Queen Elizabeth Welcomes First Great Grandchild

Queen Elizabeth II became a great grandmother on December 30th when a daughter was born to her eldest grandchild, Peter Phillips. The baby, whose name has yet to be released, was born at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and weighed a healthy 8 pounds 8 ounces.

Mother from Montreal
The birth of the Queen's great granddaughter caused a bit of a stir in our household, because the child's mother is a native of Montreal. Autumn Phillips (nee Kelly) was raised in the West Island of Montreal, where I myself grew up. She was baptized at St. John Fisher Church in Pointe Claire, a landmark very familiar to me from my days as a volunteer at a YMCA special recreation program that met in the church hall weekly. Kelly met her husband in Montreal in 2003, when they were both involved in work related to Formula One racing.

Royal Baby Born a Commoner
Peter Phillips is the son of the Princess Royal, and was the first royal baby in 500 years to be born a commoner. He carries no royal titles or styles, and has no royal duties. Princess Anne carries no hereditary titles, and she refused Queen Elizabeth's offers to create titles for her children that would allow them to be born into the peerage. She and her husband preferred to keep their children out of the limelight. Because Peter Phillips has no titles, his wife and children also bear none.

British Law Bars Catholics from Succession
Phillips is currently eleventh in line to the throne, making his new daughter twelfth in the line of British succession. His marriage to a woman who was raised Catholic brought attention to British succession rules that remove any Catholic or anyone who marries a Catholic from the line of succession. There had been discussion of whether Phillips would renounce succession. The question was resolved when his bride converted, becoming a member of the Church of England.

Female Issue Treated as 'Last Resort' in British Succession
There have been calls in recent years to revamp the succession law, which dates back to 1701. Margaret Fitzherbert favours changes to the law that would see both male and female issue treated the same, and that would life the ban on Catholics ruling or marrying a ruling British monarch. Queen Elizabeth herself has provided ample evidence that a woman can rule just as well as a man, and should not be seen as the choice of last resort, she says.

Both former Tory minister John Gummer and Labour peer Lord Dubs have attempted to introduce new succession laws for the British monarchy. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, also believes it is time for a change. "Whether a person be fortieth or second in line to the throne, it is wrong that they be deprived of that right because they have fallen in love and chosen to marry a Roman Catholic," he said. Even the Prince of Wales himself is quoted as saying, "I really can't think why we can't have Catholics on the throne."

Although critics of revamped British succession laws are wont to suggest little change would be achieved now if new rules were established to determine the Queen's successors, this could all change were Prince William's first child to be a daughter. "In overturning hundreds of years of primogeniture, the Queen would give to her grandson a powerful sign that he is set to be a modern monarch," writes a hopeful Fitzherbert. Prince William is set to marry his fiancée Kate Middleton in April 2011.

Sources:
"1977: Princess Anne gives birth to Master Phillips." BBC News

Margaret Fitzherbert, "Overhaul overdue for succession to the British throne." Sydney Morning Herald

"Peter Phillips." Royal Family History

Jonathan Petre, "Peter Phillips may renounce succession." Daily Telegraph

"We are a great grandmother: Queen 'delighted' after Peter Phillips' wife has a baby girl." Daily Mail