first born daughter, the change would make the daughter next in line after William, and her position could not be usurped by a future brother. Which is where Prime Minister Gillard might end up in a discussion with fellow British Commonwealth nations. Australia, like all of the old Commonwealth countries, inherited the British Act of Settlement. After Britain enacted the Statute of Westminster, incorporated into Australian law in 1942, Britain gave up its right to legislate for Commonwealth countries like Australia. This means that any British amendment to the Act of Settlement does not apply to Australia. If Britain were to act alone on this, then in theory the future monarchs of the two countries could diverge. A similar problem arose in 1936 on the abdication of King Edward VIII, requiring a change to the Act of Settlement. All Commonwealth nations agreed to Westminster amending the act to allow Edward to abdicate. As Australia did not pass the Statute of Westminster until 1942, the amended Act of Settlement was then absorbed into Australia law. Ireland, then part of the Commonwealth, cunningly used the abdication crisis to remove any reference to the Crown from the Irish Constitution, though Ireland was not formally to become a republic until 1947. It created the constitutional oddity that Edward VIII was King of Ireland for one day longer than he was King of the United Kingdom. By the convention of the Statute of Westminster, the United Kingdom must consult the Commonwealth nations who share the