|PIC1|Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Buckingham Palace have been engaged in discussions over abolishing the Act of Settlement and ending the ban on a monarch marrying a Catholic.

The discussions also considered changing the rules of succession so that women have equal rights to succession. A change to the current law, which ensures that men are always the next in line for succession, would see Princess Anne jump from tenth in line for the throne to fourth, putting her ahead of the Duke of York.

MPs in the Commons are set to debate the issue for the first time today in connection to a Private Members Bill laid down by Lib Dem MP, Dr Evan Harris, that proposes abolishing the Act of Settlement and the “uniquely discriminatory” rules of succession.

Mr Brown told the BBC, "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 … This is not an easy set of answers.

“But I think in the 21st century people do expect discrimination to be removed and they do expect us to be looking at all these issues."

Any potential reform of the monarchy would have to be agreed not just in the UK, but also in 15 other countries in the Commonwealth where the British monarch is also head of state. Downing Street said that Brown would be raising the issue at the next Commonwealth meeting in November but that it did not expect Dr Harris' motion to gain much support.

According to the Act of Settlement, a potential monarch loses their right to become king or queen if they marry a Catholic. The issue is made more complicated by the fact that the monarch is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England - meaning that if a monarch did marry a Catholic, who raised any potential children as Catholics, it could result in the unusual situation of having a Catholic leading the Church of England.

A recent BBC poll of 1,000 people, suggested that 81 per cent of the population wanted to allow a future monarch to marry a Catholic, whilst 89 per cent wanted equal rights for women. Of those questioned, 76 per cent said they wanted the monarchy to continue.