The odds have just increased that in a couple of generations, Britain and its territories will be ruled by a woman rather than a man.
Girls Rule
The 16 nations of which Queen Elizabeth is monarch, including Britain, Canada and Australia, have agreed to scrap the rule that says boys take precedence in royal succession over girls, reports The Independent and other outlets.
In other words, if Prince William and Catherine Middleton have a girl first, and then a boy, the girl will rule and she won’t have to step aside for her younger brother, as has been the law for 300 years. From now on (the rule won’t be retroactive), order of birth will be the factor determining succession, not sex.
“The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man… this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron at the heads of government summit in Perth, Australia, where the 16 commonalities affected voted to change the law.
According to BBC News, The Queen didn’t directly address the succession change in her speech to the gathering, but she said that women should have a greater role in society as a whole: “It encourages us to find ways to show girls and women to play their full part.”
Previously, women could only ascend to the throne when there were no direct male heirs, which is how Britain ended up with its two longest-reigning monarchs: Queen Victoria (almost 64 years) and the current Queen Elizabeth II, who is coming up on her Diamond Jubilee.
While the law change won’t do much for women outside the monarchy, who will have to continue work their way to top rather than be born to it, it does send a powerful message: That girls are just as good as boys.
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