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.

Prelude

In 1938, Charles III, then a Prince of Wales had voluntarily chose to move to the United States following the rampant wave of Germanophobia which had arose from the previous First World War which saw the British and German empires pitted against each other, with both nations being largely connected to Charles himself whose mother was a German princess while his father was a British monarch. With a group of approximately fifteen men including the prince himself, the royal entourage was able to enter the United States via Canada, all the while posing as a group of British middle-class men instead. Upon their arrival, the group promptly took residence in the state of New York where, with the appropriate amount of funds bequeathed to them were able to purchase a modestly-built estate in the Upstate New York region. At the same time, the prince chose to underwent a modestly successful acting career in Hollywood. While in the midst of doing so, Charles was introduced to a relatively young, nineteen-year-old actress Lauren Bacall. Prior to and after their first film together, the pair immediately fell in love and began developing an off-screen relationship which initially preceded in a secretive manner, though a number of members of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch had already been assigned following initial suspicions. Subsequent reports described the nature of Bacall and Charles's relationship as being "rather closeted, and exclusive from the general public". However, the pair did somewhat opened up to the public in 1944 when they briefly conversed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was seeking for a fourth term.

Crisis

When the pair appeared once more in public alongside the newly elected President Harry S. Truman in an exclusive Victory Day feast at the White House, their intimacy, combined with the then ongoing insurgency in Mandatory Palestine prompted Churchill to increase the amount of Special Branch agents secretly patrolling the pair's residence in New York. However, a shock announcement on July that year in which Charles wrote to his father of his intention of marrying Bacall in the vicinity threw the British government into uncertainty once more. While King Edward VII and Queen Louise chose not to oppose their son's decision out of fear of upsetting the latter, Parliament and the Dominion governments however were divided in their acceptance. As a result, supporters of the proposal, dubbed the Caroleans presented several points in their favour of the marriage:

• The marriage does not violate the teachings of the Church which had only forbidden such an union involving a divorcée whose partner is still alive.
• The marriage itself is in line with the Royal Marriages Act 1772 which forbids a member of the royal family from explicitly marrying a Catholic (where Bacall herself is of the Jewish faith), and that it required the explicit permission from the sovereign which Charles himself had already acquired.
• Bacall would be specifically prohibited from acquiring any new information regarding national affairs, out of fear of her alleged links with Zionist militias in Mandatory Palestine.

Arguments brought forward by detractors however consisted of several points which includes:

• The marriage between a Christian royal and a Jewish partner would desecrate the solely accepted practice in which a Christian monarch is expected to marry a Christian spouse instead, with Catholics being the exception in the United Kingdom's case.
• The presence of a high-ranking member in the British royal family who is of the Jewish faith, shared by the anti-British Zionist militias in Mandatory Palestine could risk extreme national security.

Alternative Options

While Parliament bitterly debated regarding the marriage proposal, Churchill however tasked his Foreign Secretary to send a group of government-assigned agents to New York itself, with the hopes of convincing the Prince of Wales of an alternative solution. These include:

• A separation between the pair with the alleged reason being that of 'irreconcilable differences'.
• A morganatic marriage where Bacall would instead be styled with a courtesy title rather than a royal title.

While the idea of a morganatic marriage was promptly dismissed due to it being interpreted as demeaning towards Bacall's pre-existing commoner status, Charles was then reportedly presented with a list of approximately ten names, all of which belonged to local British women who were generally of celebrated status which notably included that of famed Anglo-Irish socialite Aileen Plunket, the eldest daughter of Ernest Guinness, a distinguished member of the Guinness family and later, possibly due to age considerations, the likes of English socialites with nobility background such as Sarah Baring, whom had allegedly been the love interest of Charles's deceased brother and Lady Caroline Paget, respective descendants of the 6th Baron Grantley and 6th Marquess of Anglesey. Regardless, despite the initial traction in which the prince showed brief interest in Baring, the former ultimately refused the alternative options, prompting him to reportedly declare his love for his romantic interest and to subsequently expel the agents from his New York residence.

Aftermath

After the inconclusive attempt to persuade Charles into abandoning his lover, the royal pair drastically followed up in an unprecedented Commonwealth tour where they first specifically visited the countries whose prime ministers' approval for their marriage was deemed important before moving further onto the other countries as well. At the same time, Churchill's successor following his electoral defeat, Clement Attlee successfully organised a private meeting between the Prince of Wales and the then Archbishop of Canterbury who later professed the Church's support for the union, having declared, "Regardless of our personal discomfort towards the proposed union, it stands on no grounds that has so far warrant for its obstruction". They were married two years later in an exclusive Anglican ceremony attended by both American and British government officials, and several members of the British royal family.