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GIRLS EQUAL IN BRITISH THRONE SUCCESSION
ARMENPRESS
October 28, 2011
YEREVAN
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
will 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.
Announcing the changes had been agreed, 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."
Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was an extraordinary
moment: "I'm very enthusiastic about it. You would expect the first
Australian woman prime minister to be very enthusiastic about a change
which equals equality for women in a new area."
She said the changes appeared to be straightforward. "But just because
they seem straightforward to our modern minds doesn't mean that we
should underestimate their historical significance, changing as they
will for all time the way in which the monarchy works and changing
its history."
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."
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the lifting of the
ban but said it was "deeply disappointing" that Roman Catholics were
still unable to ascend to the throne.
"It surely would have been possible to find a mechanism which would
have protected the status of the Church of England without keeping
in place an unjustifiable barrier on the grounds of religion in terms
of the monarchy," he said.
"It is a missed opportunity not to ensure equality of all faiths when
it comes to the issue of who can be head of state."
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.
ARMENPRESS
October 28, 2011
YEREVAN
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
will 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.
Announcing the changes had been agreed, 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."
Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was an extraordinary
moment: "I'm very enthusiastic about it. You would expect the first
Australian woman prime minister to be very enthusiastic about a change
which equals equality for women in a new area."
She said the changes appeared to be straightforward. "But just because
they seem straightforward to our modern minds doesn't mean that we
should underestimate their historical significance, changing as they
will for all time the way in which the monarchy works and changing
its history."
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."
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the lifting of the
ban but said it was "deeply disappointing" that Roman Catholics were
still unable to ascend to the throne.
"It surely would have been possible to find a mechanism which would
have protected the status of the Church of England without keeping
in place an unjustifiable barrier on the grounds of religion in terms
of the monarchy," he said.
"It is a missed opportunity not to ensure equality of all faiths when
it comes to the issue of who can be head of state."
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.