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Monarchy of the United Kingdom

January 19, 2024

"British sovereign" redirects here. For the coin, see Sovereign (British coin). For a list, see List of British monarchs. For the other countries that share the same person as monarch, see Commonwealth realm.

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

King of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Charles III
since 8 September 2022
Details
StyleHis Majesty
Heir apparentWilliam, Prince of Wales
ResidenceSee list
Websiteroyal.uk

The monarch and their immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties. The monarchy is constitutional, meaning that, although formally the monarch still has authority over the government—which is known as "His/Her Majesty's Government"—this power may only be used according to laws enacted in Parliament and within constraints of convention and precedent. Thus in practice the monarch's role, including that of Head of the British Armed Forces, is limited to functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the prime minister, which are performed in a non-partisan manner.[2] The UK Government has called the monarchy "a unique soft power and diplomatic asset".[3] The Crown also occupies a unique cultural role, serving as an unofficial brand ambassador for British interests and values abroad, increasing tourism at home, and promoting charities throughout civil society.[4][5]

The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Scotland, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. England was conquered by the Normans in 1066, after which Wales also gradually came under the control of Anglo-Normans. The process was completed in the 13th century when the Principality of Wales became a client state of the English kingdom. The Anglo-Normans also established the Lordship of Ireland. Meanwhile, Magna Carta began the process of reducing the English monarch's political powers. In the 16th century, English and Scottish monarchs played a central role in what became the religious English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, and the English king became King of Ireland. Beginning in 1603, the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following the installation of William III and Mary II as co-monarchs in the Glorious Revolution, the Bill of Rights 1689, and its Scottish counterpart the Claim of Right Act 1689, further curtailed the power of the monarchy and excluded Roman Catholics from succession to the throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Beginning in the 16th century, the monarch was the nominal head of what came to be the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the world's land area at its greatest extent in 1921. The title Emperor of India was added to the British monarch's titles between 1876 and 1948. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the evolution of the Dominions of the Empire into separate, self-governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations. Also in this period, the monarchy in Ireland eventually became limited to Northern Ireland. In the years after the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, effectively bringing the Empire to an end. George VI and his successors adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fourteen other independent sovereign states that share the same person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. Although the monarch is shared, each country is sovereign and independent of the others, and the monarch has a different, specific, and official national title and style for each realm. Although the term is rarely used today, the fifteen Commonwealth realms are, with respect to their monarch, in personal union.

Constitutional role

 
Ministerial folder with the monarch's emblem

In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the monarch (exclusively referred to in legislation as "the Sovereign",[6] and styled His or Her Majesty[7]) is the head of state. The monarch's image is used to signify British sovereignty and government authority – their profile, for instance, appears on Bank of England notes and all British coins and their portrait in government buildings.[8] The Sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs, loyal toasts, and salutes. "God Save the King" (or, alternatively, "God Save the Queen") is the British national anthem.[9] Oaths of allegiance are made to the Sovereign and their lawful successors.[10]

The monarch takes little direct part in government. The authority to use the sovereign's formal powers is almost all delegated, either by statute or by convention, to ministers or officers of the Crown, or other public bodies. Thus the acts of state done in the name of the Crown, such as Crown Appointments,[11] even if personally performed by the monarch, such as the King's Speech and the State Opening of Parliament, depend upon decisions made elsewhere:

The sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours. This role has been recognised since the 19th century. The constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the "dignified part" rather than the "efficient part" of government.[13]

 
The English Bill of Rights of 1689 curtailed the sovereign's governmental power.

Royal prerogative

Main article: Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom

That part of the government's executive authority which remains theoretically and nominally vested in the sovereign is known as the royal prerogative. The monarch acts within the constraints of convention and precedent, exercising prerogative only on the advice of ministers responsible to Parliament, often through the prime minister or Privy Council.[14] In practice, prerogative powers are exercised only on the prime minister's advice – the prime minister, and not the sovereign, has control. The monarch holds a weekly audience with the prime minister; no records of these audiences are taken and the proceedings remain fully confidential.[15] The monarch may express his or her views, but, as a constitutional ruler, must ultimately accept the decisions of the prime minister and Cabinet, who by definition enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons. In Bagehot's words: "the sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy ... three rights – the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn."[16]

Although the royal prerogative is extensive and parliamentary approval is not formally required for its exercise, it is limited. Many Crown prerogatives have fallen out of use or have been permanently transferred to Parliament. For example, the sovereign cannot impose and collect new taxes; such an action requires the authorisation of an Act of Parliament. According to a parliamentary report, "The Crown cannot invent new prerogative powers", and Parliament can override any prerogative power by passing legislation.[17]

The royal prerogative includes the powers to appoint and dismiss ministers, regulate the civil service, issue passports, declare war, make peace, direct the actions of the military, and negotiate and ratify treaties, alliances, and international agreements. However, a treaty cannot alter the domestic laws of the United Kingdom; an Act of Parliament is necessary in such cases. The sovereign is the Head of the Armed Forces (the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force), and accredits British High commissioners and ambassadors, and receives heads of missions from foreign states.[17]

Appointment of the prime minister

The sovereign has the power to appoint the prime minister. In accordance with unwritten constitutional conventions, the monarch appoints the individual who commands the support of the House of Commons, usually the leader of a party or coalition that has a majority in that House. The prime minister takes office by attending the monarch in a private audience, and after "kissing hands" that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument.[18] The sovereign also has the power to dismiss the prime minister, but the last time this power was exercised was in 1834, when William IV dismissed Lord Melbourne; since then, prime ministers have only left office upon their resignation, which they are expected to offer to the monarch upon losing their majority in the House of Commons.

While the sovereign also appoints and may dismiss every other Minister of the Crown, by convention they do so only on the recommendation of the prime minister. It is therefore the prime minister who controls the composition of the government. In practice, the prime minister will request a member of the government resign in preference to advising the monarch to dismiss them; such ministers are euphemistically described as "leaving the government".

In a hung parliament where no party or coalition holds a majority, the monarch has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support, though it would usually be the leader of the largest party.[19] Since 1945, there have only been three hung parliaments. The first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilson's Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party. The second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives (the largest party) and Liberal Democrats (the third-largest party) agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II. The third occurred shortly thereafter, in June 2017, when the Conservative Party lost its majority in a snap election, though the party remained in power as a minority government.

Summons, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament

The sovereign has the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament. Each parliamentary session begins with the sovereign's summons. The new parliamentary session is marked by the State Opening of Parliament, during which the monarch reads the speech from the throne in the chamber of the House of Lords, outlining the Government's legislative agenda.[20] Prorogation usually occurs about one year after a session begins, and formally concludes the session.[21] Dissolution ends a parliamentary term, and is followed by a general election for all seats in the House of Commons. If not dissolved sooner, Parliaments are automatically dissolved after five years.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 temporarily removed the sovereign's authority to dissolve Parliament, however, this power was restored by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022. The sovereign's power of prorogation was unaffected, which is a regular feature of the parliamentary calendar.

In 1950 the King's Private Secretary Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, writing pseudonymously to The Times newspaper, asserted a constitutional convention: according to the Lascelles Principles, if a minority government asked to dissolve Parliament to call an early election to strengthen its position, the monarch could refuse and would do so under three conditions. When Harold Wilson requested a dissolution late in 1974, Queen Elizabeth II granted his request as Heath had already failed to form a coalition. The resulting general election gave Wilson a small majority.[22] The monarch could in theory unilaterally dismiss the prime minister, but in practice, the prime minister's term nowadays comes to an end only by electoral defeat, death, or resignation. The last monarch to remove the prime minister was William IV, who dismissed Lord Melbourne in 1834.[23]

Other royal prerogatives

Before a bill passed by the legislative Houses can become law, royal assent (the monarch's approval) is required.[24] In theory, assent can either be granted (making the bill law) or withheld (vetoing the bill), but since 1708 assent has always been granted.[25]

The sovereign has a similar relationship to the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland as to the government of the UK. The sovereign appoints the First Minister of Scotland on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament,[26] and the First Minister of Wales on the nomination of the Senedd.[27] In Scottish matters, the sovereign acts on the advice of the Scottish Government. However, as devolution is more limited in Wales, in Welsh matters the monarch acts on the advice of the prime minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The sovereign can veto any law passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly, if it is deemed unconstitutional by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.[28]

The sovereign is deemed the "fount of justice"; although the monarch does not personally rule in judicial cases, judicial functions are performed in his or her name. For instance, prosecutions are brought on the sovereign's behalf, and courts derive their authority from the Crown. The common law holds that the sovereign "can do no wrong", and so cannot be prosecuted for criminal offences. The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allows civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the government), but not lawsuits against the monarch personally. The sovereign exercises the "prerogative of mercy", which is used to pardon convicted offenders or reduce sentences.[29][17]

