Queen Elizabeth has indicated she has no objections to plans announced by the British government yesterday to change the line of succession to the crown, enabling female and male members of the royal family to be treated in the same way.
In a sign that Britain's royal family is keen to embrace significant constitutional change, the Junior Home Office Minister, Lord Williams, told the House of Lords that new laws would end the tradition of male members of the royal family taking precedence over female members in succession to the crown.
Under the present terms of succession, Queen Elizabeth's eldest son, Prince Charles, would be the next king and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, would then follow. However, if Prince Charles had been without any children, the succession would then revert to the queen's younger son, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, rather than the older Princess Anne.
Responding to a debate on male succession prompted by the former Tory party deputy chairman, Lord Archer, Lord Williams said the Succession to the Crown Bill was not an "appropriate vehicle" to change the laws governing succession.
Instead, Lord Williams said, changes to enable equality of succession regardless of gender would involve consultation with the leaders of the 15 Commonwealth countries and the royal family.
The new proposals will be aimed at ending discrimination. But Lord Archer said: "The Bill would not affect the present royal family, making no difference to the status of the Princess Royal." However, he added that he was "not fearful of a Queen Anne" if Princess Anne had been Queen Elizabeth's eldest child.
As Queen Elizabeth signalled her support for the changes to succession, significant alterations to Princess Diana's will have been made to reflect the princess's wishes that her 17 godchildren and her butler would benefit from her £21 million estate.
The original will was drawn up after her divorce in June 1993. The difficulties with the will arose after Princess Diana's death last August because she had not altered it to take into account the divorce settlement of June 1996.
Under the terms of the revised 10-page will, Princess Diana's butler, Mr Paul Burrell, will receive £50,000 and the godchildren will be allowed to choose a personal gift from her estate.
The princess was renowned for her love of children, and among those who will benefit are the sons and daughters of British and European royalty as well as the children of her closest friends. One of the youngest to receive a personal gift will be Lord Downpatrick (9), the grandson of the Duke of Kent.
Others include Alexandra Knatchbull (15), the great granddaughter of Earl Mountbatten - who was killed by the IRA while on holiday in Ireland in 1979 - and Dominica Lawson (2), granddaughter of the former chancellor of the exchequer, Lord Lawson.