London: Britain plans to discuss the "outdated" royal succession law that prevents Roman Catholics from ascending to the throne at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting that opens in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.
In a boost to the campaign to scrap the 300-year-old law, which prevents Roman Catholics ascending to the throne, Prime Minister Gordon Brown told MPs the Act of Settlement was outdated.
"I think most people recognise the need for change." Brown has made it clear he will raise the controversial issue with fellow heads of government as he seeks to also change the rule of primogeniture, which prevents women taking their place ahead of men in the line to the throne.
"Most people recognise the need for change. Change can only be brought about by not just the UK but all realms where Her Majesty is Queen making a decision to change," Brown said.
"That is why it’s important to discuss this with all members of the Commonwealth including countries such as Australia and Canada," he was quoted as saying by the Daily
Telegraph today.
Even as Brown plans to raise the abolition of "outdated" laws that ban Catholics from marrying into the royal family, the Buckingham Palace is thought to have an open mind about the possible changes, the report said.
According to reports, Prime Minister Brown had opened discussions with Buckingham Palace about two reforms: ending the ban on Catholics marrying into the royal family and amending the primogeniture rules to allow older sisters to take precedence over the first-born son of a monarch.
The reforms can only be introduced by amending legislation in Britain and in Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state.
Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP, had introduced a private member's bill earlier to lift the ban. "All parties in the House had agreed that discrimination against princesses and Catholic spouses is not justified, and that the language in the Act of Settlement is offensive," he said.
Tom Watson, a former minister, said the "Prime Minister is absolutely right to look at this historic anomaly". "You cannot have, in the 21st century, institutionalised prejudice against the millions of Roman Catholics in the UK," he underlined.
It is not yet clear whether any change in the law would be retrospective. Prince Michael of Kent, a first cousin of the Queen and grandson of King George V, removed himself from the line of succession in the 1970s to marry an Austrian Catholic.
PTI