British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will consider passing a law to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession.
It is understood any change to legislation would take place after the police investigation into the disgraced former prince is concluded.
The historic move follows the arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of the title of prince but remains eighth in line to the throne after Prince William, Prince Harry and their children.
The change requires an act of Parliament, and Downing Street will consult with other Commonwealth realms before anything is put into action.
Each other country where Charles III is King, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, would have to agree to legislation to remove him.
Earlier, Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scotland secretary, told GB News: “I think it would be the decent thing. Of course, if he’s found guilty of this, I think Parliament would be well within its rights to act to remove him from the line of succession.
“But, let’s remember, he’s not been found guilty of anything just yet – he has yet to be charged with anything. So we have to let the police investigation run its course, and I think we should all act accordingly subsequent to that.”
On Thursday – his 66th birthday – Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the royal family in modern history to be arrested after emails released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files appeared to show that he leaked confidential documents to the paedophile.
Police raided the former prince’s temporary home of Wood Farm in Sandringham at breakfast time before taking him to Aylsham police station in Norfolk. He spent nearly 12 hours in custody before being released under investigation.
Emails released as part of the Epstein files appeared to show that Mountbatten-Windsor leaked confidential documents to Epstein while working as Britain’s trade envoy, representing the late Queen and the country overseas.
Should the former prince be found guilty of misconduct in public office, he would face the prospect of jail.
Police continued searching Royal Lodge in Windsor, Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, after his release from custody.
At one point, officers were forced to push one of their vans clear after it became stuck in the mud.
The force said the search of Royal Lodge would continue over the weekend.
Elsewhere, West Yorkshire Police became the 10th force to confirm it was reviewing material from the tranche of Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice.
A spokesman said the force was “assessing the detail of the information that’s been made public to determine any potential links to the West Yorkshire area”.
Downing Street previously refused demands to change the law to remove Mountbatten-Windsor as one of the King’s potential successors.
MPs across multiple parties, including a Labour minister, had backed introducing new legislation to remove him from the line of succession, but a No 10 spokesman said: “There are no plans [for this] … The Government is committed to using parliamentary time to improve the lives of working people.”
Downing Street believes it is so unlikely that Mountbatten-Windsor would ever become king that the law does not need to be changed.
King Edward VIII and his descendants were removed from the line of succession when he abdicated in 1936. Prince Michael of Kent was also removed, under the Act of Settlement of 1701, upon marrying a Catholic in 1978. However, he was reinstated under the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey voiced his support for the monarchy but said: “I think we should have in our minds the survivors and victims of Epstein who are having to look at all this reporting and possibly reliving their traumas. So it is quite a shocking situation – let the police do their work.”
Davey was asked about calls from the Liberal Democrats in recent months for the former prince to be hauled before Parliament to give evidence to MPs and peers.
He told the BBC: “I think more broadly, going forward, we do need to see more transparency. And Parliament has a really important role to play and I think we need to help the monarchy get over this. It’s a really important part of our country, and the way that that will go forward is having more transparency over how they operate.”
In a statement responding to the arrest of his brother, the King said “the law must take its course”.
Meanwhile, the Princess Royal ignored questions about her brother when she visited a crisp factory in Sheffield.
The Princess did not respond when a reporter shouted: “Afternoon your Royal Highness, how do you feel about your brother’s arrest?”
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