The new Princess of Cambridge will not be leapfrogged in the line of succession by any future younger brothers.

A radical shake-up of the rules removed discriminatory male bias and came into force in March, affecting babies born after October 28 2011.

The new princess will also be able to marry a Roman Catholic without losing her place in line to the throne. But a Roman Catholic royal still cannot be king or queen.

Previously, under the ancient rules of male primogeniture, royal sons took precedence over their female siblings, even jumping ahead of first-born royal daughters.

When Princess Anne, now the Princess Royal, was born in 1950, she was third in line and then second in line when her mother became Queen.

But when Prince Andrew arrived in 1960, she was overtaken by him and then again by Prince Edward in 1964.

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor - technically the last princess to be born to the British royal family although she does not use the title - was leapfrogged by her younger brother James, Viscount Severn, in 2007.

The changes to the rules of succession were rushed through ahead of Prince George's birth.

The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 was passed by Parliament in 2013, but all the countries in which the Queen is head of state had to pass any necessary legislation before it took effect.

It has already affected the Duke of Gloucester's granddaughters Senna Lewis and Lyla Gilman, whose younger brothers, born in 2012, now follow them in the line of succession.