The sovereign is the "fount of honour", the source of all honours and dignities in the United Kingdom. The Crown creates all peerages, appoints members of the orders of chivalry, grants knighthoods and awards other honours.[30] Although peerages and most other honours are granted on the advice of the prime minister, some honours are within the personal gift of the sovereign and are not granted on ministerial advice. The sovereign alone appoints members of the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of Merit.[31]

Sovereign immunity

Main article: Sovereign immunity § United Kingdom

The sovereign is personally immune from criminal prosecution or arrest, as well as from civil actions, and their property is not subject to execution or foreclosure. The Crown, however, as distinct from the sovereign, can be the subject of proceedings for tort and contract since 1947.[32]

There are more than 160 laws granting express immunity to the sovereign or their property in various respects. For example, the sovereign is exempt from anti-discrimination legislation and other workers' rights, health and safety, or pensions laws, as well as numerous taxes, and environmental inspectors cannot enter the sovereign's property without permission.[33]

History

Main article: History of monarchy in the United Kingdom

English monarchy

"King of England" and "Queen of England" redirect here. For the current king of the United Kingdom, see King Charles III. For the current queen consort of the United Kingdom, see Queen Camilla. For other uses, see Queen of England (disambiguation).
See also: Kingdom of England and List of English monarchs
 
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex emerged as the dominant English kingdom. Alfred the Great secured Wessex, achieved dominance over western Mercia, and assumed the title "King of the Anglo-Saxons". His grandson Æthelstan was the first king to rule over a unitary kingdom roughly corresponding to the present borders of England, though its constituent parts retained strong regional identities. The 11th century saw England become more stable, despite a number of wars with the Danes, which resulted in a Danish monarchy for one generation.[34] The conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, was crucial in terms of both political and social change. The new monarch continued the centralisation of power begun in the Anglo-Saxon period, while the feudal system continued to develop.[35]

 
Norman possessions in the 12th century, including England (1066–1485, not always in personal union with Normandy), Normandy (911–1204), southern Italy and Sicily (1030-1263), parts of Africa around Tripoli (1146–1158), and the Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch. Not shown: Principality of Tarragona (1129–1173).

William was succeeded by two of his sons: William II, then Henry I. Henry made a controversial decision to name his daughter Matilda (his only surviving child) as his heir. Following Henry's death in 1135, one of William I's grandsons, Stephen, laid claim to the throne and took power with the support of most of the barons. Matilda challenged his reign; as a result, England descended into a period of disorder known as the Anarchy. Stephen maintained a precarious hold on power, but agreed to a compromise under which Matilda's son Henry would succeed him. Henry accordingly became the first Angevin king of England and the first monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty as Henry II in 1154.[36]

The reigns of most of the Angevin monarchs were marred by civil strife and conflicts between the monarch and the nobility. Henry II faced rebellions from his own sons, including the future monarchs Richard I and John, but nevertheless managed to expand his kingdom, forming what is retrospectively known as the Angevin Empire. Upon Henry's death, his eldest surviving legitimate son Richard succeeded to the throne; Richard was absent from England for most of his reign, for he left to fight in the Crusades. He was killed whilst besieging a castle; John succeeded him.

John's reign was marked by conflict with the barons, particularly over the limits of royal power. In 1215, the barons coerced the king into issuing Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter") to guarantee the rights and liberties of the nobility. Soon afterwards, further disagreements plunged England into a civil war known as the First Barons' War. The war came to an abrupt end after John died in 1216, leaving the Crown to his nine-year-old son Henry III.[37] Later in Henry's reign, Simon de Montfort led the barons in another rebellion, beginning the Second Barons' War. The war ended in a clear royalist victory and in the death of many rebels, but not before the king had agreed to summon a parliament in 1265.[38]

The next monarch, Edward Longshanks, was far more successful in maintaining royal power and was responsible for the conquest of Wales. He attempted to establish English domination of Scotland. However, gains in Scotland were reversed during the reign of his successor, Edward II, who also faced conflict with the nobility.[39] In 1311, Edward II was forced to relinquish many of his powers to a committee of baronial "ordainers"; however, military victories helped him regain control in 1322.[40] Nevertheless, in 1327, Edward was deposed by his wife Isabella. His 14-year-old son became Edward III. Edward III claimed the French Crown, setting off the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

His campaigns conquered much French territory, but by 1374, all the gains had been lost. Edward's reign was also marked by the further development of Parliament, which came to be divided into two Houses; he died in 1377, leaving the Crown to his 10-year-old grandson Richard II. Like many of his predecessors, Richard II conflicted with the nobles by attempting to concentrate power in his own hands. In 1399, while he was campaigning in Ireland, his cousin Henry Bolingbroke seized power. Richard was deposed, imprisoned, and eventually murdered, probably by starvation, and Henry became king as Henry IV.[41]

Henry IV was the grandson of Edward III and the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; hence, his dynasty was known as the House of Lancaster. For most of his reign, Henry IV was forced to fight off plots and rebellions; his success was partly due to the military skill of his son, the future Henry V. Henry V's own reign, which began in 1413, was largely free from domestic strife, leaving the king free to pursue the Hundred Years' War in France. Although he was victorious, his sudden death in 1422 left his infant son Henry VI on the throne and gave the French an opportunity to overthrow English rule.[42]

The unpopularity of Henry VI's counsellors and his consort, Margaret of Anjou, as well as his own ineffectual leadership, led to the weakening of the House of Lancaster. The Lancastrians faced a challenge from the House of York, so-called because its head, a descendant of Edward III, was Richard, Duke of York, who was at odds with the Queen. Although the Duke of York died in battle in 1460, his eldest son, Edward IV, led the Yorkists to victory in 1461, overthrowing Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. Edward IV was constantly at odds with the Lancastrians and his own councillors after his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, with a brief return to power for Henry VI. Edward IV prevailed, winning back the throne at Barnet and killing the Lancastrian heir, Edward of Westminster, at Tewkesbury. Afterwards he captured Margaret of Anjou, eventually sending her into exile, but not before killing Henry VI while he was held prisoner in the Tower. The Wars of the Roses, nevertheless, continued intermittently during his reign and those of his son Edward V and brother Richard III. Edward V disappeared, presumably murdered by Richard. Ultimately, the conflict culminated in success for the Lancastrian branch led by Henry Tudor, in 1485, when Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field.[43]

King Henry VII then neutralised the remaining Yorkist forces, partly by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV and a Yorkist heir. Through skill and ability, Henry re-established absolute supremacy in the realm, and the conflicts with the nobility that had plagued previous monarchs came to an end.[44] The reign of the second Tudor king, Henry VIII, was one of great political change. Religious upheaval and disputes with the Pope, and the fact that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon produced only one surviving child, a daughter, led the monarch to break from the Roman Catholic Church and establish the Church of England (the Anglican Church) and divorce his wife to marry Anne Boleyn.[45]

Wales – which had been conquered centuries earlier, but had remained a separate dominion – was annexed to England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542.[46] Henry VIII's son and successor, the young Edward VI, continued with further religious reforms, but his early death in 1553 precipitated a succession crisis. He was wary of allowing his Catholic elder half-sister Mary I to succeed, and therefore drew up a will designating Lady Jane Grey as his heiress. Jane's reign, however, lasted only nine days; with tremendous popular support, Mary deposed her and declared herself the lawful sovereign. Mary I married Philip of Spain, who was declared king and co-ruler. He pursued disastrous wars in France and she attempted to return England to Roman Catholicism (burning Protestants at the stake as heretics in the process). Upon her death in 1558, the pair were succeeded by her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth I. England returned to Protestantism and continued its growth into a major world power by building its navy and exploring the New World.[47]

Scottish monarchy

"Queen of Scots" and "Queen of Scotland" redirect here. For other uses, see Scottish queen (disambiguation).
See also: Kingdom of Scotland, List of Scottish monarchs, and Government in medieval Scotland

In Scotland, as in England, monarchies emerged after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from Great Britain in the early fifth century. The three groups that lived in Scotland at this time were the Picts in the northeast, the Britons in the south, including the Kingdom of Strathclyde, and the Gaels or Scotti (who would later give their name to Scotland), of the Irish petty kingdom of Dál Riata in the west. Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally viewed as the first king of a united Scotland (known as Scotia to writers in Latin, or Alba to the Scots).[48] The expansion of Scottish dominions continued over the next two centuries, as other territories such as Strathclyde were absorbed.

