The First Act of Succession

The First Act of Succession was a combination of the laws and rules that governed who could and who could not inherit the throne of Wessex. Establish during the reign of Henry I of Wessex, it was originally called the Succession of the Crown Act or the '''Act of Succession. '''It was both apporved by the National Council and the King's Privy Council.

The Act itself is not too restrictive, in the sense that its main stipulation is that: This means that only the male descendants of Henry I's are considered in line for the succession to the crown, currently this includes The Duke of Lancaster and The Duke of Chelsea, neither have yet produced male-offspring.
 * Only the legitimate male-line descendants of King Henry I belonging to the House of Carnarvon are entitled to have rights to the Throne of Wessex. No children born in the female-line are recognized as having claims to the throne.

The First Act of Succession is the current Act which dictates those individuals intitled to have rights to the throne of Thebes.

The Enfield Declaration
By the time King Edmund I was an adult, the only individuals who had rights to the throne of Wessex were his two older cousins, The Duke of Chelsea and Lord Richard Carnarvon. Both were married and both had failed to produce a living male heir. Edmund himself had only one child with his wife, the young Princess Mary Carnarvon of Wessex. In order to ensure a smooth succession Edmund I needed to find a way to ensure that the throne passed to a legitimate descendant of the House of Carnarvon.

The Enfield Declaration was anaggrement reached by King Edmund I and his nobles that placed the future of the succession and rights to the throne to the natural male heirs of Princess Mary Carnarvon of Wessex. The agreement was created by Sir Timothy Scott, The Baron of Andover; the King's chief advisor.

The Declaration was met with discontent, as many felt that it was _ The Earl of Medford waged a war hoping to claim the throne for himself.

When The Duke of Chelsea found out that his mistress was expecting a child, there was some hope that the child would be the promised male heir. The Duke even thought about divorcing his own wife, to ensure the child legitimacy. The birth of his daughter, Diane Hastings crushed any hope of continuing the House of Carnarvon, and thus the Enfield Declaration stood unposed.

The First Act of Succession was succeeded by The Second Act of Succession, which led to the eventual succession of Sir Henry Beaufort, The Duke of Harrington.