Michael Nash reflects on the changes to succession rules
The decision, in principle, in Australia last week, to approve changes in the royal succession rules, has come none too soon. Alone of the major European monarchies (of which there are eight) discrimination in gender has remained in the UK. The question of religious discrimination has also been addressed, but the requirement that the sovereign belongs to a specific church is not exclusive to the UK. This is an even more complex and sensitive issue, which will take longer to unravel.
Pragmatic notions
Primogeniture, the inheritance of the first-born son, to the exclusion of his elder sisters, only arrived in the English monarchy in the 13th century. Previously there had been an elective element, together with the pragmatic notion that some right to succeed might belong to the most suitable, and certainly, the most available candidate.
The right of women to succeed to the Crown only became a real consideration in 1553, when the next 11 people in succession were all women. Should these 11 be leap-frogged in favour of the nearest male candidate? Those
