III. A third attribute of the king’s majeſty is his perpetuity. The law aſcribes to him, in his political capacity, an abſolute immortality. The king never dies. Henry, Edward, or George may die; but the king ſurvives them all. For immediately upon the deceaſe of the reigning prince in his natural capacity, his kingſhip or imperial dignity, by act of law, without any interregnum or interval, is veſted at once in his heir; who is, eo inſtanti, king to all intents and purpoſes. And ſo tender is the law of ſuppoſing even a poſſibility of his death, that his natural diſſolution is generally called his demiſe; dimiſſio regis, vel coronae: an expreſſion which ſignifies merely a transfer of property; for, as is obſerved in Plowden[1], when we ſay the demiſe of the crown, we mean only that in conſequence of the diſunion of the king’s body natural from his body politic, the kingdom is transferred or demiſed to his ſucceſſor; and ſo the royal dignity remains perpetual. Thus too, when Edward the fourth, in the tenth year of his reign, was driven from his throne for a few months by the houſe of Lancaſter, this temporary transfer of his dignity was denominated his demiſe; and all proceſs was held to be diſcontinued, as upon a natural death of the king[2].
- ↑ Plowd. 177. 234.
- ↑ M. 49 Hen. VI. pl. 1–8.
of twenty three. Edward V, at the age of thirteen, was recommended by his father to the care of the duke of Gloceſter; who was declared protector by the privy council. The ſtatutes 25 Hen. VIII. c. 12. and 28 Hen. VIII. c. 7. provided, that the ſucceſſor, if a male and under eighteen, or if a female and under ſixteen, ſhould be till ſuch age in the governance of his or her natural mother, (if approved by the king) and ſuch other counſellors as his majeſty ſhould by will or otherwiſe appoint: and he accordingly appointed his ſixteen executors to have the government of his ſon, Edward VI, and the kingdom; which executors elected the earl of Hertford protector. The ſtatute 24 Geo. II. c. 24. in caſe the crown ſhould deſcend to any of the children of Frederick late prince of Wales under the age of eighteen, appoints the princeſs dowager;—and that of 5 Geo. III. c. 27. in caſe of a like deſcent to any of his preſent majeſty's children, empowers the king to name either the queen, the princeſs dowager, or any deſcendant of king George II reſiding in this kingdom;—to be guardian and regent, till the ſucceſſor attains ſuch age, aſſiſted by a council of regency: the powers of them all being expreſsly defined and ſet down in the ſeveral acts.
