View source for Royal Marriages Act

The Royal Marriages Act was passed in 1722 as a response to the secret marriage of Henry, Duke of Cumberland. It secured that no royal family member under the age of 25 was able to get married without the formal consent of the sovereign. Without any agreement of the monarch, the marriage would be declared void. The act is still in use and created problems for [[George IV]], who secretly married Mrs Fitzherbert at the age of 23, and for [[Princess Margaret]], who wanted to marry the divorced Peter Townsend.

Sources:

Cannon, John and Anne Hargreaves. ''The Kings and Queens of Britain''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001.

Cannon, John. ''A Dictionary of British History''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001.