This Report examines Government proposals to amend the rules of succession to the throne, in particular to end the system of male preference primogeniture under which a younger son comes before an elder daughter in the line of succession, and to remove the legal provision that anyone who marries a Roman Catholic becomes ineligible to succeed to the Crown. We welcome the changes, which aim to remove two elements of discrimination in determining the succession to the throne, while maintaining its traditional hereditary character.
We also draw attention to connected issues that may be raised when the proposals are debated, depending on the scope of the Bill, especially the future role of the Crown in the Church of England, and the continued ineligibility of women to succeed to the majority of hereditary peerages, which remains a matter of public interest for as long as it has an impact on gender balance in the House of Lords.
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