London, England, May 2, 2008 / 00:16 am
A woman engaged to a member of the British royal family has renounced her Catholic faith to maintain her fiancée’s position in the line of succession.
The Times Online reports that Autumn Kelly, 31, was received into the Church of England. She is to be married to Peter Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest grandson, on May 17.
British monarchs and their heirs are barred from becoming or marrying Catholics according to the 1701 Act of Settlement. Phillips, who is currently eleventh in line to the throne, would have had to renounce his claim had she not converted.
Kelly was reportedly advised for several months before deciding to convert. “She was not asked to do this; she did it of her own accord,” a source told the Daily Telegraph.