[Passed 5-1, Royal Assent: December 20th, 2016]
An ACT for the regulation of the composition, degrees, and heritability of the Peerage of the Kingdom of Scone.
BE IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords and Burgesses in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
I. THE SHORT TITLE
This Act may be cited for all purposes as “The Peerages Act 2016.”
II. THE COMPOSITION OF THE PEERAGE
A. The Peerage of the Kingdom of Scone is understood and declared to be comprised of all those lawful subjects of His Majesty in right of his Kingdom of Scone, his heirs, and successors, who have been, by means of Letters Patent of His Majesty, raised to the dignity of the Peerage by any titles whatsoever according to the recognized degrees thereof, and the lawful heirs and descendants of the same according to the prescriptions herein.
B. The degrees of Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron, in descending order of precedence from Duke to Baron, are herewith declared to be recognizable as the male degrees of the Sconnish Peerage, whereas the ranks of Duchess, Marchioness, Countess, Viscountess, and Baroness, in descending order of precedence from Duchess to Baroness, are herewith declared to be recognizable as the female degrees of the Sconnish Peerage. No other degrees are declared to be recognizable as degrees of the Sconnish Peerage.
III. THE DETERMINATION OF PRECEDENCE WITHIN THE PEERAGE
A. Precedence within the Peerage is determinable within a degree by seniority, and within the Peerage, generally, first by degree, and then by seniority within a degree.
B. Seniority within a degree of the Peerage is determinable by the antiquity of the titles thereto, such that the bearer of the most antique title within a degree shall rank foremost in precedence, and he (or she) with the newest shall rank hindmost.
C. An exception to the above is made in the case of Royal Peers, that is to say Princes of the Kingdom of Scone who are Peers, who are understood and declared to rank in precedence ahead of all other Peers, both generally and within their degree.
D. The Peer (or Peeress) most senior within his (or her) degree shall be regarded the Dean of the Peers of his (or her) degree, with the style “Premier.”
IV. THE HERITABILITY OF TITLES OF THE PEERAGE
A. The heritability of a title of the Sconnish Peerage, irrespective of the degree with which it is associated, is determinable by the language of the remainder of the Letters Patent by which it was created, to wit:
1. A title of the Peerage which, according to the language of the remainder, is inheritable by male heirs of the body lawfully begotten is inheritable by no other means.
2. A title of the Peerage which, according to the language of the remainder of the Letters Patent by which it was created, is inheritable by the title possessor’s heirs “whatsoever,” is inheritable by any lawful subject of His Majesty, his heirs and successors, whatsoever, irrespective of sex, who has been designated for the inheritance of the same by name in a will written and signed by the bearer of the title, which has received the public sanction of the Sovereign by way of the publication of some recognizable instrument of the Royal Will bearing His Majesty’s Privy Seal and sign manual.
3. A title of the Peerage which, according to the language of the remainder of the Letters Patent by which it was created, is granted to the possessor thereof “for life,” commonly known as a “Life Peerage,” is in no wise inheritable by any heir or assign of the possessor thereof.
4. A title of the Peerage inheritable by male heirs of the body lawfully begotten, or by heirs “whatsoever,” is inheritable upon the demise of the possessor thereof, or upon the renunciation of the title by the possessor thereof who is, at the time of his renunciation of the title, a lawful Sconnish subject.
V. THE ABEYANCE AND EXTINCTION OF TITLES OF THE PEERAGE
A. A title of the Peerage inheritable by male heirs of the body lawfully begotten shall become abeyant upon the demise of the possessor thereof, or upon his renunciation of the same, in the event that he shall have no lawful male heirs of his body, but only female descendants, unless and until a male heir is born of one of his female descendants, or of one of their descendants. In such a case, the first born male descendant of any of the possessor’s female descendants shall inherit the possessor’s title upon his birth, and the same shall cease to be abeyant.
B. A title of the Peerage inheritable by male heirs of the body lawfully begotten, or inheritable by heirs “whatsoever,” shall become extinct in the event that an inheritor thereof shall fail to publicly acknowledge his Sconnish citizenship (if he has not already done so) by means of subscription to the Affirmation of Loyalty to the Sovereign within one year to the date of his inheritance of the same, and at that very moment; or if he is a minor, his title shall become extinct in the event that he shall fail in respect of the aforesaid after one year to the date of reaching the age of 18, and at that very moment.
C. A title of the Peerage inheritable by male heirs of the body lawfully begotten, or by heirs “whatsoever,” shall become extinct upon the declared renunciation, by any means whatsoever, of the possessor’s Sconnish citizenship, and at that very moment.
D. A title of the Peerage inheritable by heirs “whatsoever” shall become extinct upon the demise of the possessor thereof in the event that no heir has been designated by him according to the prescriptions of Article III, Section A, 2, and at that very moment; or in the event that the assignment of an heir has not been, at the moment of the demise of the possessor thereof, publicly sanctioned by the Sovereign according to the method indicated above in Article III, Section A, 2.
VI. COMMENCEMENT
This legislation and all the provisions therein shall come into force upon receiving the Royal Assent.
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