MPs cheered in the House of Commons as it was announced that royal assent had been given to the new Bill, paving the way for the first same-sex weddings next spring.
The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, gave her formal approval to the Bill – one of the most radical pieces of social legislation of her reign – this afternoon.
But it marks the end of the centuries-old understanding of marriage as being solely between a man and a woman in the UK.
The Roman Catholic Church described it as a “watershed” in English law and said that it marked a “profound social change”.
Ben Summerskill chief executive of Stonewall, said the move would “bring joy to tens of thousands of gay couples and their friends and families.”



The EU is exploring emergency interventions to its maritime trade restrictions, moving to temporarily freeze the...
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the Security Council of Russia and the country’s former president, cautioned...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent diplomatic push into Central Asia yielded high-minded rhetoric but few substantive...
Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza has raised no money into its official World Bank fund...





























