Buckingham Palace says the Queen has accepted that members of the Royal Family will lose their right to sit and vote in parliament under the government's proposals to reform the unelected House of Lords.

The reform -- which will be re-introduced in parliament this week -- would remove the voting rights of hereditary peers, including those of the Queen's son, the Prince of Wales, her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh and the three other Royal Dukes.

Although members of the Royal Family rarely attend or vote in the Lords, correspondents say the removal of their right to do so raises questions about the principal of a hereditary monarchy.