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 England, great council of Lords Spi ...
(
4 & 5 Ann. c. 16) in 1705. It followed the
Act of Settlement 1701, whereby Dowager
Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants were declared to be in the line of succession to the
throne (her son
George I later became king).
Sophia, a granddaughter of
James VI of Scotland and I of England, was not considered to be an
Englishwoman as she had not been born in England. This Act
naturalized her and "the
issue 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The Act was repealed by the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. 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 one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...
.
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 (; born 17 July 1945), is the head of the Karađorđević dynasty, House of Karađorđević, the former royal house of the defunct Kingdom of Yugoslavia and its predecessor the Kingdom of Serbia. Alexander ...
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.[ Hanover (Electress Sophia of)]
(.pdf file) at gov.uk: ''Nationality instructions'': volume 2
See also
* (at Note 2)
*History of British nationality law
This article concerns the history of British nationality law.
Early English and British nationality law
British nationality law has its origins in England in the Middle Ages, medieval England. There has always been a distinction in English ...
References
External links
Image of the Act on the UK Parliamentary website
{{British nationality law
1705 in law
1700s in British law
1705 in England
Acts of the Parliament of England 1705
British nationality law
Repealed English legislation
Sophia of Hanover