 The English Parliament had already found a solution to this by passing the Act of Settlement, which named Sophia, Electress of Hanover, the next-senior Protestant descendant of James I (VI of Scotland), as heiress after Anne.The Estates of Scotland had made no such provision, so there was no heir to the Scottish throne.In 1703 the Estates passed a Bill reserving to themselves the right to choose the monarch from among the Protestant descendants of the Kings of Scots in the event of Anne's death without issue, but stating that this would "not" be the same person as succeeded to the English throne unless the independence of Scotland as a separate Kingdom could be assured.