A new royal book has shed light on Queen Elizabeth's private views about one of the most significant constitutional shifts in modern royal history: the move to end male-preference primogeniture. Prior to 2013, if an heir to the throne welcomed a daughter as their first child but had a son next, the boy would have become the future monarch, and not his sister. While the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act ensured that daughters would no longer be overtaken by younger brothers in the line of succession, the late Queen is said to have not shown particular enthusiasm for the change.
According to Valentine Low's upcoming title, Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street, then-prime minister David Cameron set out to change the law when Prince William and Kate Middleton got married in 2011 and discussed the matter with Australia's prime minister at the time. "According to a government source, he said to Gillard: 'William and Kate are getting married, there’s going to be kids, shall we sort this out?'" the book claims (via the Telegraph).
