Not for same sex spouses – but Royals! From the Beeb:
On Monday, law experts said royals could not have English civil marriages and would have to wed in Scotland. But the lord chancellor insists the marriage, set to take place at Windsor Guildhall on 8 April, is legal…On Monday Sir Nicholas Lyell, a former attorney general, suggested emergency legislation may be needed to clarify the legal position before the wedding. He said he felt “disquiet” about the government’s advice to the Queen. “I don’t think she has been given enough advice,” he told the BBC Radio 4’s PM programme. Sir Nicholas believes the 1949 Marriage Act, which updated the law on civil marriages in England, excluded the Royal Family. He said this would leave them subject to historic laws requiring marriage in church.
I have little interest in the Royals but wish these two well as individuals. Sad to see, however, that they are perhaps not equal before the law. Time to liberate them from such privileges.