If you're a fan of the hit period drama Downton Abbey, you're well aware of the gender politics that present problems for the Crawley family and the heir of their estate. What you might not know is that a similar system is still in place today. However, that could end soon thanks to a bill proposed in the British Parliament.
According to The Telegraph on Dec. 29, the Equality (Titles) Bill, also called the 'Downton Law,' would allow dukes, earls, viscounts, and other similar title-holders to pass them down a female line.
For the uninitiated (and you're missing out if you are), Downton centers around the fictional Earl of Grantham and his family. The question of Downton's inheritance is a focal point beginning in the very first episode, in which we hear of the only two presumptive male heirs going down with the Titanic, leaving Grantham, who has three daughters and no son, without an heir.
A struggle to pass the title to the eldest daughter, Lady Mary, ensues while the family's not-too-well-known (and middle-class) cousin Matthew is named the new heir.
Enter the aptly-named and pop culture-inspired 'Downton Law.'
The bill had previously excluded baronets, but four families have successfully campaigned for the ability to confer the title of baronetess upon their female heirs and prevent the title, which has been around since the 12th century, from going extinct. Should the bill pass, England would join Scotland as the only two countries in the UK allowing baronetesses.
“I have been brought up believing that girls are equal to boys, often getting better grades at university," said 24-year-old Virginia Stuart Taylor, whose father, Sir Nicholas Stuart Taylor, was one of the baronets fighting to get his title added to the bill.
"Everything is equal and it seems kind of ridiculous that we are trying so hard to make it fair for women in other areas of life but not in this one,” she added.
Speaking of Downton, season four premieres on PBS this Sunday.
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