AVI v MHVB, 2021 ABQB 12

Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Citation: AVI v MHVB, 2021 ABQB 12 Date: 20210106 Docket: FL03 55142 Registry: Edmonton Between: AVI Applicant and MHVB Respondent and Jacqueline Robinson, a.k.a. Jacquie Phoenix Third Party and Unauthorized Alleged Representative _______________________________________________________ Supplemental Memorandum of Decision of the Honourable Mr. Justice Robert A. Graesser _______________________________________________________ I. Introduction

[ 1 ] In AVI v MHVB , 2020 ABQB 790 , I dealt briefly with the claim that James II was the last King of England to swear a proper coronation oath. I was unsure, but tied that argument to the Stone of Scone and its use during coronation ceremonies. I have since been corrected by a colleague who advised me that this claim is more likely tied to the Glorious Revolution between 1688 and 1689, the Bill of Rights of 1689 and the Act of Settlement in 1701. II. History [ 2 ] Following Charles II’s death in 1685, his son James II succeeded him to the thrones of England and Scotland.

As James II was a devout Roman Catholic, Protestant England feared that he would try to return the country to Catholicism. That fear accelerated when James II’s attempted to restore state Catholicism. Hence the Glorious Revolution marked by William of Orange’s invasion of England, James II’s overthrow, the Bill of Rights , and the Act of Succession .

These in turn recognized James II’s Protestant eldest legitimate daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange (James II’s nephew and a Protestant) as King William III and Mary II. [ 3 ] The Bill of Rights established or reinforced limits on the powers of the monarch and inviting William and Mary to be monarchs. The line of succession was established. The planned line was thwarted when William and Mary did not have children, and Mary’s sister Anne’s only child died.

The Act of Succession in 1701 established that if William III had no children, Anne would succeed him, and then since she was childless, succession would pass on her death to her closest cousin, the Elector Sophia of the German House of Hanover. The Stuart line ended with Anne I. By the time of her death, Elector Sophia had also died so that the Crown fell to George I. The Hanover line reigns today (with the name change to Windsor during WW I). [ 4 ] James II was exiled to France. Many people, especially Scots, opposed James’ overthrow and sought to restore him to the throne.

His followers became known as the Jacobites. When James II died, his son James (William and Anne’s brother) became heir to the throne according to the Jacobites. He was nicknamed the “Old Pretender”. James’ son Charles (Bonnie Prince Charlie, the “Young Pretender”) led a failed Jacobite revolt in 1745, remained exiled in France, and died childless. Charles’ brother Henry, then a Catholic priest, was the last of the Stuarts. He too was childless, and had renounced any claim to the English throne. [ 5 ] It is thus likely that the English throne would have passed to the House of Hanover in any event. III.

Conclusion [ 6 ] I recite this history here, as I suspect that the next conspiracy theory to pop up will be the revival of the Jacobites and their claims that James II was wrongly deposed and that the Bill of Rights and Act of Succession were unlawful, rendering all English Monarchs since then illegitimate. Again, as Canadians ( AVI v MHVB , 2020 ABQB 489 at paras 97-101 ), all this is perhaps interesting in a historical sense, but is utterly irrelevant to the domestic constitutional order. Dated at the City of Edmonton, Alberta this 6 th day of January, 2021. Robert A. Graesser J.C.Q.B.A. Appearances: None.