Scots could be given a vote on whether to keep the monarchy in an independent Scotland, Humza Yousaf has said.
The First Minister was in Glasgow today to launch his government's latest policy paper on how independence would work.
The SNP leader argued that ending the Union would allow Scots the opportunity to create a written constitution which would then be ratified by a referendum.
But Yousaf was tight-lipped on how his party would first achieve independence given the UK Government's repeated refusal to grant an IndyRef2.
SNP members will meet in Dundee on Saturday to debate their party's strategy on achieving its central aim - with the First Minister saying he would set out his preferred option then.
Yousaf claimed today that a written constitution would "embody a set of longer-term, more fundamental values about what a country is for" and set out a "common understanding of a nation’s priorities".
If Scots backed independence in the future, a constitutional convention would be called to draw-up a list of the principles on which the country should be governed.
But it would only be implemented if a majority voted in favour of it.
Asked if such a referendum could effectively be a vote on whether to keep the monarchy, Yousaf said: "Hypothetically.
"I'm not going to pre-judge what a constitutional convention will say or what it will do.
"But it could look at, and probably should look at, whether we have the right model in relation to a head of state into the future."
The Scottish Government paper on independence is the fourth to be produced in the last 12 months.
In a section titled "structure of the state", the document states an "interim constitution" would take effect before a final version has been drafted.
It adds: "The head of state in an independent Scotland would continue to be His Majesty King Charles III, so long as the people of Scotland desired it.
"The personal union of the Scottish and English crowns has been in place since 1603, when Scotland and England were independent states."
Yousaf also made clear the Scottish Government would want a new constitution for the country to rule out Scotland being a home for nuclear weapons.
Such a document could “protect the right to take industrial action” for workers and could also set out “provisions on the right to adequate housing, the right of communities to own land, or our right as citizens to access healthcare which is free at the point of need”.
He went on to state: “In the Scottish Government’s view, it should also include provisions stating very clearly and explicitly that Scotland will not host nuclear weapons.”
But opposition parties dismissed the latest paper on independence and claimed Yousaf should be focused on tackling the cost of living.
Donald Cameron, Scottish Conservatives constitution spokesman, said: "This was the height of self-indulgence from Humza Yousaf.
"The SNP leader and First Minister confirmed he really is Nicola Sturgeon’s continuity candidate by dusting down her old independence playbook.
"The SNP are so obsessed with their push for independence that they are now pressing for not just one divisive referendum but two to take place if they ever get their way.
"He knows that the obsession with breaking up the United Kingdom is the only issue that can keep the warring factions in his party together.
"Humza Yousaf has a total brass neck saying the cost-of-living is the number one issue for him, when he is happy to spend taxpayers’ money publishing yet another paper in relation to independence and trying to waste parliamentary time on it next week."
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