Despite this treaty, concern about the reaction to the marriage and to Victoria Eugénie's conversion among Protestants was accommodated by the British government's decision that King Edward need not grant official consent to the marriage in his Privy Council, despite the fact that his niece was a British subject. Although the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 requires that descendants of King George II obtain the British sovereign's prior permission to marry by Order in Council, an exception exists for descendants of royal daughters who marry "into foreign families". Although the naturalisation of Victoria Eugénie's father in the United Kingdom had been initiated in Parliament a week prior to his marriage to Princess Beatrice, the nuptials were completed before the naturalisation, thus the Government was able to take the position that Victoria Eugénie was not bound by the Royal Marriages Act, and therefore the British king had legal authority neither to authorise nor forbid her marriage.