The 16 Commonwealth nations appealed to by Britain’s PM David Cameron, at a meeting presided over by the Queen in Perth, Australia, have agreed to change the rules of succession to the British throne.
“Centuries of British royal discrimination came to an end Friday after Commonwealth leaders agreed to drop rules that give sons precedence as heir to the throne and bar anyone in line for the crown from marrying a Roman Catholic,” reports Reuters.
The legislation must now be drawn up, so that the first born child of William and Kate, whether a girl or a boy, can succeed the throne.
At the meeting, PM Cameron said: “Attitudes have changed fundamentally over the centuries and some of the outdated rules — like some of the rules of succession — just don’t make sense to us any more,” Cameron told onlookers, as he announced the decision. “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.”
The outdated succession rules were put into place back in 1688 and 1700 to ensure a Protestant monarchy, and bar anyone in line to the throne from marrying a Catholic, says Reuters.
Watch the below video by the Telegraph:
Cameron: time has come to change rules of succession
