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Celebrity

16th Jul 2018

Why Meghan and Prince Harry’s future daughter could inherit a royal title after all

Keeley Ryan

harry and meghan's wedding

This would be huge.

The century-old laws that say only sons can inherit hereditary peerages are being challenged in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The case was lodged in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, late last week.

According to The BBCfive women who are a part of the Daughters’ Rights campaign are challenging the law in a bid to remove gender bias among nobility.

And the outcome of the case could have a huge impact for any future daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The group are challenging the laws that prevent firstborn daughters from receiving hereditary peerages and keeps them from being elected to the House of Lords.

They say that it is “outdated” and lawyers are arguing the women are facing discrimination on the basis of their gender.

This means that if they are successful, a daughter born to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could inherit the title of the Duchess of Sussex.

The law currently says that a son can only inherit a dukedom, whether or not he has elder sisters.

This means that if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a daughter, she would not receive a title – and if the couple only have daughters, the title would die out.

It comes as, in 2013, the Succession to the Crown Act detailed how the gender of a member of the royal family wouldn’t determine where they stood in the line of succession.

Which means that Princess Charlotte made history this year when her younger brother, Prince Louis, was born – and she became the first royal to retain her claim to the throne.