New Year’s Day has seen the Senate of Austenasia pass a resolution shortening the Line of Succession, in addition to Lord Wilson appointing his last annual consuls as Prime Minister.
The Senate is a body of experienced “elder statesmen” responsible for keeping the Monarch to account, and was given the power by Parliament in 2020 to approve changes to the Line of Succession.
The senatorial resolution, passed earlier today, has significantly shortened the number of people in the Line of Succession from twenty down to twelve.
It was considered that those removed – mostly paternal cousins of Emperor Jonathan I – were not only extremely unlikely to accept the Throne should they be offered it, but also would be difficult to contact at short notice.
In a situation whereby the Throne falls vacant and the Heir (for whatever reason) refuses it, each member of the Line of Succession is to be given the chance to accept the Throne in turn.
This resolution thereby removes the legal obligation for a future government to waste time tracking down relatives of the Imperial Family who would almost certainly refuse the Throne anyway, at a time when a swift and orderly transfer of power would be of paramount importance.
The resolution has also issued clarification on some confusing language in the Constitution, with the effect that the maternal relatives of the Emperor have now been placed before the Empress and her family in the Line of Succession. However, due to the Line having been so shortened, all remaining in it now hold higher positions than they did previously.
In other news, the outgoing Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson – who has confirmed he will not be running in next month’s general election, and also reigns as King in Gradonia – has appointed himself as one of this year’s two consuls, and kept in place one of 2023’s, Shiro Mephistopheles, as the second.
2024 will therefore be known as the year of the consulship of Villelmus Rex and Shiro Mephistopheles.
A Prime Minister appointing themselves as a consul is not unusual or irregular. Of the four previous Prime Ministers to have appointed consuls, three appointed themselves as one of the consuls for a year.