HAMISH MacPherson has written some informative and entertaining articles about the Jacobites over the past four weeks, but in response to his latest piece (What if Charlie had been happy with Scotland, The National, October 30) it is worth mentioning that the Prince might have been in a bit of a quandary trying to claim the throne of the United Kingdom and to end the Union of the Parliaments.
The United Kingdom and the United Parliament were both created by the Treat of Union in 1707. The Prince wouldn’t have been able to rid himself of the United Parliament without dissolving the Union, and if he did that there would be no throne of the United Kingdom for him to sit on.
Similarly, if he sat on the throne of the United Kingdom he would have been confronted by the United Parliament; not a pleasant experience as he would have quickly discovered.
Graham Townend
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