ROYAL CUSTOMS and LAWS

Monarchy has distinct laws and rules unusually heard by the people outside Europe. In Britain, for example, there are several customs and laws which governed their existence.

LAWS:

Royal Marriages Act of 1772 requires all descendants of King George III to seek the ruling sovereign's permission before they could proceed in marriage, the sovereign's approval must be declared in the council first before the wedding ceremony. Those who would not seek permission or would not be permitted by the monarch to marry will be excluded in the line of succession and their marriage in Britain is null and void and any children born from that marriage will be considered illegitimate. 

Act of Settlements is a statutory law in Britain which stated that only the protestant descendants of Princess Sophia, the Electress of Hanover (granddaughter of King James I) could inherit the British throne and all her descendants regardless of the country of birth will be automatically acquire a British citizenship. This law was established in 18th century in order to prevent the Catholic descendants of King James II from succeeding the throne. 

The Treason Act of 1351 was a bizarre law punishable by death before the 17th century, anyone who betrayed the crown either by revolt or by behavior was charged with this act. This law  prohibits an adultery of the wife of a King to insure legitimate heirs. Two of King Henry VIII's six wives and their supposed lovers were beheaded for committing adultery - Anne Boleyn his second wife and mother of Queen Elizabeth I and Anne's first cousin, Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife. This law was abolished during the reign of the Stuarts.

CUSTOMS: 

Before 1940 there was a unique royal custom in European monarchy which requires the presence of a Home Secretary and Ceremonial Secretary at the delivery room of a royal whose children are in direct succession to the throne, A Home Secretary and Ceremonial Secretary must witness the delivery to  record the legality of birth of all royal children who might succeed, if it's not properly witnessed that birth might be questioned and the child's right to the throne might not be recognized.

Monarchs and heirs never shared the same transportation facilities when traveling to avoid the scenario where all of them might die and the throne will be left to the unprepared successor. When taking tour abroad, royals always have one suitcase for mourning in case a family member at home will die during the royal trip. When the heir to the throne is traveling outside the country, he/she has one suitcase for documents of Accession Declaration in case the monarch will die before the heir can return home.

This case happened in February 1952 when then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were both in Kenya. Several days after they left, King George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham estate. Princess Elizabeth's private secretary took the documents and declared the new Queen's accession in a private room of the hotel. Elizabeth was the first monarch, after King George I in 18th century, who was not in Britain during the declaration of accession.