二十世紀不列顛王室的婚姻與憲政關係

Abstract

二十世紀不列顛王室歷經一系列的轉變，此一轉變不僅體現於政治、經濟與軍事之中，更涉及王室成員的婚姻，使之成為影響憲政的關鍵因素。本文問題意識為：首先，王室婚姻在憲政脈絡下其發展為何？其次，婚姻與形象如何建構起王室與憲政的關係？因此，本文主要引用一手史料，諸如喬治時代的君王書信、內閣與國會之通信紀錄、王室成員傳記、畫報與報章與一系列重要法案來還原背景與討論相關課題。本文除緒論和結論外主要分為四章，並圍繞三大主軸探討不列顛王室婚姻與憲政關係。第一章為本文之背景介紹，主要論述1760年至1840年不列顛王室成員的婚事背景，與喬治三世頒布《王室婚姻法》的過程。及後在1820年喬治四世於「卡洛琳審判事件」，他的個人行為對王權與憲政造成危機。至維多利亞女王時期，她與亞爾伯特王夫需要面對一系列複雜的「婚姻—憲政」問題，女王得用君王權力才能避免亞爾伯特受到國會的排擠。第二章進入本文主軸，探討二十世紀兩喬治時代的婚姻典範。喬治五世與喬治六世的婚姻與愛德華八世的婚事形成鮮明對比，以及為女王伊莉莎白二世樹立了模範。第三章是本文第二主軸，本章以愛德華八世與辛普森夫人為軸，帶出愛德華八世的婚事對國內憲政，及以《西敏寺憲章》為基礎的國協而言造成負面影響。促使愛德華八世在兩股壓力下，於1936年12月在溫莎堡宣布退位。第四章是本文第三主軸，旨在探討菲利普親王進入不列顛王室、成為未來女王的丈夫後需要面對身分歸化問題，最後得由王室、政府共同解決。從中，我們也能窺探女王與菲利普因身分地位的差距所突顯的矛盾。除此之外，本章還原1953年加冕典禮中女王與菲利普親王的關係互換。透過更動典禮主席人選、電視轉播與臣服之禮，讓不列顛王室的傳統形象產生轉變。最後，結論延伸至二十世紀六十年代溫莎王室家族的三起婚事，分別是女王胞妹瑪格麗特公主、安妮長公主以及威爾斯親王查爾斯。他們各自的婚事發展將給我們全新的王室婚姻面貌，同時驗證王室婚姻之路並非坦途。

Monarchy, a mechanism of power around which a state is organized, has emerged as a way to understand in the Twentieth Century hitherto. This thesis has a deep origin that relates to two questions: firstly, how the royal marriage developed in the constitution system? Secondly, how marriage and image are built up the connection with the royal house and constitution. Following above questions, this thesis will focus on three specific topics: the apotheosis of Royal Marriage of “the Two Georgie’s Era of 20 Century”; the abdication of Edward VIII and the Royal Marriage of Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Phillip. This thesis is developed on base of solid primary resources, including letters and biographies of Georgian Monarchies; correspondences among Cabinet, Parliamentary and the monarchies; Acts that related to this issue and various newspapers of that period, especially the Illustrates of London News.\nThis thesis is arranged, excluding the introduction and conclusion, into four chapters. The first chapter focus on the royal marriage in Georgians and Victoria era. While George III had promulgated the Royal Marriage Act in 1772, his son, the future George IV, tried to make divorce to his wife, Queen Caroline. The adultery trial in this issue evoked the radicals who were unsatisfied of the corruption of the government, to fight against monarchism. Marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert also suffered opposition from the parliament, which forced the Queen to use her power in order to suppress the insult toward his husband. The following chapter discusses the George V and VI whose marriages were described as an apotheosis. Their marriages were the antithesis of the Edward VIII’s disaster marriage and also the model that Elizabeth II obeyed. Chapter three turns to the critical incidence of Edward VIII’s abdication. Edward VIII’s decision to married Wallis Simpson, a divorced woman, led to a constitutional crisis and forced Edward VIII to announced abdication in December 1936 to reduce the political calamity. The topic of the four chapter is Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He faced the problem of identity though he had announced naturalization to Britain. Therefore, by analyzing the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, this part will discuss Prince Philip’s problem and show how image of royal family transformed from 1950s till now.\nIn Conclusion, this thesis will dabble three royal marriages that related to Queen Elizabeth II in 1960s: princess Margaret, who is the queen’s sister, Anne, the princess royal and Charles, the Prince of Wales. Their marriages are now representing the new face of the royal marriages and one again prove that royal marriages are anything but royal road.