Some alt. history from CTV...

From the following article:

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/20111013/royal-succession-rules-david-cameron-changes-111013/

Interestingly, it's the Act of Settlement that may have prevented Britain from forming an alliance with Germany's Second Reich just a few years before the Great War.

Wilhelm II of Germany, known as the Kaiser, was the grandson of Queen Victoria. Her eldest child -- Wilhelm's mother the Princess Royal -- was leapfrogged by her younger brother who went on to become Edward VII.

The Princess Royal later married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia at 17, and gave birth to her son Wilhelm who would go on to become the Kaiser.

If the Act of Settlement hadn't been in place, the Princess Royal wouldn't have been leapfrogged by her younger brother to the British throne.

She would have been queen, and as a result when she died in 1901 her oldest son would have succeeded her.

That was the Kaiser, who by that time was Emperor of Germany, and theoretically could have extended Germany's empire to include Great Britain.

A few years later in 1914 when the Great War broke out, Britain could have been allied with Germany.

How likely would it have been for Britain to have changed the Act of Settlement in time for Wilhelm to have been Emperor of Germany and Britain?

I think it could've been possible had imperialism taken a deeper hold and people were thinking: "We could combine TWO empires and just kick SO much ASS!" Not gonna lie, the idea is of an Anglo-German Imperial wank is pretty good...
 
Well first off the article is wrong about the Act of Settlement putting into law that younger brothers leap over their older sisters. That has essentially ALWAYS been the case, notable exception coming with Mathilda and Stephen.

The Act of Settlement excluded Catholics from the line of succession and those who marry Catholics. Male-preference succession has been going ever since the Conquest (and before if you want to extend the argument).
 
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As meries stated, CTV is wrong about the what issues the Act of Settlement covered and about the British succession rules in general. Sloppy journalism! I noticed two other sloppy statements in the article. One sentence begins: "Wilhelm II of Germany, known as the Kaiser," - they make it sound like Kaiser was his nickname, like Skip or Hal or Bud. The other was: "That was the Kaiser, who by that time was Emperor of Germany" - so by 1901 the Kaiser, whos given name was Wilhelm, was the emperor; great reporting.
 
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