THE Queen and senior advisers are to meet at Balmoral before the end of the month, for the latest royal ``summit'' to discuss the future of the monarchy.
The Way Ahead Group meeting will be headed by the Queen, with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, and Prince Edward.
Senior members of the royal household, including the Queen's private secretary, Sir Robert Fellowes, and the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Airlie, will attend.
Other participants will include the Queen's deputy private secretary, Mr Robin Janvrin, the Prince of Wales's private secretary, Commander Richard Aylard, and palace finance chief Michael Peat.
The Balmoral summit is the first family ``board meeting'' since the divorces of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Duke and Duchess of York.
Despite continuing speculation over the Prince of Wales's relationship with Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles, the Way Ahead Group will be hoping for a less controversial future, focusing on the ``business of monarchy'' rather than ``soap-opera scandals''.
However, far-reaching options under discussion by the group will include:
q Ending the monarch's historical role as head of the Church of England.
q Allowing heirs to the throne to marry Catholics.
q Streamlining the royal family to comprise only the monarch, consort, their children, and those grandchildren who are direct heirs to the throne.
The group, which meets twice a year - at Balmoral in the summer and Sandringham in the winter - was set up after the events of 1992, labelled by the Queen as an ``annus horribilis'' when royal marriages fell apart and Windsor Castle went up in flames.
Reforms, notably the Queen's decision to pay income tax, the reduction of Civil List payments to members of the royal family, and the opening of Buckingham Palace to the public, resulted from Way Ahead Group discussions.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Major and his wife Norma will be among guests of the Queen at Balmoral this weekend.
The annual stay, as in previous years, will be a largely social and informal occasion, but will include a private audience during which Mr Major will update the Queen on national and international developments over the summer.
q The Queen has had two of her spaniels electronically name tagged as a precaution to them being lost if they should stray.
Two years ago, Prince Charles's five-year-old Jack Russell Poo disappeared after running off while on a walk with his master around Balmoral and, despite an intensive search, was never found.
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