Prince William is said to have played a key part in modernising the monarchy’s approach to the royal line of succession, with royal author Russell Myers claiming that he "did not wish to take chances". Before the birth of Prince George, all royal women would be supplanted in the succession by younger brothers.
This is why Princess Anne is 18th in line, despite being Queen Elizabeth’s second child. There had been attempts to change things before and Myers suggests in William & Catherine that William "raised the issue" himself before he got married.
