The Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her Body was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

(4 & 5 Ann. c. 16.) in 1705. It followed the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, be ...

, whereby Dowager

Electress An Electress (, ) was the consort of a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, one of the Empire's greatest princes. The Golden Bull of 1356 established by Emperor Charles IV settled the number of Electors at seven. However, three of these were ...

Sophia of Hanover Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Gre ...

and her Protestant descendants were declared to be in the line of succession to the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...

(her son

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dol ...

later became king). Sophia, a granddaughter of

James VI of Scotland and I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

, was not considered to be an

Englishwoman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

as she had not been born in England. This Act

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

her and "the

issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...

of her body", provided they were not Catholic, as English subjects. Any person born to a descendant of Sophia could also claim to be the "issue of her body". In 1947, Prince Frederick of Prussia succeeded in a claim under the Act, having renounced his German citizenship. The Act was repealed by the

British Nationality Act 1948 The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on British nationality law which defined British nationality by creating the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" (CUKC) as the sole national ci ...

. However, any non-Catholic descendant of the Electress born before the repealing statute was enacted had already automatically acquired the status of a British subject, so there are still people alive who can claim British nationality under the Sophia Naturalization Act. This was first tested between 1955 and 1957 when Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover successfully claimed British nationality on this basis after considerable

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

. As he was born and was a Protestant while the Act was in force, the courts recognized that he had already acquired citizenship, which the repeal of the statute did not affect.

Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia ( sr, Александар Карађорђевић, Престолонаследник Југославије; born 17 July 1945 in London), is the head of the House of Karađorđević, the former royal ...

was also given British citizenship using the Sophia Naturalization Act.BBC News 18/07/2016
/ref> In the present time, however, most people likely to successfully claim citizenship in this manner would obtain the status of

British Overseas citizen A British Overseas citizen (BOC) is a holder of a residual class of British nationality, largely held by people connected with former British colonies who do not have close ties to the United Kingdom or its remaining overseas territories. I ...

. Hanover (Electress Sophia of)
(.pdf file) at gov.uk: ''Nationality instructions'': volume 2

References

External links

Image of the Act on the UK Parliamentary website
{{UK legislation 1705 in law 1705 in England Acts of the Parliament of England British nationality law Repealed English legislation Sophia of Hanover

See also

References

External links