Prince William And Kate Middleton To Face A ‘Heartbreaking’ Challenge During Their Kids’ Marriage

Parenting is tough. But royal parenting is a whole new level altogether. Aside from protecting their tots from constant public scrutiny, Prince William and Kate Middleton have another “heartbreaking” challenge to tackle — the future effect that Succession to the Crown Act 2013 will have on their children.

The Act will put the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in a tough spot when their kids are old enough to marry as their children will be the first generation to be affected by it. The Act puts forth a rather “heartbreaking” demand: only heirs who are sixth in line to the throne have to ask Queen Elizabeth II’s permission to marry.

The rule is being perceived as unfair. “If we put in place a rule which says that the monarch can and must give consent to the marrying of the six persons nearest in line to the throne, imagine a scenario where a monarch has three children, who each have two or three children,” said Christopher Pincher, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom.

“The monarch will soon be in the invidious position where grandchild number four, who is fifth-in-line to the throne, must seek the consent of the monarch to marry, but grandchild number six, who is seventh-in-line to the throne, need not seek that consent. That is not fair,” he added.

So, in a way, the rule means that Prince William and Kate would have different rules when their kids would wish to marry. Since William has three children at present, he would have to wade through a rather “heart-breaking” dilemma — granting permission to marry to some of Princess Charlotte’s children but not all.

Furthermore, Princess Charlotte would require her father’s permission to marry, but the rule exempts Prince Louis from the protocol. Going by the family tree, Prince George currently stands third in the line of succession, followed by Princess Charlotte and then Prince Louis.

If William and Kate decide to have more children and their children would have their own children, the Cambridges “would fall either side of the number six requirement,” reported Express.