SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WILL NO LONGER PREVENT THE HEIRS FROM ACCESSING THE THRONE

 

NETHERLANDS: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WILL NO LONGER PREVENT HEIRS FROM ACCESSING THE THRONE

The Netherlands now officially allows heirs to the Dutch crown to marry a person of the same sex without having to relinquish the throne.

Twenty years after becoming the first state in the world to allow marriage for all, the Netherlands heralds a new step forward in terms of equality and tolerance. "The government judges that Princess Amalia would not have to give up the throne, in the event that she wishes to marry a woman," Dutch public television NOS reported on its website, quoted by Courrier International.

Several Social Democrats and liberal right-wing MPs questioned Prime Minister Mark Rutte on October 12, to ensure that in the future a future king or queen of the Netherlands does not have to give up his title because of his homosexuality.

style="font-family: verdana;">Although Princess Amalia, 17, the current eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, has never spoken about her private life, MPs wanted to question the government after the publication of a book by the specialist on the issue. royal family Peter Rehwinkel, dedicated to the Crown Princess.

AN OLD DISCUSSION RE-SURFACE

In his book, the author reported on a discussion with former Prime Minister Wim Kok. “In 2000, in response to a question from the Parliament of the day, he felt that [the marriage of the heir to the throne to a person of the same sex] posed [a] problem with the inheritance of the monarchy.”

Wim Kok then added that such a scenario would inevitably involve relinquishing the title of queen or king. "The essence of the hereditary monarchy is at stake because it is determined in advance that a child cannot be born from such a marriage", declared, at the time, the Secretary of State for Justice Job Cohen, cited again by Courrier International.

Mark Rutte would consider that, in the case of a marriage between the heir (e) to the throne and a person of the same sex, it will be necessary to be able to define "of who are the children", in other words who of the pretender to the throne or of his spouse is their biological parent.