Early Scottish monarchs did not inherit the Crown directly; instead, the custom of tanistry was followed, where the monarchy alternated between different branches of the House of Alpin. There was an elective element to early Scottish kings and this practice lingered for much longer in Scotland. For example, the first Stewart monarch, Robert II, was selected from among eligible royal males at Linlithgow in 1370 by the Three Estates of the Scottish Parliament.[49] However, as a result of this elective element, the rival dynastic lines clashed, often violently. From 942 to 1005, seven consecutive monarchs were either murdered or killed in battle.[50] In 1005, Malcolm II ascended the throne having killed many rivals. He continued to ruthlessly eliminate opposition, and when he died in 1034 he was succeeded by his grandson, Duncan I, instead of a cousin, as had been usual. In 1040, Duncan suffered defeat in battle at the hands of Macbeth, who was killed himself in 1057 by Duncan's son Malcolm. The following year, after killing Macbeth's stepson Lulach, Malcolm ascended the throne as Malcolm III.[51]

With a further series of battles and deposings, five of Malcolm's sons as well as one of his brothers successively became king. Eventually, the Crown came to his youngest son, David I. David was succeeded by his grandsons Malcolm IV, and then by William the Lion, the longest-reigning King of Scots before the Union of the Crowns.[52] William participated in a rebellion against King Henry II of England but when the rebellion failed, William was captured by the English. In exchange for his release, William was forced to acknowledge Henry as his feudal overlord. The English King Richard I agreed to terminate the arrangement in 1189, in return for a large sum of money needed for the Crusades.[53] William died in 1214 and was succeeded by his son Alexander II. Alexander II, as well as his successor Alexander III, attempted to take over the Western Isles, which were still under the overlordship of Norway. During the reign of Alexander III, Norway launched an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland; the ensuing Treaty of Perth recognised Scottish control of the Western Isles and other disputed areas.[54]

Alexander III's death in a riding accident in 1286 precipitated a major succession crisis. Scottish leaders appealed to King Edward I of England for help in determining who was the rightful heir. Edward chose Alexander's three-year-old Norwegian granddaughter, Margaret. On her way to Scotland in 1290, however, Margaret died at sea, and Edward was again asked to adjudicate between 13 rival claimants to the throne. A court was set up and after two years of deliberation, it pronounced John Balliol to be king. Edward proceeded to treat Balliol as a vassal and tried to exert influence over Scotland. In 1295, when Balliol renounced his allegiance to England, Edward I invaded. During the first ten years of the ensuing Wars of Scottish Independence, Scotland had no monarch, until Robert the Bruce declared himself king in 1306.[55]

Robert's efforts to control Scotland culminated in success and Scottish independence was acknowledged in 1328. However, only one year later, Robert died and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, David II. On the pretext of restoring John Balliol's rightful heir, Edward Balliol, the English again invaded in 1332. During the next four years, Balliol was crowned, deposed, restored, deposed, restored, and deposed until he eventually settled in England, and David remained king for the next 35 years.[56]

David II died childless in 1371 and was succeeded by his nephew Robert II of the House of Stuart. The reigns of both Robert II and his successor, Robert III, were marked by a general decline in royal power. When Robert III died in 1406, regents had to rule the country; the monarch, Robert III's son James I, had been taken captive by the English. Having paid a large ransom, James returned to Scotland in 1424; to restore his authority, he used ruthless measures, including the execution of several of his enemies. He was assassinated by a group of nobles. James II continued his father's policies by subduing influential noblemen but he was killed in an accident at the age of thirty, and a council of regents again assumed power. James III was defeated in a battle against rebellious Scottish earls in 1488, leading to another boy-king: James IV.[57]

In 1513 James IV launched an invasion of England, attempting to take advantage of the absence of the English King Henry VIII. His forces met with disaster at Flodden Field; the king, many senior noblemen, and hundreds of soldiers were killed. As his son and successor, James V, was an infant, the government was again taken over by regents. James V led another disastrous war with the English in 1542, and his death in the same year left the Crown in the hands of his six-day-old daughter, Mary. Once again, a regency was established.

Mary, a Roman Catholic, reigned during a period of great religious upheaval in Scotland. As a result of the efforts of reformers such as John Knox, a Protestant ascendancy was established. Mary caused alarm by marrying her Catholic cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in 1565. After Lord Darnley's assassination in 1567, Mary contracted an even more unpopular marriage with the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of Darnley's murder. The nobility rebelled against the queen, forcing her to abdicate. She fled to England, and the Crown went to her infant son James VI, who was brought up as a Protestant. Mary was imprisoned and later executed by the English queen Elizabeth I.[58]

Personal union and republican phase

 
In 1603 James VI and I became the first monarch to rule over England, Scotland, and Ireland together.

Elizabeth I's death in 1603 ended Tudor rule in England. Since she had no children, she was succeeded by the Scottish monarch James VI, who was the great-grandson of Henry VIII's older sister and hence Elizabeth's first cousin twice removed. James VI ruled in England as James I after what was known as the "Union of the Crowns". Although England and Scotland were in personal union under one monarch – James I & VI became the first monarch to style himself "King of Great Britain" in 1604[59] – they remained two separate kingdoms. James I & VI's successor, Charles I, experienced frequent conflicts with the English Parliament related to the issue of royal and parliamentary powers, especially the power to impose taxes. He provoked opposition by ruling without Parliament from 1629 to 1640, unilaterally levying taxes and adopting controversial religious policies (many of which were offensive to the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Puritans). His attempt to enforce Anglicanism led to organised rebellion in Scotland (the "Bishops' Wars") and ignited the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1642, the conflict between the king and English Parliament reached its climax and the English Civil War began.[60]

The Civil War culminated in the execution of the king in 1649, the overthrow of the English monarchy, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of England. Charles I's son, Charles II, was proclaimed King of Great Britain in Scotland, but he was forced to flee abroad after he invaded England and was defeated at the Battle of Worcester. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell, the most prominent military and political leader in the nation, seized power and declared himself Lord Protector (effectively becoming a military dictator, but refusing the title of king). Cromwell ruled until his death in 1658, when he was succeeded by his son Richard. The new Lord Protector had little interest in governing; he soon resigned.[61] The lack of clear leadership led to civil and military unrest, and to a popular desire to restore the monarchy. In 1660, the monarchy was restored and Charles II returned to Britain.[62]

Charles II's reign was marked by the development of the first modern political parties in England. Charles had no legitimate children and was due to be succeeded by his Roman Catholic brother, James, Duke of York. A parliamentary effort to exclude James from the line of succession arose; the "Petitioners", who supported exclusion, became the Whig Party, whereas the "Abhorrers", who opposed exclusion, became the Tory Party. The Exclusion Bill failed; on several occasions, Charles II dissolved Parliament because he feared that the bill might pass. After the dissolution of the Parliament of 1681, Charles ruled without a Parliament until his death in 1685. When James succeeded Charles, he pursued a policy of offering religious tolerance to Roman Catholics, thereby drawing the ire of many of his Protestant subjects. Many opposed James's decisions to maintain a large standing army, appoint Roman Catholics to high political and military offices, and imprison Church of England clerics who challenged his policies. As a result, a group of Protestants known as the Immortal Seven invited James II & VII's daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange to depose the king. William obliged, arriving in England on 5 November 1688 to great public support. Faced with the defection of many of his Protestant officials, James fled the realm and William and Mary (rather than James II & VII's Catholic son) were declared joint Sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland.[63]

James's overthrow, known as the Glorious Revolution, was one of the most important events in the long evolution of parliamentary power. The Bill of Rights 1689 affirmed parliamentary supremacy and declared that the English people held certain rights, including freedom from taxes imposed without parliamentary consent. The Bill of Rights required future monarchs to be Protestants and provided that, after any children of William and Mary, Mary's sister Anne would inherit the Crown. Mary II died childless in 1694, leaving William III & II as the sole monarch. By 1700, a political crisis arose, as all of Anne's children had died, leaving her as the only individual left in the line of succession. Parliament was afraid that the former James II or his supporters, known as Jacobites, might attempt to reclaim the throne. Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701, which excluded James and his Catholic relations from the succession and made William's nearest Protestant relations, the family of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, next in line to the throne after his sister-in-law Anne.[64] Soon after the passage of the Act, William III & II died, leaving the Crown to Anne.

After the 1707 Acts of Union

 
England and Scotland were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain under Queen Anne in 1707.
See also: List of British monarchs

After Anne's accession, the problem of succession re-emerged. The Scottish Parliament, infuriated that the English Parliament did not consult them on the choice of Sophia's family as the next heirs, passed the Act of Security 1704, threatening to end the personal union between England and Scotland. The Parliament of England retaliated with the Alien Act 1705, threatening to devastate the Scottish economy by restricting trade. The Scottish and English parliaments negotiated the Acts of Union 1707, under which England and Scotland were united into a single Kingdom of Great Britain, with succession under the rules prescribed by the Act of Settlement.[65]

 
The Electorate later Kingdom of Hanover was in personal union with the British monarchy from 1714 to 1837. (Orange; borders shown 1814–1866.)

