A Catholic British Royal Family?
The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper has reported that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is committed to ending the country’s current royal ban on Catholics.
Brown said today he will address the “anomaly,” first enshrined in the 1701 Act of Settlement, that legally banned Catholics from marrying into the British royal family.
According to the Guardian, Brown has opened discussions about reforming the law with Buckingham Palace, which “is said to be open to dialogue.”
“There are clearly issues about the exclusion of people from the rights of succession, and there are clearly issues that have got to be dealt with,” Brown said in an interview with the BBC, timed to coincide with a debate on a private member’s bill on the issue today, the Guardian reported.
According to the Guardian, a poll conducted for the BBC showed 81% of British residents support a change allowing the heir to the throne to marry a Catholic.
