During Friday’s Commonwealth of Nations summit in Perth, Australia, it was unanimously agreed to give girls equal rights to the British throne. This changes centuries where boys were given preference over their sisters.
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This ruling means that when William and Catherine have a first born daughter, she’ll be the next heir to the monarchy, even if she has a younger brother.
At the same time, monarchs can marry those of the Roman Catholic faith, though they must remain members of the Church of England.
The succession changes are only for Prince Charles’ descendants, however. That means if his nieces, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie marry Catholics, they’ll lose their chance for the throne.
Prime Minister David Cameron hailed this historic move.
“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,” he said.
With this agreement, the procedure to pass this law shall begin. In addition, the United Kingdom becomes the latest European monarchy to allow equal primogeniture. Earlier this year, Luxembourg joined the list. The other countries are Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
The countries that still have male preference are Spain, Monaco and Liechtenstein.
Source: CNN
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