In 1714, Queen Anne was succeeded by her second cousin, and Sophia's son, George I, Elector of Hanover, who consolidated his position by defeating Jacobite rebellions in 1715 and 1719. The new monarch was less active in government than many of his British predecessors, but retained control over his German kingdoms, with which Britain was now in personal union.[66] Power shifted towards George's ministers, especially to Sir Robert Walpole, who is often considered the first British prime minister, although the title was not then in use.[67]

The next monarch, George II, witnessed the final end of the Jacobite threat in 1746 when the Catholic Stuarts were completely defeated. During the long reign of his grandson, George III, thirteen of Britain's American colonies were lost when they formed the United States of America after the American Revolutionary War, but British influence elsewhere in the world continued to grow. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created by the Acts of Union 1800.[68]

 
The union of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom occurred in 1801 under George III.

From 1811 to 1820, George III suffered a severe bout of what is now believed to be porphyria, an illness rendering him incapable of ruling. His son, the future George IV, ruled in his stead as Prince Regent. During the Regency and his own reign, the power of the monarchy declined, and by the time of his successor, William IV, the monarch was no longer able to effectively interfere with parliamentary power. In 1834, William dismissed the Whig Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and appointed a Tory, Sir Robert Peel. In the ensuing elections, however, Peel lost. The king had no choice but to recall Lord Melbourne. During William IV's reign, the Reform Act 1832, which reformed parliamentary representation, was passed. Together with others passed later in the century, the Act led to an expansion of the electoral franchise and the rise of the House of Commons as the most important branch of Parliament.[69]

The final transition to a constitutional monarchy was made during the long reign of William IV's successor, Victoria. As a woman, Victoria could not rule Hanover, which only permitted succession in the male line, so the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover came to an end. The Victorian era was marked by great cultural change, technological progress, and the establishment of the United Kingdom as one of the world's foremost powers. In recognition of British rule over India, Victoria was declared Empress of India in 1876. However, her reign was also marked by increased support for the republican movement, due in part to Victoria's permanent mourning and lengthy period of seclusion following the death of her husband in 1861.[70]

Victoria's son, Edward VII, became the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1901. In 1917, the next monarch, George V, changed "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor" in response to the anti-German sympathies aroused by the First World War. George V's reign was marked by the separation of Ireland into Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom, and the Irish Free State, an independent nation, in 1922.[71]

Shared monarchy

 
The British Empire in 1921

During the twentieth century, the Commonwealth of Nations evolved from the British Empire. Prior to 1926, the British Crown reigned over the British Empire collectively; the Dominions and Crown Colonies were subordinate to the United Kingdom. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 gave complete self-government to the Dominions, effectively creating a system whereby a single monarch operated independently in each separate Dominion. The concept was solidified by the Statute of Westminster 1931,[72] which has been likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries".[73]

The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, although it is often still referred to as "British" for legal and historical reasons and for convenience. The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so forth; one person reigning in multiple distinct sovereign states, in a relationship likened to a personal union.[74]

George V's death in 1936 was followed by the accession of Edward VIII, who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson, even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcees. Accordingly, Edward announced his intention to abdicate; the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request. Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession, and the Crown went to his brother, George VI.[75] George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II, making morale-boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and to areas bombed by Nazi Germany. In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title Emperor of India, although remaining head of state of the Dominion of India.[76]

At first, every member of the Commonwealth retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but when the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950, it would no longer share in a common monarchy. Instead, the British monarch was acknowledged as "Head of the Commonwealth" in all Commonwealth member states, whether they were realms or republics. The position is purely ceremonial, and is not inherited by the British monarch as of right but is vested in an individual chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government.[77][78] Member states of the Commonwealth that share the same person as monarch are informally known as Commonwealth realms.[77]

Monarchy in Ireland

See also: Monarchy of Ireland

In 1155 the only English Pope, Adrian IV, authorised King Henry II of England to take possession of Ireland as a feudal territory nominally under papal overlordship. The Pope wanted the English monarch to annex Ireland and bring the Irish church into line with Rome, despite this process already being underway in Ireland by 1155.[79] An all-island kingship of Ireland had been created in 854 by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. His last successor was Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, who had become High King of Ireland in early 1166 and exiled Diarmait Mac Murchada, the King of Leinster, a vassal kingdom. Diarmait asked Henry II for help, gaining a group of Anglo-Norman aristocrats and adventurers, led by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, to help him regain his throne. Diarmait and his Anglo-Norman allies succeeded and he became King of Leinster again. De Clare married Diarmait's daughter, and when Diarmait died in 1171, de Clare became King of Leinster.[80] Henry was afraid that de Clare would make Ireland a rival Norman kingdom, so he took advantage of the papal bull and invaded, forcing de Clare and the other Anglo-Norman aristocrats in Ireland and the major Irish kings and lords to recognise him as their overlord.[81]

By 1541, King Henry VIII of England had broken with the Church of Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. The Pope's grant of Ireland to the English monarch became invalid, so Henry summoned a meeting of the Irish Parliament to change his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland.[82]

In 1800, as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Act of Union merged the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland continued to be a part of the United Kingdom until 1922 when what is now the Republic of Ireland won independence as the Irish Free State, a separate Dominion within the Commonwealth. The Irish Free State was renamed Ireland in 1937, and in 1949 declared itself a republic, left the Commonwealth and severed all ties with the monarchy. Northern Ireland remained within the Union. In 1927, the United Kingdom changed its name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while the monarch's style for the next twenty years became "of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India".

Modern status and popularity

In the 1990s, republicanism in the United Kingdom grew, partly on account of negative publicity associated with the royal family (for instance, immediately following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales).[83] However The Independent maintained polls from 2002 to 2007 showed that around 70–80% of the British public supported the continuation of the monarchy.[84] According to Statista this support had remained constant since then – according to a 2018 survey, a majority of the British public across all age groups still supported the monarchy's continuation, although support was higher amongst older age groups.[85] In September 2022, shortly after the death of Elizabeth II, The Guardian reported that a YouGov poll showed that 68% of British people felt positively about the monarchy. The newspaper speculated that some of this may have been a reaction to the Queen's death, and said it showed dissatisfaction is higher among young people; 47% of people aged between 18 and 24 wanted the monarchy to continue, compared to 86% aged 65 and over. In May 2022, before the Queen's death, the newspaper had reported that polling showed 33% of those aged between 18 and 24 wanted the monarchy to continue.[86] In January 2023, a YouGov survey of roughly 1,700 UK people found that 64% thought that the country should continue to have a monarchy, though that was lower than the 67% in September 2022 around the time of Queen Elizabeth II's death.[87][88]

Religious role

The sovereign is the supreme governor of the established Church of England. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the monarch, on the advice of the prime minister, who chooses the appointee from a list of nominees prepared by a Church Commission. The Crown's role in the Church of England is titular; the most senior clergyman, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the spiritual leader of the Church and of the worldwide Anglican Communion.[89] The monarch takes an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland and he or she holds the power to appoint the Lord High Commissioner to the Church's General Assembly, but otherwise plays no part in its governance, and exerts no powers over it.[90] The sovereign plays no formal role in the disestablished Church in Wales or Church of Ireland.

Succession

Main articles: Succession to the British throne and Coronation of the British monarch
 
William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne

The relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the laws governing succession to the shared throne requires the unanimous consent of all the realms. Succession is governed by statutes such as the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707. The rules of succession may only be changed by an Act of Parliament; it is not possible for an individual to renounce his or her right of succession. The Act of Settlement restricts the succession to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover (1630–1714), a granddaughter of James I and VI.

Upon demise of the Crown (the death of a sovereign), their heir immediately and automatically succeeds (hence the phrase "The king is dead, long live the king!"), and the accession of the new sovereign is publicly proclaimed by an Accession Council that meets at St James's Palace.[91] Upon their accession, a new sovereign is required by law to make and subscribe several oaths: the Accession Declaration as first required by the Bill of Rights, and an oath that they will "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland settlement as required by the Act of Union. The monarch is usually crowned in Westminster Abbey, normally by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A coronation is not necessary for a sovereign to reign; indeed, the ceremony usually takes place many months after accession to allow sufficient time for its preparation and for a period of mourning.[92]

When an individual ascends the throne, it is expected they will reign until death. The only voluntary abdication, that of Edward VIII, had to be authorised by a special Act of Parliament, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. The last monarch involuntarily removed from power was James VII and II, who fled into exile in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution.

