First Daughters Of Future UK Monarchs Can Inherit Throne

If Prince William and Kate had a daughter first, she would take precedence over younger brothers

Sons and daughters of any future UK monarch will have equal right to the throne, after Commonwealth leaders agreed to change succession laws.

The leaders of the 16 Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state unanimously approved the changes at a summit in Perth, Australia.

It means a first-born daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would take precedence over younger brothers.

The ban on the monarch being married to a Roman Catholic was also lifted.

Under the old succession laws, dating back more than 300 years, the heir to the throne is the first-born son of the monarch. Only when there are no sons, as in the case of the Queen's father George VI, does the crown pass to the eldest daughter.

The succession changes will require a raft of historic legislation to be amended, including Britain's 1701 Act of Settlement, the 1689 Bill of Rights and the Royal Marriages Act 1772.

The change to the Royal Marriages Act will end a position where every descendant of George II is legally required to seek the consent of the monarch before marrying.

In future, the requirement is expected to be limited to a small number of the sovereign's close relatives.

Announcing the succession changes, Prime Minister David Cameron said they would apply to descendents of the Prince of Wales. They will not be applied retrospectively.

'Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen,' he said.

'The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic - this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become.'

But the campaign group Republic - which wants an elected head of state in Britain - said 'nothing of substance' had been changed.

'The monarchy discriminates against every man, woman and child who isn't born into the Windsor family. To suggest that this has anything to do with equality is utterly absurd,' spokesman Graham Smith said.

On scrapping the ban on future monarchs marrying Roman Catholics, Mr Cameron said: 'Let me be clear, the monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is the head of that Church. But it is simply wrong they should be denied the chance to marry a Catholic if they wish to do so. After all, they are already quite free to marry someone of any other faith.'

Queen's speech
In her opening speech to the summit, the Queen did not directly mention the royal succession laws, but said women should have a greater role in society.

'It encourages us to find ways to show girls and women to play their full part,' she said.

The BBC's royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, said this was a hint that the Queen herself backed the change.

The Queen will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee next year and there are already two generations of kings-in-waiting - Prince Charles and his son Prince William.

In January 2011, Labour MP Keith Vaz tabled a Succession to the Crown Bill in the Commons to end gender discrimination in the succession to the throne.

He said his bill - due for its second reading on 25 November - could be used to introduce the reforms announced in Perth.

'As a society that values gender equality so highly, this is a long overdue,' he said. 'We will now have modern laws that fit our modern monarchy.' - BBC