Marriage Crisis of Charles III

In 1945, a constitutional crisis arose when Charles III,then a Prince of Wales proposed to marry the up-and-coming Jewish-American actress Lauren Bacall. Due to Bacall's commoner status and her religious faith, the proposal incurred a significant degree of controversy as it was extremely uncommon for a monarch of the United Kingdom to marry a commoner, let alone one of a non-Christian faith.

Despite the minority support from both King Edward VII and Queen Louise, a sizable amount of Parliament however opposed the measure, citing it as an "intrusion against national security and stability", in regards to the then ongoing insurgency in Mandatory Palestine, which had been perpetrated by Zionist militias seeking independence from the British. Initial attempts of a compromise which included a morganatic marriage, a divorce and later an alternative spouse were quickly shut down and refused by Charles himself. However under the new Labour government of Clement Attlee, support for the marriage decisively rose with Attlee's backing. Following an open declaration of support from the then Archbishop of Canterbury who argued that Charles's marriage does not contradict the teachings of the Church which specifically prohibited the King, as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England from marrying a divorcée in the case of their former spouses being alive, and the Royal Marriages Act 1772 which prohibited a member of the British royal family from marrying a Roman Catholic. A subsequent declaration by Charles himself which confirmed that all his descendants would be raised in the Anglican faith ultimately paved the approval for their marriage which occurred two years later.