Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/241

Ch. 4. prince of Wales, or heir apparent to the crown, and alo his royal conort, and the princes royal, or eldet daughter of the king, are likewie peculiarly regarded by the laws. For, by tatute 25 Edw. III, to compas or conpire the death of the former, or to violate the chatity of either of the latter, are as much high treaon, as to conpire the death of the king, or violate the chatity of the queen. And this upon the ame reaon, as was before given; becaue the prince of Wales is next in ucceion to the crown, and to violate his wife might taint the blood royal with batardy: and the eldet daughter of the king is alo alone inheritable to the crown, in failure of iue male, and therefore more repected by the laws than any of her younger iters; inomuch that upon this, united with other (feodal) principles, while our military tenures were in force, the king might levy an aid for marrying his eldet daughter, and her only. The heir apparent to the crown is uually made prince of Wales and earl of Cheter, by pecial creation, and invetiture; but, being the king’s eldet on, he is by inheritance duke of Cornwall, without any new creation. younger ons and daughters of the king, who are not in the immediate line of ucceion, are little farther regarded by the laws, than to give them precedence before all peers and public officers as well eccleiatical as temporal. This is done by the tatute 31 Hen. VIII. c. 10. which enacts that no peron, except the king’s children, hall prefume to it or have place at the ide of the cloth of etate in the parliament chamber; and that certain great officers therein named hall have precedence above all dukes, except only uch as hall happen to be the king’s on, brother, uncle, nephew (which ir Edward Coke explains to ignify grandon or ) or brother’s or iter’s on. But under the decription of the king’s children his grandons are held to be included, without having recoure to ir Edward Coke’s inter- Rh