Peerage titles cannot be withdrawn except by Act of Parliament, but during the First World War many members of the German Royal family held British titles and fought against the British. In 1917 Parliament passed The Titles Deprivation Act, which allowed the King to establish a committee of the Privy Council. The committee was empowered to take evidence and report the names of British peers who served in an enemy military force, or rendered assistance to or voluntarily resided in an enemy nation. The report would then be laid before both Houses of Parliament. If neither House passed a motion disapproving of the report within forty days, it was to be submitted to the King, whereupon the persons named therein would lose their titles.
The committee reported their findings to the King in August 1918 and on March 28th 1919 the King issued an Order-in-Council depriving the following of their titles: Duke of Albany (Queen Victoria’s grandson), Duke of Cumberland, Duke of Brunswick, and Viscount Taaffe.
The successor of a person thus deprived of a peerage is allowed to petition the Crown for its restoration; the petition is to be referred to a committee of the Privy Council, which may recommend whether the petitioner be reinstated or not. To date, no descendant of the persons who were deprived of their titles has petitioned the Crown for the restoration of their title.
Members of the House of Lords should be subject to the same procedures as members of the House of Commons regarding expulsion from the House.
At present there is no procedure in place for such disciplinary proceedings to take place. This is wrong.
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