Abdication

Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one) is the act of renouncing and resigning from a formal office, especially from the supreme office of state. (Although in Roman law the term was applied to the disowning of a family member, as the disinheriting of a son.) A similar term for an elected or appointed official is resignation.

The British Crown

Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom in 1936, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the royal family and the Church of England. (See Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII.) This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country.

Related Topics:
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom - Wallis Simpson - Commonwealth - Church of England - Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII - Richard II of England

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When James II of England, after throwing the Great Seal of the Realm into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in Parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition.

Related Topics:
James II of England - Great Seal of the Realm - Thames - France - Jesuits - Scottish parliament - Forfeiture - Deposition

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Because the title to the Crown depends upon statute, particularly the Act of Settlement 1701, a Royal Abdication can only be effected by an Act of Parliament. To give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed.

Related Topics:
Statute - Act of Settlement 1701 - Act of Parliament - Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

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