Important news for gay aristocrats

The British Parliament will soon pass legislation to let the first child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, whether it's a member of the fairer sex or a girl, to ascend to the crest of the monarchy heap.

Now Labour MP Paul Flynn is gathering support for an amendment that will extend the protection to include the eventuality that the child is gay or lesbian... [Read more at Pink News.]

Modern watercolor of Richard I by Mark Satchwill

Left: Mostly homosexual Richard I, aka Richard the Lionhearted aka Duke of Normandy aka Duke of Aquitaine aka Duke of Gascony aka Lord of Cyprus aka Count of Anjou aka Count of Maine aka Count of Nantes aka Overlord of Brittany.
     The 6'5" strawberry blond overachiever had his own army at 16 and his homosexual affairs were good naturedly mocked by trouba­dours (This was before the reinterpretation of the Sin of Sodom was popularized by the killjoy wing of the Roman Catholic Church.)
      When captured on a Crusade, England had to pay so much to get him out of hock that the phrase "A King's Ransom" was born.

Tomb of Richard I

     The only son Richard acknow­ledged, Philip of Cognac (snort!), was illegitimate.
     From Wikipedia:
Steven Runciman's final verdict of Richard I: "he was a bad son, a bad husband, and a bad king, but a gallant and splendid soldier."  ...Stubbs, on the other hand, thought him "a bad son, a bad husband, a selfish ruler, and a vicious man".
     Though born in Oxford, he spoke no English. During his ten years' reign, he was in England for no more than six months, and was totally absent for the last five years.

17th Century portrait
of Richard the Lion Hearted

     Richard produced no legitimate heirs and acknowledged only one illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac. As a result, he was succeeded by his brother John as King of England. However, his French territories initially rejected John as a successor, preferring his nephew Arthur of Brittany, the son of their late brother Geoffrey, whose claim was by modern standards better than John's. Significantly, the lack of any direct heirs from Richard was the first step in the dissolution of the Angevin Empire. While Kings of England continued to press claims to properties on the continent, they would never again command the territories Richard I inherited.