The 300-year-old rule excluding Catholics from the throne is set to be abolished under plans drawn up by Downing Street.
The reforms would also put an end to the automatic male succession - so if Prince William's eldest child turned out to be a girl she would be his heir.
The blueprint is the work of MP Chris Bryant, who has been charged by Gordon Brown with reviewing the UK constitution.
It would also limit the power of the Privy Council.
According to The Guardian, which has long campaigned for the changes, the Government would like to see them implemented quickly if Labour won a fourth term at the next general election.
Legislation including the 1701 Act of Settlement bars all Catholics and anyone married to a Catholic from reigning and forces any monarch coming to the throne to reject Catholicism.
Leading QC Geoffrey Robertson told the newspaper: 'I welcome this as two small steps towards a more rational constitution.'
A Downing Street spokesman said the Government was 'always ready to consider the arguments' surrounding the issue.
But the Prime Minister is not believed to have been personally involved in the process and it is not Government policy.
'To bring about changes to the law on succession would be a complex undertaking involving amendment or repeal of a number of items of related legislation, as well as requiring the consent of legislatures of member nations of the Commonwealth,' the spokesman said.
'As the Secretary of State for Justice said in the Commons on March 25, we are of course aware of the concerns felt by many and we are always ready to consider the arguments in this complex area.'
Mr Bryant confirmed that he had submitted his proposals to No10, but would not be drawn on their contents.
In a pamphlet published last week by the Local Government Association, he argued that forcing the monarch to swear to preserve the Church of England and uphold the Protestant line of succession almost certainly represented a breach of human rights.
And he suggested it was 'inconceivable' that, should Prince William have a daughter before a son, she would not be the one to eventually take the throne. Sweden, he pointed out, has already changed its law to deal with such a situation.
In Britain, the line of succession places Princess Anne, the Queen's second child, below her brothers Andrew and Edward - 10 and 14 years her junior respectively.
More recently Lady Louise Windsor, the four-year-old daughter of Edward and his wife Sophie, was placed lower in the line of succession than her younger brother, one-year-old James.
The MP, who is a former priest, also argued for reform of the constitutional role of the Church of England and of the 'strange' powers of the Privy Council.
A future coronation would have to be 'radically different' from that of the present Queen's, he suggested, 'to recognise the monarch's role in protecting the freedoms of all citizens and subjects, rather than just the Church of England'.
Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone today welcome the 'overdue' move.
She said: 'Whilst the hereditary principle itself is obviously still a bit dodgy, at least this modernisation ends the outrageous discrimination against Catholics and women.
'It was completely unfair that Prince Edward's daughter was bumped down the list of succession in favour of her younger brother,' she said.
'As we chip away at the established order, the message will eventually get through that men and women are equal.'
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1061514/Catholics-born-daughters-allowed-throne-massive-reform-constitution.html?ITO=1490
The reforms would also put an end to the automatic male succession - so if Prince William's eldest child turned out to be a girl she would be his heir.
The blueprint is the work of MP Chris Bryant, who has been charged by Gordon Brown with reviewing the UK constitution.
It would also limit the power of the Privy Council.
According to The Guardian, which has long campaigned for the changes, the Government would like to see them implemented quickly if Labour won a fourth term at the next general election.
Legislation including the 1701 Act of Settlement bars all Catholics and anyone married to a Catholic from reigning and forces any monarch coming to the throne to reject Catholicism.
Leading QC Geoffrey Robertson told the newspaper: 'I welcome this as two small steps towards a more rational constitution.'
A Downing Street spokesman said the Government was 'always ready to consider the arguments' surrounding the issue.
But the Prime Minister is not believed to have been personally involved in the process and it is not Government policy.
'To bring about changes to the law on succession would be a complex undertaking involving amendment or repeal of a number of items of related legislation, as well as requiring the consent of legislatures of member nations of the Commonwealth,' the spokesman said.
'As the Secretary of State for Justice said in the Commons on March 25, we are of course aware of the concerns felt by many and we are always ready to consider the arguments in this complex area.'
Mr Bryant confirmed that he had submitted his proposals to No10, but would not be drawn on their contents.
In a pamphlet published last week by the Local Government Association, he argued that forcing the monarch to swear to preserve the Church of England and uphold the Protestant line of succession almost certainly represented a breach of human rights.
And he suggested it was 'inconceivable' that, should Prince William have a daughter before a son, she would not be the one to eventually take the throne. Sweden, he pointed out, has already changed its law to deal with such a situation.
In Britain, the line of succession places Princess Anne, the Queen's second child, below her brothers Andrew and Edward - 10 and 14 years her junior respectively.
More recently Lady Louise Windsor, the four-year-old daughter of Edward and his wife Sophie, was placed lower in the line of succession than her younger brother, one-year-old James.
The MP, who is a former priest, also argued for reform of the constitutional role of the Church of England and of the 'strange' powers of the Privy Council.
A future coronation would have to be 'radically different' from that of the present Queen's, he suggested, 'to recognise the monarch's role in protecting the freedoms of all citizens and subjects, rather than just the Church of England'.
Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone today welcome the 'overdue' move.
She said: 'Whilst the hereditary principle itself is obviously still a bit dodgy, at least this modernisation ends the outrageous discrimination against Catholics and women.
'It was completely unfair that Prince Edward's daughter was bumped down the list of succession in favour of her younger brother,' she said.
'As we chip away at the established order, the message will eventually get through that men and women are equal.'
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1061514/Catholics-born-daughters-allowed-throne-massive-reform-constitution.html?ITO=1490
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