Restrictions by gender and religion

See also: Succession to the Crown Act 2013

Succession was largely governed by male-preference cognatic primogeniture, under which sons inherit before daughters, and elder children inherit before younger ones of the same gender. The British prime minister, David Cameron, announced at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that all 16 Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom, had agreed to abolish the gender-preference rule for anyone born after the date of the meeting, 28 October 2011.[93] They also agreed that future monarchs would no longer be prohibited from marrying a Roman Catholic – a law which dated from the Act of Settlement 1701. However, since the monarch is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the laws which restrict the throne to Protestants remain.[94] The necessary UK legislation making the changes received the royal assent on 25 April 2013 and was brought into force in March 2015 after the equivalent legislation was approved in all the other Commonwealth realms.[95]

Though Catholics are prohibited from succeeding and are deemed "naturally dead" for succession purposes, the disqualification does not extend to the individual's legitimate Protestant descendants.

Regency

Main articles: Regency Acts and Counsellor of State

The Regency Acts allow for regencies in the event of a monarch who is a minor or who is physically or mentally incapacitated. When a regency is necessary, the next qualified individual in the line of succession automatically becomes regent, unless they themselves are a minor or incapacitated. Special provisions were made for Queen Elizabeth II by the Regency Act 1953, which stated that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (the Queen's husband) could act as regent in these circumstances.[96]

During a temporary physical infirmity or an absence from the kingdom, the sovereign may temporarily delegate some of his or her functions to counsellors of state, chosen from the monarch's spouse and the first four adults in the line of succession.[97] The present counsellors of state are: Queen Camilla; William, Prince of Wales; Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Princess Beatrice; Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh; and Anne, Princess Royal.[98] While still able to serve, the Duke of Sussex and Duke of York no longer carry out royal duties. With the accession of Charles III and planned overseas trips in 2023, it was decided to expand the list of those eligible to serve as cousellors of state. On 14 November 2022, the King sent a message to both Houses of Parliament, formally asking for a change in the law that would allow Princess Anne and Prince Edward to be added to the list of counsellors of state.[99] The next day, a bill to that end was introduced in Parliament and it received royal assent on 6 December, coming into force on 7 December.[100]

Finances

Main article: Finances of the British royal family

Until 1760, the monarch met all official expenses from hereditary revenues, which included the profits of the Crown Estate (the royal property portfolio). King George III agreed to surrender the hereditary revenues of the Crown in return for the Civil List, and this arrangement persisted until 2012. An annual Property Services grant-in-aid paid for the upkeep of the royal residences, and an annual Royal Travel Grant-in-Aid paid for travel. The Civil List covered most expenses, including those for staffing, state visits, public engagements, and official entertainment. Its size was fixed by Parliament every 10 years; any money saved was carried forward to the next 10-year period.[101] From 2012, the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid were replaced with a single Sovereign Grant, which was initially set at 15% of the revenues generated by the Crown Estate and increased to 25% in March 2017.[102][103]

The Crown Estate is one of the largest property portfolios in the United Kingdom, with holdings of £15.6 billion in 2022.[104] It is held in trust, and cannot be sold or owned by the sovereign in a private capacity.[105] In modern times, the profits surrendered from the Crown Estate to the Treasury have exceeded the Sovereign Grant.[101] For example, the Crown Estate produced £312.7 million in the financial year 2021–22,[104] whereas the Sovereign Grant for the monarch was £86.3 million during the same period.[106]

Like the Crown Estate, the land and assets of the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £383 million in 2011,[107] are held in trust. The revenues of the Duchy form part of the Privy Purse, and are used for expenses not borne by the parliamentary grants.[108] The Paradise Papers, leaked in 2017, show that the Duchy of Lancaster held investments in the British tax havens of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.[109] The Duchy of Cornwall is a similar estate held in trust to meet the expenses of the monarch's eldest son. The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the sovereign personally and is held in trust,[110] as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.[111]

The sovereign is subject to indirect taxes such as value-added tax, and since 1993 the monarch has paid income tax and capital gains tax on personal income. Parliamentary grants to the sovereign are not treated as income as they are solely for official expenditure.[112] Republicans estimate that the real cost of the monarchy, including security and potential income not claimed by the state, such as profits from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and rent of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is £334 million a year.[113]

Estimates of Queen Elizabeth II's wealth varied, depending on whether assets owned by her personally or held in trust for the nation were included. Forbes magazine estimated her wealth at US$450 million in 2010,[114] but no official figure was available. In 1993, the Lord Chamberlain said estimates of £100 million were "grossly overstated".[115] Jock Colville, who was her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth in 1971 at £2 million[116] (the equivalent of about £30 million today[117]). The Sunday Times Rich List 2020 estimated Elizabeth II's personal wealth at £350 million.[118]

Residences

 
Buckingham Palace, in London, England, is the monarch's principal residence.
 
Holyrood Palace, in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the monarch's official Scottish residence.
Main article: List of British royal residences

The sovereign's official residence in London is Buckingham Palace. It is the site of most state banquets, investitures, royal christenings and other ceremonies.[119] Another official residence is Windsor Castle, the largest occupied castle in the world,[120] which is used principally at weekends, Easter and during Royal Ascot, an annual race meeting that is part of the social calendar.[120] The sovereign's official residence in Scotland is the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The monarch stays at Holyrood for at least one week each year, and when visiting Scotland on state occasions.[121]

Historically, the Palace of Westminster and the Tower of London were the main residences of the English monarch until Henry VIII acquired the Palace of Whitehall. Whitehall was destroyed by fire in 1698, leading to a shift to St James's Palace. Although replaced as the monarch's primary London residence by Buckingham Palace in 1837, St James's is still the senior palace[122] and remains the ceremonial royal residence. For example, foreign ambassadors are accredited to the Court of St James's,[119][123] and the Palace is the site of the meeting of the Accession Council.[91] It is also used by other members of the royal family.[122]

Other residences include Clarence House and Kensington Palace. The palaces belong to the Crown; they are held in trust for future rulers and cannot be sold by the monarch.[124] Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire are privately owned by the royal family.[111]

Style

Main article: Style of the British sovereign

The present sovereign's full style and title is "Charles the third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith". The title "Head of the Commonwealth" is held by the king personally, and is not vested in the British Crown.[78] Pope Leo X first granted the title "Defender of the Faith" to King Henry VIII in 1521, rewarding him for his support of the Papacy during the early years of the Protestant Reformation, particularly for his book the Defence of the Seven Sacraments.[125] After Henry broke from the Roman Church, Pope Paul III revoked the grant, but Parliament passed a law authorising its continued use.[126]

The sovereign is known as "His Majesty" or "Her Majesty". The form "Britannic Majesty" appears in international treaties and on passports to differentiate the British monarch from foreign rulers.[127] The monarch chooses his or her regnal name, not necessarily his or her first name – George VI, Edward VII and Victoria did not use their first names.[128]

If only one monarch has used a particular name, no ordinal is used; for example, Queen Victoria is not known as "Victoria I", and ordinals are not used for English monarchs who reigned before the Norman conquest of England. The question of whether numbering for British monarchs is based on previous English or Scottish monarchs was raised in 1953 when Scottish nationalists challenged the Queen's use of "Elizabeth II", on the grounds that there had never been an "Elizabeth I" in Scotland. In MacCormick v Lord Advocate, the Scottish Court of Session ruled against the plaintiffs, finding that the Queen's title was a matter of her own choice and prerogative. The Home Secretary told the House of Commons that monarchs since the Acts of Union had consistently used the higher of the English and Scottish ordinals, which in the applicable four cases has been the English ordinal.[129] The prime minister confirmed this practice but noted that "neither The Queen nor her advisers could seek to bind their successors".[130] Future monarchs will apply this policy.[131]

Arms

Main article: Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is "Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or [for England]; II Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules [for Scotland]; III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent [for Ireland]". The supporters are the Lion and the Unicorn; the motto is "Dieu et mon droit" (French: "God and my Right"). Surrounding the shield is a representation of a Garter bearing the motto of the Chivalric order of the same name; "Honi soit qui mal y pense". (Old French: "Shame be to him who thinks evil of it"). In Scotland, the monarch uses an alternative form of the arms in which quarters I and IV represent Scotland, II England, and III Ireland. The mottoes are "In Defens" (an abbreviated form of the Scots "In my defens God me defend") and the motto of the Order of the Thistle, "'Nemo me impune lacessit" (Latin: "No-one provokes me with impunity"); the supporters are the unicorn and lion, who support both the escutcheon and lances, from which fly the flags of Scotland and England.

