls of the realm, and the senior clergy. There were probably some others as well; I'm not sure just who.
 
Wonder how an elective monarchy would work between 1603-1707. Assuming the elective monarchy happens prior to the Act of Union, but after James I obviously.
 

Thande

Donor
Anglo-Saxon England had an elective system. ASB post-Norman conquest though. The whole strength of monarchy is that there's no uncertainty over the succession (when things work OK, anyway).

(There is the precedent of the Glorious Revolution that William and Mary became monarchs by assent of Parliament, and that after Anne the Catholics were skipped to bring George in by another act of same, but it's a bit of a leap from that to actually choosing between candidates a la Poland).
 
Why is it ASB that the monarchy could become elective after the Norman conquest?

I mean, I'm not saying its likely, but why can't it happen?
 
Hmmm, could we have some kind of protectorate/commonwealth thing whereby there's a permanent Regent who ends up becoming elected by Parliament?
 
There were the local nobility, the seven (?) earls of the realm, and the senior clergy. There were probably some others as well; I'm not sure just who.

I could see it expland to include all nobility in the Wittan, and a King simply has to have royal blood. Within a few centuries, a good percentage has the possibility of becoming King; by the modern Era? Almost everyone.
 

AndyC

Donor
Well, the succession seemed to be rather negotiable up until Edward Longshanks:

- Heir to William: His second son, William Rufus (given as William's "conquered lands" rather than inheritance).

- Heir to William Rufus: his younger brother, Henry (taken by force).

- Heir to Henry Beauclerk: Well, he tried to make it his daughter Matilda, but Stephen of Blois had other ideas (taken by force).

- Heir to Stephen of Blois: Matilda's son, Henry Curtmantle.
(Treaty of Wallingford; Stephen's surviving son disinherited for Henry)

- Heir to Henry II, originally Henry the Young King (crowned in Henry II's lifetime, pre-deceased him, then Richard the Lionheart, then debatable between Arthur and John (John cleared the debate by having Arthur killed)

- Heir to John Lackland - Henry III (despite Prince Louis of France crowning himself in London)

- Heir to Henry III - Edward Longshanks, who was so secure in his inheritance, he didn't bother going home for a year or two because he was busy.

I can see three potential points for an elective monarchy to become embedded in English law/custom:

Henry I. Issued a Coronation Charter which included rules on inheritance and cited the laws of Edward the Confessor as basic and fundamental. He was well aware of the need to "legimitimize" his family's rule and married into the line of Alfred of Wessex. I could also see him reacting to the death of his son and heir in the White Ship by issuing rules on succession, if Matilda hadn't been around. PODs: Either Issuing of the Coronation Charter (before the births of his children) or the death of Matilda before William Adelin.

John and Runnymede. Could Magna Carta have had a clause on royal succession, hearkening back to Anglo-Saxon practices? Stephen Langton explicitly used Henry's Coronation Charter as a precedent and model, after all. POD: Drafting of Magna Carta

Edward reissued the Magna Carta and was known for amending the laws. So he could easily have constructed an elective monarchy had he had a little more luck with his children surviving (his heir, Edward was either his 12th or 14th child).

On reflection, a TL could be constructed around Simon of Montfort forcing the issue as well - although with Heny III having such a strong heir, it would seem rather pointless. Had Edward II and his brother Edmund died in infancy (as did so many of Edward's own children), I could see such a provision being forced on Henry.
 
Henry VIII passed a law confirming the sucession after him (Edward, then Mary then Elizabeth).

If Kings followed this precident and had to pass a law thru Parliment for sucession to be recognised would lead to a debate in Parliment and the possibility of the elected representatives overturning the sucession.
 
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