Recently declassified papers show that the late Donald Dewar consulted Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street about proposed reform, or even the scrapping, of the 1701 Act of Settlement.
Scotland’s initial First Minister after devolution, who died in 2000, is known to have supported the Scottish National Party’s calls for an end to the “prejudiced” act, which for more than 300 years has prevented Catholics ascending the throne or the reigning monarch marrying a Catholic.
But he was concerned that any precipitate change in the rules of succession could embarrass the Labour Government in London, which was trying to negotiate the peace process in Northern Ireland.
In 1999 during a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition in the Scottish Executive, Mr Dewar wrote to the Queen and to Tony Blair explaining his rejection of a “simplistic and hasty” approach to reform of the rules of succession.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was received into the Church after he left office, apparently agreed to address the question but took no action.
It was not until 2013 that the law was amended to allow members of the Royal Family to marry a Catholic without losing their place in the line of succession. However, the ban on a Catholic becoming monarch remains in place.
Critics of reform feared that a Catholic monarch would become Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which would represent an ipso facto end to its established status.
In his submission, Mr Dewar said: “We do not want needlessly to offend public opinion. By coming down firmly on one side or another we would risk alienating some group or groups. It is also worth pointing out that against the background of the delicate peace process in Northern Ireland, it would send entirely the wrong message to the Unionist community to suggest that the UK Government might be re-examining aspects of the Act of Settlement.”
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