English

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Noun

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heiress-presumptive (plural heiresses-presumptive)

  1. Alternative form of heiress presumptive.
    • 1949 autumn, J[ohn] A[rkas] Hawgood, “The British Constitution in 1948”, in Stephen King-Hall, Sydney D[awson] Bailey, editors, Parliamentary Affairs: The Journal of the Hansard Society, volume II, number 4, London: The Hansard Society, page 340:
      The terms of the Princess Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh’s Annuities Act (11th February, 1948) call for no special comment. The Act is of constitutional interest mainly because there was no recent precedent for such provision having to be made for an heiress-presumptive, and for her husband, upon their marriage.
    • 1954, George Hilton Jones, “[Revolutioners and Jacobites: Compounders and Non-Compounders (1688–1694)] The Revolution”, in The Main Stream of Jacobitism, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →LCCN, pages 4–5:
      The prospect of a Catholic heir was repugnant to the heiresses-presumptive, as well as to the populace, for religious reasons; for Mary and Anne were as devout in their religious views as James was in his.
    • 1971, Mary M. Luke, “A King and His Sisters”, in A Crown for Elizabeth, London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN, page 295:
      How long the King would linger, even the duke could not guess, but in view of the altered succession, physical possession of the two heiresses-presumptive was vital.
    • 1982, Robert E. Sullivan, “John Toland: A Portrait”, in John Toland and the Deist Controversy: A Study in Adaptations (Harvard Historical Studies; CI), Cambridge, Mass., London: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 22:
      Speakers of the House of Commons ranked only slightly below heiresses-presumptive in Toland’s list of proper recipients of flattery.
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