In early 2011 Keith Vaz , a Labour Member of Parliament , introduced to the House of Commons at Westminster a private member 's bill which proposed that the Act of Settlement be amended to remove the provisions relating to Roman Catholicism and change the primogeniture governing the line of succession to the British throne from agnatic to absolute cognatic . Vaz sought support for his project from the Canadian Cabinet and Prime Minister Stephen Harper , but the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada responded that the issue was " not a priority for the government or for Canadians without further elaboration on the merits or drawbacks of the proposed reforms " . Stephenson King , Prime Minister of Saint Lucia , said he supported the idea and it was reported that the government of New Zealand did , as well . The Monarchist League of Canada said at the time to the media that it " supports amending the Act of Settlement in order to modernize the succession rules . " Later the same year , the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Nick Clegg , announced that the government was considering a change in the law . At approximately the same time , it was reported that British Prime Minister David Cameron had written to each of the prime ministers of the other fifteen Commonwealth realms , asking for their support in changing the succession to absolute primogeniture and notifying them he would raise his proposals at that year 's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( CHOGM ) in Perth , Australia . Cameron reportedly also proposed removing the restriction on successors being or marrying Roman Catholics ; however , potential Roman Catholic successors would be required to convert to Anglicanism prior to acceding to the throne . In reaction to the letter and media coverage , Harper stated that , this time , he was " supportive " of what he saw as " reasonable modernizations "
that year 's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011
Act of Settlement 1701