Demise of the Crown
"Demise" in this sense is not referring to the monarch's death, but to the automatic transfer of the monarchy to the heir, by operation of law: A THIRD attribute of the king's majesty is his perpetuity.
For immediately upon the decease of the reigning prince in his natural capacity, his kingship or imperial dignity, by act of law, without any interregnum or interval, is vested at once in his heir, who is, eo instanti, king to all intents and purposes.
[2][3]The historical effects of the demise of the Crown were the result of the personal nature of the monarch as head of government in the medieval period.
[4]: 705–706 The first reform to this aspect of the demise of the Crown was a statute enacted immediately after the accession of Edward VI, after the lengthy reign of his father, Henry VIII.
A rival claimant to the Crown was no farther off than St. Germains [near Paris], and at this critical time the Privy Council would be dissolved, all the great offices of State would be vacant, and every commission in the Army would have lapsed.
[6]: 279 In response to this situation, the English Parliament enacted laws to preserve royal officials in office, notwithstanding the demise of the Crown.
It provided that upon the death of King William, office-holders would continue in office for six months, unless the new monarch, Queen Anne, chose to dismiss them.
That act confirmed that office-holders stayed in office for six months, provided they swore oaths of allegiance to Anne.
[9] In 1707, the new British Parliament passed the Succession to the Crown Act 1707, confirming that the Privy Council could continue to function upon a demise.
If the Stuart pretender tried to seize power when a monarch died, there would be no parliament at the moment of extreme political crisis.
Instead, the 1867 Act provided that an existing Parliament continues to the end of its normal term, unaffected by the monarch's death.
[14][15] The last time the British Parliament legislated for the Empire as a whole in relation to the demise of the Crown was upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.
While Parliament is required to meet upon a demise, there is no legal compulsion on members of the House of Commons to retake their oaths in mid-Parliament.
Although the concept of the demise of the Crown evolved in the context of the death of the monarch, it was also used in the case of the Abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.
The British Parliament passed a statute, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, which declared that immediately on Edward granting royal assent, he would cease to be king and "...there shall be a demise of the Crown, and accordingly the member of the Royal Family then next in succession to the Throne shall succeed thereto and to all the rights, privileges, and dignities thereunto belonging.".
Upon the Crown's demise, in the United Kingdom, a meeting of the Accession Council is held at St James's Palace in London in order to give directions for the proclamation of the new monarch.
The proclamation takes place in London at St James's Palace, Charing Cross, within the City Boundary at Temple Bar, and the Royal Exchange.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1985, if the demise of the Crown occurs during a general election, the vote is postponed by fourteen days.
Since most of the eastern colonies were established during the long reign of George III from 1760, the effect of the demise of the Crown was not felt until his death in 1820.
In Lower Canada, one of the shortest parliaments in Canadian history was cut short by the demise of the Crown: the 10th Parliament of Lower Canada sat for only 13 days, from its opening on April 11, 1820, to its dissolution on April 24, when the news arrived of George III's death.