 
The coat of arms of Charles III in the United Kingdom. The design (left) features the arms of England in the first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second, and Ireland in the third. In Scotland, a separate version is used (right), in which the Arms of Scotland take precedence.

The monarch's official flag in the United Kingdom is the Royal Standard, which depicts the Royal Arms in banner form. It is flown only from buildings, vessels and vehicles in which the sovereign is present.[132] The Royal Standard is never flown at half-mast because there is always a sovereign: when one dies, his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly.[133]

  •  
    Royal Standard of the United Kingdom
  •  
    Royal Standard of the United Kingdom in Scotland

When the monarch is not in residence, the Union Flag is flown at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Sandringham House, whereas in Scotland the Royal Banner of Scotland is flown at Holyrood Palace and Balmoral Castle.[132]

  •  
    Union Flag of the United Kingdom
  •  
    Royal Banner of Scotland

See also

Notes

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References

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  • Bagehot, Walter (2001). Smith, Paul (ed.). The English Constitution. Cambridge University Press.
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  • Brock, Michael (September 2004; online edition, January 2008). "William IV (1765–1837)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 April 2008 (subscription required).
  • Castor, Helen (2010). She-Wolves: the Women who Ruled England Before Elizabeth. Faber and Faber.
  • Cannon, John; Griffiths, Ralph (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822786-8.
  • Crabbe, V.C.R.A.C. (1994). Understanding Statutes. Cavendish Publishing. ISBN 978-1-859-41138-4.
  • Flanagan, M. T. (2004). "Mac Murchada, Diarmait (c. 1110–1171)" and Clare, Richard fitz Gilbert de, second earl of Pembroke (c. 1130–1176)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 October 2008 (subscription required).
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External links

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Monarchy of the United Kingdom.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to British monarchy.
  • Official website of the British monarchy

