The Emergence of the United Kingdom and the Consolidation of Parliamentary Preeminence
When Mary and William died without leaving heirs, the throne passed to James II’s other daughter, Anne (1702-1714), who was also a Protestant. During her reign the union between England and Scotland was fortified, giving rise to the United Kingdom with the “Acts of Union”.[546] It was at this point when the Union Jack flag appeared, representing the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland.[547]
From the standpoint of public law the momentous development in British constitutional history was that Anne I (1702-1707), accepted the legislative preeminence of the Parliament of Westminster.
Following the custom established by her sister and predecessor, Mary II, she never opposed a law passed by both houses, thereby establishing a precedent and custom which has since been respected by all the kings of England—even though it has never been placed in writing. She did not, however, accept the principle of Parliamentary government. As Gregg (2001, 403) points out, Queen Anne was fully conscious of the fact that she was a constitutional monarch and, therefore, never attempted to challenge the supremacy of Parliament or of statute law. At the same time, she jealously guarded the prerogatives of the Crown and interpreted the constitution as she saw fit. This is why she personally attended Cabinet meetings (Somerset 2012, 216) and always refused to concede that majorities in both houses of Parliament gave either a party an inherent right to dominate the executive councils of government. All this would change, however, under Anne’s successors: the Hanover dynasty.11.6