France 24
July 17, 2013
Queen Elizabeth II gave her royal stamp of approval on Wednesday to a bill, passed the previous day by British lawmakers, legalising same-sex marriage in England and Wales and paving the way for the first gay weddings in 2014.
MPs decided not to oppose a number of minor amendments to the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill proposed by the upper House of Lords.
Britain has seen none of the mass protests over gay marriage held across the channel in France, which last weekend became the 14th country in the world to legalise it.
Some 54% of Britons are in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry, according to a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times.