January 19, 2024
monarchy, united, kingdom, british, sovereign, redirects, here, coin, sovereign, british, coin, list, list, british, monarchs, other, countries, that, share, same, person, monarch, commonwealth, realm, monarchy, united, kingdom, commonly, referred, british, mo. British sovereign redirects here For the coin see Sovereign British coin For a list see List of British monarchs For the other countries that share the same person as monarch see Commonwealth realm The monarchy of the United Kingdom commonly referred to as the British monarchy is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories The current monarch is King Charles III who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II King of the United KingdomRoyal coats of arms used in Scotland right and elsewhere left IncumbentCharles IIIsince 8 September 2022DetailsStyleHis MajestyHeir apparentWilliam Prince of WalesResidenceSee listWebsiteroyal wbr ukThe monarch and their immediate family undertake various official ceremonial diplomatic and representational duties The monarchy is constitutional meaning that although formally the monarch still has authority over the government which is known as His Her Majesty s Government this power may only be used according to laws enacted in Parliament and within constraints of convention and precedent Thus in practice the monarch s role including that of Head of the British Armed Forces is limited to functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the prime minister which are performed in a non partisan manner 2 The UK Government has called the monarchy a unique soft power and diplomatic asset 3 The Crown also occupies a unique cultural role serving as an unofficial brand ambassador for British interests and values abroad increasing tourism at home and promoting charities throughout civil society 4 5 The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of Anglo Saxon England and early medieval Scotland which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century England was conquered by the Normans in 1066 after which Wales also gradually came under the control of Anglo Normans The process was completed in the 13th century when the Principality of Wales became a client state of the English kingdom The Anglo Normans also established the Lordship of Ireland Meanwhile Magna Carta began the process of reducing the English monarch s political powers In the 16th century English and Scottish monarchs played a central role in what became the religious English Reformation and Scottish Reformation and the English king became King of Ireland Beginning in 1603 the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign From 1649 to 1660 the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms Following the installation of William III and Mary II as co monarchs in the Glorious Revolution the Bill of Rights 1689 and its Scottish counterpart the Claim of Right Act 1689 further curtailed the power of the monarchy and excluded Roman Catholics from succession to the throne In 1707 the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain and in 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Beginning in the 16th century the monarch was the nominal head of what came to be the vast British Empire which covered a quarter of the world s land area at its greatest extent in 1921 The title Emperor of India was added to the British monarch s titles between 1876 and 1948 The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the evolution of the Dominions of the Empire into separate self governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations Also in this period the monarchy in Ireland eventually became limited to Northern Ireland In the years after the Second World War the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent effectively bringing the Empire to an end George VI and his successors adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states The United Kingdom and fourteen other independent sovereign states that share the same person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms Although the monarch is shared each country is sovereign and independent of the others and the monarch has a different specific and official national title and style for each realm Although the term is rarely used today the fifteen Commonwealth realms are with respect to their monarch in personal union Contents 1 Constitutional role 1 1 Royal prerogative 1 1 1 Appointment of the prime minister 1 1 2 Summons prorogation and dissolution of Parliament 1 1 3 Other royal prerogatives 1 2 Sovereign immunity 2 History 2 1 English monarchy 2 2 Scottish monarchy 2 3 Personal union and republican phase 2 4 After the 1707 Acts of Union 2 5 Shared monarchy 2 6 Monarchy in Ireland 2 7 Modern status and popularity 3 Religious role 4 Succession 4 1 Restrictions by gender and religion 4 2 Regency 5 Finances 6 Residences 7 Style 8 Arms 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External linksConstitutional role nbsp Ministerial folder with the monarch s emblemIn the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom the monarch exclusively referred to in legislation as the Sovereign 6 and styled His or Her Majesty 7 is the head of state The monarch s image is used to signify British sovereignty and government authority their profile for instance appears on Bank of England notes and all British coins and their portrait in government buildings 8 The Sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs loyal toasts and salutes God Save the King or alternatively God Save the Queen is the British national anthem 9 Oaths of allegiance are made to the Sovereign and their lawful successors 10 The monarch takes little direct part in government The authority to use the sovereign s formal powers is almost all delegated either by statute or by convention to ministers or officers of the Crown or other public bodies Thus the acts of state done in the name of the Crown such as Crown Appointments 11 even if personally performed by the monarch such as the King s Speech and the State Opening of Parliament depend upon decisions made elsewhere Legislative power is exercised by the King in Parliament by and with the advice and consent of the House of Lords and the House of Commons Executive power is exercised by His Majesty s Government which comprises ministers primarily the prime minister and the Cabinet which is technically a committee of the Privy Council They have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services Judicial power is vested in the various judiciaries of the United Kingdom which by constitution and statute 12 have judicial independence of the Government The Church of England of which the sovereign is the titular head has its own legislative judicial and executive structures Powers independent of government are legally granted to other public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council Royal commission or otherwise The sovereign s role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non partisan functions such as granting honours This role has been recognised since the 19th century The constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government 13 nbsp The English Bill of Rights of 1689 curtailed the sovereign s governmental power Royal prerogative Main article Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom That part of the government s executive authority which remains theoretically and nominally vested in the sovereign is known as the royal prerogative The monarch acts within the constraints of convention and precedent exercising prerogative only on the advice of ministers responsible to Parliament often through the prime minister or Privy Council 14 In practice prerogative powers are exercised only on the prime minister s advice the prime minister and not the sovereign has control The monarch holds a weekly audience with the prime minister no records of these audiences are taken and the proceedings remain fully confidential 15 The monarch may express his or her views but as a constitutional ruler must ultimately accept the decisions of the prime minister and Cabinet who by definition enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons In Bagehot s words the sovereign has under a constitutional monarchy three rights the right to be consulted the right to encourage the right to warn 16 Although the royal prerogative is extensive and parliamentary approval is not formally required for its exercise it is limited Many Crown prerogatives have fallen out of use or have been permanently transferred to Parliament For example the sovereign cannot impose and collect new taxes such an action requires the authorisation of an Act of Parliament According to a parliamentary report The Crown cannot invent new prerogative powers and Parliament can override any prerogative power by passing legislation 17 The royal prerogative includes the powers to appoint and dismiss ministers regulate the civil service issue passports declare war make peace direct the actions of the military and negotiate and ratify treaties alliances and international agreements However a treaty cannot alter the domestic laws of the United Kingdom an Act of Parliament is necessary in such cases The sovereign is the Head of the Armed Forces the Royal Navy the British Army and the Royal Air Force and accredits British High commissioners and ambassadors and receives heads of missions from foreign states 17 Appointment of the prime minister The sovereign has the power to appoint the prime minister In accordance with unwritten constitutional conventions the monarch appoints the individual who commands the support of the House of Commons usually the leader of a party or coalition that has a majority in that House The prime minister takes office by attending the monarch in a private audience and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument 18 The sovereign also has the power to dismiss the prime minister but the last time this power was exercised was in 1834 when William IV dismissed Lord Melbourne since then prime ministers have only left office upon their resignation which they are expected to offer to the monarch upon losing their majority in the House of Commons While the sovereign also appoints and may dismiss every other Minister of the Crown by convention they do so only on the recommendation of the prime minister It is therefore the prime minister who controls the composition of the government In practice the prime minister will request a member of the government resign in preference to advising the monarch to dismiss them such ministers are euphemistically described as leaving the government In a hung parliament where no party or coalition holds a majority the monarch has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support though it would usually be the leader of the largest party 19 Since 1945 there have only been three hung parliaments The first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition Although Wilson s Labour Party did not have a majority they were the largest party The second followed the May 2010 general election in which the Conservatives the largest party and Liberal Democrats the third largest party agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II The third occurred shortly thereafter in June 2017 when the Conservative Party lost its majority in a snap election though the party remained in power as a minority government Summons prorogation and dissolution of Parliament The sovereign has the power to summon prorogue and dissolve Parliament Each parliamentary session begins with the sovereign s summons The new parliamentary session is marked by the State Opening of Parliament during which the monarch reads the speech from the throne in the chamber of the House of Lords outlining the Government s legislative agenda 20 Prorogation usually occurs about one year after a session begins and formally concludes the session 21 Dissolution ends a parliamentary term and is followed by a general election for all seats in the House of Commons If not dissolved sooner Parliaments are automatically dissolved after five years The Fixed term Parliaments Act 2011 temporarily removed the sovereign s authority to dissolve Parliament however this power was restored by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 The sovereign s power of prorogation was unaffected which is a regular feature of the parliamentary calendar In 1950 the King s Private Secretary Sir Alan Tommy Lascelles writing pseudonymously to The Times newspaper asserted a constitutional convention according to the Lascelles Principles if a minority government asked to dissolve Parliament to call an early election to strengthen its position the monarch could refuse and would do so under three conditions When Harold Wilson requested a dissolution late in 1974 Queen Elizabeth II granted his request as Heath had already failed to form a coalition The resulting general election gave Wilson a small majority 22 The monarch could in theory unilaterally dismiss the prime minister but in practice the prime minister s term nowadays comes to an end only by electoral defeat death or resignation The last monarch to remove the prime minister was William IV who dismissed Lord Melbourne in 1834 23 Other royal prerogatives Before a bill passed by the legislative Houses can become law royal assent the monarch s approval is required 24 In theory assent can either be granted making the bill law or withheld vetoing the bill but since 1708 assent has always been granted 25 The sovereign has a similar relationship to the devolved governments of Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland as to the government of the UK The sovereign appoints the First Minister of Scotland on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament 26 and the First Minister of Wales on the nomination of the Senedd 27 In Scottish matters the sovereign acts on the advice of the Scottish Government However as devolution is more limited in Wales in Welsh matters the monarch acts on the advice of the prime minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom The sovereign can veto any law passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly if it is deemed unconstitutional by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 28 The sovereign is deemed the fount of justice although the monarch does not personally rule in judicial cases judicial functions are performed in his or her name For instance prosecutions are brought on the sovereign s behalf and courts derive their authority from the Crown The common law holds that the sovereign can do no wrong and so cannot be prosecuted for criminal offences The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allows civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity that is lawsuits against the government but not lawsuits against the monarch personally The sovereign exercises the prerogative of mercy which is used to pardon convicted offenders or reduce sentences 29 17 The sovereign is the fount of honour the source of all honours and dignities in the United Kingdom The Crown creates all peerages appoints members of the orders of chivalry grants knighthoods and awards other honours 30 Although peerages and most other honours are granted on the advice of the prime minister some honours are within the personal gift of the sovereign and are not granted on ministerial advice The sovereign alone appoints members of the Order of the Garter the Order of the Thistle the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of Merit 31 Sovereign immunity Main article Sovereign immunity United Kingdom The sovereign is personally immune from criminal prosecution or arrest as well as from civil actions and their property is not subject to execution or foreclosure The Crown however as distinct from the sovereign can be the subject of proceedings for tort and contract since 1947 32 There are more than 160 laws granting express immunity to the sovereign or their property in various respects For example the sovereign is exempt from anti discrimination legislation and other workers rights health and safety or pensions laws as well as numerous taxes and environmental inspectors cannot enter the sovereign s property without permission 33 HistoryMain article History of monarchy in the United Kingdom English monarchy King of England and Queen of England redirect here For the current king of the United Kingdom see King Charles III For the current queen