The Queen gave her approval to the Bill – one of the most radical pieces of social legislation of her reign – this afternoon.
It opens the way for the first legally recognised same-sex weddings to take place in England and Wales by next summer and brings the centuries-old understanding of marriage as being solely between a man and a woman to an end.
Many MPs took to Twitter to say they were "delighted" with the news. Mike Weatherley, Tory MP for Hove and Portslade, said it had been "completely at odds with an open and democratic society to exclude gay couples from the important institution of marriage". Read on and comment » | Rowena Mason, and John Bingham | Wednesday, July 17, 2013
