House law

House law or House laws (Hausgesetze) are rules that govern a or  in matters of eligibility for, membership in a , exercise of a , or entitlement to dynastic ,  and. Prevalent in European monarchies during the nineteenth century, few countries have house laws any longer, so that they are, as a category of law, of more historical than current significance.

Some dynasties have house laws, which then form a distinct section of the laws of the, e.g. ,  and, formerly, most of Germany's monarchies, as well as  and. Other monarchies had few laws regulating royal life. In still others, whatever laws existed were not gathered in any particular section of the nation's laws. In where many dynasties reigned as more or less independent sovereigns, laws governing dynastic rights constituted a distinct branch of jurisprudence called private princely law (Privatfürstenrecht).

Dynastic Traditions
In some cases, house laws are rules or s that are treated as if they have the force of law. In the an example of this might be considered the custom whereby a wife shares in her husband's hereditary titles and rank. While this is settled with respect to the wives of  and commoners, it is less clear when it comes to consorts of the king and princes. When, in 1923, became the first member of the British  to marry a non-princess in more than 300 years (with the sovereign's approval), so an announcement was apparently issued by  and carried in the  and, "It is officially announced that, in accordance with the settled general rule that a wife takes the status of her husband, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage has become Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York, with the status of a Princess".

This issue was re-visited by the British government in 1937 and 2005, when the marriages of a former and a future king to divorcées cast into doubt what titulature was appropriate for women who were to become, essentially, the private wives of royal princes. As can be gleaned from discussions at the time, popular certainty that "a woman is entitled to share her husband's status", has by no means been seen as absolutely clear by government experts and lawyers upon examining the matter.

Extraordinary Law
Where they have existed, dynastic house laws have often been extraordinary compared to other national laws. The house laws of the families of the Austrian and German emperors were not made public until after the fall of the monarchy in 1918. Luxembourg's grand duke has made modifications to his country's dynastic law that remain unknown to the public at present. Russia's house laws were applied -- or not -- at the Emperor's decision. Even today, the house laws of the dynasty that has exclusive right to succeed to the throne of may not be amended by either the  or  of the principality, and until the late 1990s the reigning Prince could not be dethroned except according to the house law -- which stipulated that ouster was only possible by a vote of his own family members.

Royal Marriages
Nearly all house laws have regulated dynasts' right to marry. established the house law of the, one of the strictest in. The of Russian dynasts had to be equally born (i.e., belong to royal or ruling house) and be approved by the.

While some German dynasties included in their laws language requiring or urging the monarch to consent to any "equal" marriage, some heads of dynastic houses rejected royal matches on behalf of their family members. The French pretender denied his daughter,, the opportunity to become Queen Consort of Britain by refusing her permission to convert to to marry. In the late 19th or early 20th centuries the monarchs of, Russia, and all withheld consent from members of their families to marry for love into foreign dynasties:  and  sought to marry a pair of sisters who were also British princesses,  and , choosing to  and endure (temporary)  rather than obey their sovereigns' commands.

Evolution of dynastic law
Dethroned European dynasties continued to enforce their house laws until after, even though they had no legal authority to do so. Some continued doing so through the 20th century. Governments in extant monarchies, without calling the legal mechanisms house laws, have generally strengthened their control over the marriages of members of their royal families since the second half of the 20th century. Previously a prince could often marry a woman not deemed acceptable as a royal consort, relegating her and their children to a sub-royal status. That is rarely an option anymore. In most an monarchies of today, a prince must renounce or membership in the royal family if his chosen spouse is not deemed suitable, e.g..