Royal assent

formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

15 dated entries naming Royal assent, drawn from 13 separate years between 1411 CE and 1982 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Royal Assent in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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15th century

1411December 19 – Royal assent is given by King Henry IV to many of the acts passed by the English Parliament, including the Riot Act 1411, which provides that "The justices of peace and the sheriffs shall arrest those which commit any riot... and inquire of them, and record their offences.source
1432July 17 – The English Parliament closes its session at Westminster. Royal assent is given in the King's name to the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 ("Certain things required in him who shall be a chooser of the knights of the parliament"), the Appearance of Plaintiffs Act (setting "the penalty of him that maketh a false entry, that the plaintiff doth offer himself in person, where his doth not") and the Exportation Act ("All wools and woolfells that shall be carried to any other place than to Calais, shall be forfeited to the King and the finder.")source

16th century

1544March 29 – Royal assent is given by King Henry VIII to laws passed by the English Parliament, including the Third Succession Act, the amended Treason Act and the King's Style Act.source

18th century

1708March 11 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain, withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.source
170811 March – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.source
1719November 2 – the Toleration Act ("For exempting the Protestant Dissenters of this kingdom from certain penalties to which they are now subject"), passed by the Parliament of Ireland, receives Royal Assent.source
1751May 27 (May 13 Old Style) – Adoption of the Gregorian calendar: Royal assent is given to An Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use (the "Calendar Act") passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, introducing the Gregorian Calendar, correcting the eleven-day difference between Old Style and New Style dates and making 1 January legally New Year's Day from 1752 in the British Empire. It is largely promoted by George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield.source
1787April 25 – The Customs and Excise Act 1787 receives Royal assent. It replaced all customs duties, which included poundage, by a system where individual tariffs would be applied to importations.source

19th century

1823July 4 – Royal assent is given to several significant Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, after the Home Secretary (and future Prime Minister) Robert Peel had worked to get approval by Parliament. Approved are the Judgment of Death Act 1823, effectively abolishing the death penalty for over 100 offences and; allowing judges to commute sentences for capital offences (other than murder or treason) to imprisonment or transportation.; the Transportation Act allowing convicts transported to the colonies to be employed on public works. On July 10, the Gaols Act 1823 is given assent, beginning the process of prison reform based on the campaign of Elizabeth Fry.source
18616 August – Criminal Law Consolidation Acts (drafted by Charles Sprengel Greaves) granted Royal Assent, generally coming into effect on 1 November. The death penalty is limited to murder, embezzlement, piracy, high treason and to acts of arson perpetrated upon docks or ammunition depots; the age of consent is codified as twelve. The Home Secretary takes over the power to reprieve or commute sentences from the judiciary and Privy Council.source

20th century

191418 September - Welsh Church Act, disestablishing the Church in Wales, receives Royal Assent, but simultaneously with the Suspensory Act which delays its coming into effect.source
1920August 13 – Irish War of Independence: The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom) receives Royal Assent, providing for Irish Republican Army activists to be tried by court-martial, rather than by jury in criminal courts.source
1920December 23 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, receives Royal Assent from George V, providing for the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, with separate parliaments, granting a measure of home rule.source
1936December 11 – Edward VIII abdication crisis: The British Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 on behalf of the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving Royal Assent to the Act, and his brother Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, reigning as King George VI. The former King, now HRH Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate, and leaves the country for Austria.source
1982March 29 – Royal Assent is given to the Canada Act 1982, setting the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution on April 17.source