WILLIAM and Kate’s baby will be the first to automatically succeed to the throne — even if it is a girl.A dramatic shake-up of ancient laws means male royals will no longer be able to leapfrog their older sisters to become the monarch.The child is guaranteed to remain third in line to the throne — after Prince Charles and William himself — even if Kate goes on to have sons.The historic change to centuries-old succession laws was agreed just last year at a meeting of the 16 Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state.And as PM David Cameron on Monday night sent his congratulations to William and Kate, his deputy Nick Clegg said the government was putting the final touches to the necessary legislation.Clegg said: "This is a very exciting day and brilliant news. And by happy coincidence we are working right now to put the finishing touches to laws that will update the very old-fashioned rules of succession and mean if they have a baby girl she will succeed to the throne.”"That is a big, big change and something the country thinks should have happened a long time ago.”The change — which will involve amendments to historic documents such as the 1689 Bill of Rights and the 1701 Act of Settlement — means the baby will one day be head of the armed forces, supreme governor of the Church of England and head of the Commonwealth.The shake-up is believed by many to be long overdue in a society where women have long had equal rights in most other aspects of life.The present Queen only succeeded to the throne because she had no brothers.US President Barack Obama’s press secretary said: "On behalf of everyone here in the White House, beginning with the President and the First Lady, we extend our congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on this welcome news.” The Sun