Editing Duke of Rothesay (section)

==Legal basis==
An Act of the [[Parliament of Scotland]] passed in 1469 governs the succession to most of these titles. It provides that "the first-born Prince of the King of Scots for ever" should hold the dukedom. If the firstborn Prince dies before the King, the title is not inherited by his heir – it is only for the firstborn son, like the [[Duke of Cornwall|Duchy of Cornwall]] – nor is either inherited by the deceased duke's next brother, unless that brother also becomes heir apparent. Though the Act specified "King", eldest sons of queens regnant subsequently also held the dukedom. The interpretation of the word ''Prince'', however, does not include women. Therefore, in the event of an [[Heir presumptive|heiress presumptive]] or heiress apparent (this being a distinct and even likely possibility in the future after the passage of the [[Succession to the Crown Act 2013]]), she cannot become Duchess of Rothesay. {{cn|date=April 2025}}

The eldest son of the British Sovereign, as Duke of Rothesay, had the right to vote in elections for [[List of Scottish representative peers|Scottish representative peer]]s from 1707. (The 1707 [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] between the Parliament of Scotland and [[Parliament of England]] formally unified both kingdoms to create the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]].) This right continued until 1963, when the [[UK Parliament]] abolished the election of representative peers.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}