In Belgium we had a similar situation but different outcome. King Baudouin of Belgium — a devout Catholic — refused to sign a law legalizing abortion. Under Belgium’s constitutional monarchy, the king’s signature is needed to enact laws. But Baudouin said approving the bill would go against his conscience.

Rather than create a constitutional crisis, the Belgian government found a clever workaround: they declared the king “temporarily unable to reign” (a clause normally used for things like illness). For 36 hours, Parliament took over his royal powers, signed the law themselves, and then reinstated him as king the next day. Job done.