Titulus Regius

Titulus Regius

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	Under which title all the reasons and allegations divised to prove the King to be true and undoubted heir to the crown, are set forth at large, and the same allowed, ratified; and enacted by the lords and commons; and his brothers children made bastards.
Citation	1 Ric. 3
Dates
Royal assent	20 February 1484
Commencement	23 January 1484
Repealed	7 November 1485
Status: Repealed

Titulus Regius ("royal title" in Latin) is a statute of the Parliament of England issued in 1484 by which the title of King of England was given to Richard III.

The act ratified the declaration of the Lords and the members of the House of Commons a year earlier that the marriage of Edward IV of England to Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid and so their children, including Edward, Richard and Elizabeth, were illegitimate and thus debarred from the throne. Richard III had been proclaimed the rightful king. Since the Lords and the Commons had not been officially convened as a parliament, doubts had arisen as to its validity and so when Parliament convened, it enacted the declaration as a law.

After the death and overthrow of Richard III, the act was repealed, which had the effect of reinstating the legitimacy of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville's children.