This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-15488237
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Queen opens summit with royal succession on agenda | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
The Queen has said women should have a greater role in society, as she opened a Commonwealth summit which will discuss the law on royal succession. | |
Countries with the Queen as monarch have to decide whether they want sons and daughters of any future UK monarch to have equal right to the throne. | |
The Queen's speech in Perth, Australia, did not mention the issue but did highlight equality as a key issue. | |
Prime Minister David Cameron said he would be backing the change. | |
Under the current 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. | |
Arriving in Perth, the prime minister said the marriage of Prince William this year meant the issue could not be deferred any longer. | |
"I think the time has come to change the rules so that if the royal couple have a girl rather than a boy then that little girl would be our queen," he said. | |
Royal hint | |
In her comments to the summit on female equality, the Queen said: "It encourages us to find ways to show girls and women to play their full part." | |
The BBC's royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, said this was a hint that the Queen herself backed the change. | |
The laws of succession are not a matter for the 54-nation Commonwealth as a whole, only for the 16 countries which have the Queen as their head of state. | |
The royal author Robert Hardman says there have been 11 attempts in recent years by individual MPs and peers to change the law. | |
Lord Archer tried with a private member's bill in 1997. He says the Queen indicated then that she backed change. | |
"Thirteen years ago when I put the bill to the House of Lords, she `let it be known` that she did not disapprove of the idea," he said. | |
"I just thought it would be farcical that if William and Kate have three girls in a row and then a boy, the boy leapfrogs over all three girls and becomes king." | |
The summit - which represents some 2bn people around the globe - will also discuss economic growth, climate change and human rights. | |
Most Commonwealth leaders are attending the two-day gathering. | Most Commonwealth leaders are attending the two-day gathering. |
However, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pulled out without giving a reason, according to the AFP news agency. | However, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pulled out without giving a reason, according to the AFP news agency. |
'Becoming irrelevant' | 'Becoming irrelevant' |
Thousands of police have been deployed on the streets around the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre ahead of the summit in the western Australian city. | Thousands of police have been deployed on the streets around the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre ahead of the summit in the western Australian city. |
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) are held every two years, and present an opportunity for developed and developing nations with current or former ties to Britain to discuss a range of issues. | The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) are held every two years, and present an opportunity for developed and developing nations with current or former ties to Britain to discuss a range of issues. |
But already other a number of divisive subjects have come up at this year's gathering, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Perth reports. | But already other a number of divisive subjects have come up at this year's gathering, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Perth reports. |
They include the human rights record of Sri Lanka - which is due to host the next summit - and moves to get rid of laws in some member states which discriminate against gay men and lesbians, our correspondent says. | They include the human rights record of Sri Lanka - which is due to host the next summit - and moves to get rid of laws in some member states which discriminate against gay men and lesbians, our correspondent says. |
And the leaders will discuss a 200-page report on reforms to the Commonwealth itself, including the appointment of a commissioner for human rights. | And the leaders will discuss a 200-page report on reforms to the Commonwealth itself, including the appointment of a commissioner for human rights. |
The report says the organisation is in danger of becoming irrelevant, unless it becomes more visible on the world stage and more pro-active in global affairs. | The report says the organisation is in danger of becoming irrelevant, unless it becomes more visible on the world stage and more pro-active in global affairs. |