London

A British newspaper is challenging the rule that a British monarch cannot be a Roman Catholic or marry one, saying that this infringes on fundamental human rights.

The London-based Guardian also declared that it wanted a British republic after Queen Elizabeth II dies or abdicates. The Guardian's planned lawsuit was triggered by the United Kingdom's Human Rights Act, which came into force last year.

Anglicanism is the established religion of the British state, and the monarch is required to promise to uphold it.

A poll published in the Guardian newspaper found that 66 per cent of respondents supported lifting the ban on Roman Catholics.