consort of the United Kingdom see Queen Camilla For other uses see Queen of England disambiguation See also Kingdom of England and List of English monarchs nbsp The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of 1066 Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Wessex emerged as the dominant English kingdom Alfred the Great secured Wessex achieved dominance over western Mercia and assumed the title King of the Anglo Saxons His grandson AEthelstan was the first king to rule over a unitary kingdom roughly corresponding to the present borders of England though its constituent parts retained strong regional identities The 11th century saw England become more stable despite a number of wars with the Danes which resulted in a Danish monarchy for one generation 34 The conquest of England in 1066 by William Duke of Normandy was crucial in terms of both political and social change The new monarch continued the centralisation of power begun in the Anglo Saxon period while the feudal system continued to develop 35 nbsp Norman possessions in the 12th century including England 1066 1485 not always in personal union with Normandy Normandy 911 1204 southern Italy and Sicily 1030 1263 parts of Africa around Tripoli 1146 1158 and the Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch Not shown Principality of Tarragona 1129 1173 William was succeeded by two of his sons William II then Henry I Henry made a controversial decision to name his daughter Matilda his only surviving child as his heir Following Henry s death in 1135 one of William I s grandsons Stephen laid claim to the throne and took power with the support of most of the barons Matilda challenged his reign as a result England descended into a period of disorder known as the Anarchy Stephen maintained a precarious hold on power but agreed to a compromise under which Matilda s son Henry would succeed him Henry accordingly became the first Angevin king of England and the first monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty as Henry II in 1154 36 The reigns of most of the Angevin monarchs were marred by civil strife and conflicts between the monarch and the nobility Henry II faced rebellions from his own sons including the future monarchs Richard I and John but nevertheless managed to expand his kingdom forming what is retrospectively known as the Angevin Empire Upon Henry s death his eldest surviving legitimate son Richard succeeded to the throne Richard was absent from England for most of his reign for he left to fight in the Crusades He was killed whilst besieging a castle John succeeded him John s reign was marked by conflict with the barons particularly over the limits of royal power In 1215 the barons coerced the king into issuing Magna Carta Latin for Great Charter to guarantee the rights and liberties of the nobility Soon afterwards further disagreements plunged England into a civil war known as the First Barons War The war came to an abrupt end after John died in 1216 leaving the Crown to his nine year old son Henry III 37 Later in Henry s reign Simon de Montfort led the barons in another rebellion beginning the Second Barons War The war ended in a clear royalist victory and in the death of many rebels but not before the king had agreed to summon a parliament in 1265 38 The next monarch Edward Longshanks was far more successful in maintaining royal power and was responsible for the conquest of Wales He attempted to establish English domination of Scotland However gains in Scotland were reversed during the reign of his successor Edward II who also faced conflict with the nobility 39 In 1311 Edward II was forced to relinquish many of his powers to a committee of baronial ordainers however military victories helped him regain control in 1322 40 Nevertheless in 1327 Edward was deposed by his wife Isabella His 14 year old son became Edward III Edward III claimed the French Crown setting off the Hundred Years War between England and France His campaigns conquered much French territory but by 1374 all the gains had been lost Edward s reign was also marked by the further development of Parliament which came to be divided into two Houses he died in 1377 leaving the Crown to his 10 year old grandson Richard II Like many of his predecessors Richard II conflicted with the nobles by attempting to concentrate power in his own hands In 1399 while he was campaigning in Ireland his cousin Henry Bolingbroke seized power Richard was deposed imprisoned and eventually murdered probably by starvation and Henry became king as Henry IV 41 Henry IV was the grandson of Edward III and the son of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster hence his dynasty was known as the House of Lancaster For most of his reign Henry IV was forced to fight off plots and rebellions his success was partly due to the military skill of his son the future Henry V Henry V s own reign which began in 1413 was largely free from domestic strife leaving the king free to pursue the Hundred Years War in France Although he was victorious his sudden death in 1422 left his infant son Henry VI on the throne and gave the French an opportunity to overthrow English rule 42 The unpopularity of Henry VI s counsellors and his consort Margaret of Anjou as well as his own ineffectual leadership led to the weakening of the House of Lancaster The Lancastrians faced a challenge from the House of York so called because its head a descendant of Edward III was Richard Duke of York who was at odds with the Queen Although the Duke of York died in battle in 1460 his eldest son Edward IV led the Yorkists to victory in 1461 overthrowing Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou Edward IV was constantly at odds with the Lancastrians and his own councillors after his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville with a brief return to power for Henry VI Edward IV prevailed winning back the throne at Barnet and killing the Lancastrian heir Edward of Westminster at Tewkesbury Afterwards he captured Margaret of Anjou eventually sending her into exile but not before killing Henry VI while he was held prisoner in the Tower The Wars of the Roses nevertheless continued intermittently during his reign and those of his son Edward V and brother Richard III Edward V disappeared presumably murdered by Richard Ultimately the conflict culminated in success for the Lancastrian branch led by Henry Tudor in 1485 when Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field 43 King Henry VII then neutralised the remaining Yorkist forces partly by marrying Elizabeth of York daughter of King Edward IV and a Yorkist heir Through skill and ability Henry re established absolute supremacy in the realm and the conflicts with the nobility that had plagued previous monarchs came to an end 44 The reign of the second Tudor king Henry VIII was one of great political change Religious upheaval and disputes with the Pope and the fact that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon produced only one surviving child a daughter led the monarch to break from the Roman Catholic Church and establish the Church of England the Anglican Church and divorce his wife to marry Anne Boleyn 45 Wales which had been conquered centuries earlier but had remained a separate dominion was annexed to England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 46 Henry VIII s son and successor the young Edward VI continued with further religious reforms but his early death in 1553 precipitated a succession crisis He was wary of allowing his Catholic elder half sister Mary I to succeed and therefore drew up a will designating Lady Jane Grey as his heiress Jane s reign however lasted only nine days with tremendous popular support Mary deposed her and declared herself the lawful sovereign Mary I married Philip of Spain who was declared king and co ruler He pursued disastrous wars in France and she attempted to return England to Roman Catholicism burning Protestants at the stake as heretics in the process Upon her death in 1558 the pair were succeeded by her Protestant half sister Elizabeth I England returned to Protestantism and continued its growth into a major world power by building its navy and exploring the New World 47 Scottish monarchy Queen of Scots and Queen of Scotland redirect here For other uses see Scottish queen disambiguation See also Kingdom of Scotland List of Scottish monarchs and Government in medieval Scotland In Scotland as in England monarchies emerged after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from Great Britain in the early fifth century The three groups that lived in Scotland at this time were the Picts in the northeast the Britons in the south including the Kingdom of Strathclyde and the Gaels or Scotti who would later give their name to Scotland of the Irish petty kingdom of Dal Riata in the west Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally viewed as the first king of a united Scotland known as Scotia to writers in Latin or Alba to the Scots 48 The expansion of Scottish dominions continued over the next two centuries as other territories such as Strathclyde were absorbed Early Scottish monarchs did not inherit the Crown directly instead the custom of tanistry was followed where the monarchy alternated between different branches of the House of Alpin There was an elective element to early Scottish kings and this practice lingered for much longer in Scotland For example the first Stewart monarch Robert II was selected from among eligible royal males at Linlithgow in 1370 by the Three Estates of the Scottish Parliament 49 However as a result of this elective element the rival dynastic lines clashed often violently From 942 to 1005 seven consecutive monarchs were either murdered or killed in battle 50 In 1005 Malcolm II ascended the throne having killed many rivals He continued to ruthlessly eliminate opposition and when he died in 1034 he was succeeded by his grandson Duncan I instead of a cousin as had been usual In 1040 Duncan suffered defeat in battle at the hands of Macbeth who was killed himself in 1057 by Duncan s son Malcolm The following year after killing Macbeth s stepson Lulach Malcolm ascended the throne as Malcolm III 51 With a further series of battles and deposings five of Malcolm s sons as well as one of his brothers successively became king Eventually the Crown came to his youngest son David I David was succeeded by his grandsons Malcolm IV and then by William the Lion the longest reigning King of Scots before the Union of the Crowns 52 William participated in a rebellion against King Henry II of England but when the rebellion failed William was captured by the English In exchange for his release William was forced to acknowledge Henry as his feudal overlord The English King Richard I agreed to terminate the arrangement in 1189 in return for a large sum of money needed for the Crusades 53 William died in 1214 and was succeeded by his son Alexander II Alexander II as well as his successor Alexander III attempted to take over the Western Isles which were still under the overlordship of Norway During the reign of Alexander III Norway launched an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland the ensuing Treaty of Perth recognised Scottish control of the Western Isles and other disputed areas 54 Alexander III s death in a riding accident in 1286 precipitated a major succession crisis Scottish leaders appealed to King Edward I of England for help in determining who was the rightful heir Edward chose Alexander s three year old Norwegian granddaughter Margaret On her way to Scotland in 1290 however Margaret died at sea and Edward was again asked to adjudicate between 13 rival claimants to the throne A court was set up and after two years of deliberation it pronounced John Balliol to be king Edward proceeded to treat Balliol as a vassal and tried to exert influence over Scotland In 1295 when Balliol renounced his allegiance to England Edward I invaded During the first ten years of the ensuing Wars of Scottish Independence Scotland had no monarch until Robert the Bruce declared himself king in 1306 55 Robert s efforts to control Scotland culminated in success and Scottish independence was acknowledged in 1328 However only one year later Robert died and was succeeded by his five year old son David II On the pretext of restoring John Balliol s rightful heir Edward Balliol the English again invaded in 1332 During the next four years Balliol was crowned deposed restored deposed restored and deposed until he eventually settled in England and David remained king for the next 35 years 56 David II died childless in 1371 and was succeeded by his nephew Robert II of the House of Stuart The reigns of both Robert II and his successor Robert III were marked by a general decline in royal power When Robert III died in 1406 regents had to rule the country the monarch Robert III s son James I had been taken captive by the English Having paid a large ransom James returned to Scotland in 1424 to restore his authority he used ruthless measures including the execution of several of his enemies He was assassinated by a group of nobles James II continued his father s policies by subduing influential noblemen but he was killed in an accident at the age of thirty and a council of regents again assumed power James III was defeated in a battle against rebellious Scottish earls in 1488 leading to another boy king James IV 57 In 1513 James IV launched an invasion of England attempting to take advantage of the absence of the English King Henry VIII His forces met with disaster at Flodden Field the king many senior noblemen and hundreds of soldiers were killed As his son and successor James V was an infant the government was again taken over by regents James V led another disastrous war with the English in 1542 and his death in the same year left the Crown in the hands of his six day old daughter Mary Once again a regency was established Mary a Roman Catholic reigned during a period of great religious upheaval in Scotland As a result of the efforts of reformers such as John Knox a Protestant ascendancy was established Mary caused alarm by marrying her Catholic cousin Henry Stuart Lord Darnley in 1565 After Lord Darnley s assassination in 1567 Mary contracted an even more unpopular marriage with the Earl of Bothwell who was widely suspected of Darnley s murder The nobility rebelled against the queen forcing her to abdicate She fled to England and the Crown went to her infant son James VI who was brought up as a Protestant Mary was imprisoned and later executed by the English queen Elizabeth I 58 Personal union and republican phase nbsp In 1603 James VI and I became the first monarch to rule over England Scotland and Ireland together Elizabeth I s death in 1603 ended Tudor rule in England Since she had no children she was succeeded by the Scottish monarch James VI who was the great grandson of Henry VIII s older sister and hence Elizabeth s first cousin twice removed James VI ruled in England as James I after what was known as the Union of the Crowns Although England and Scotland were in personal union under one monarch James I amp VI became the first monarch to style himself King of Great Britain in 1604 59 they remained two separate kingdoms James I amp VI s successor Charles I experienced frequent conflicts with the English Parliament related to the issue of royal and parliamentary powers especially the power to impose taxes He provoked opposition by ruling without Parliament from 1629 to 1640 unilaterally levying taxes and adopting controversial religious policies many of which were offensive to the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Puritans His attempt to enforce Anglicanism led to organised rebellion in Scotland the Bishops Wars and ignited the Wars of the Three Kingdoms In 1642 the conflict between the king and English Parliament reached its climax and the English Civil War began 60 The Civil War culminated in the execution of the king in 1649 the overthrow of the English monarchy and the establishment of the Commonwealth of England Charles I s son Charles II was proclaimed King of Great Britain in Scotland but he was forced to flee abroad after he invaded England and was defeated at the Battle of Worcester In 1653 Oliver Cromwell the most prominent military and political leader in the nation seized power and declared himself Lord Protector effectively becoming a military dictator but refusing the title of king Cromwell ruled until his death in 1658 when he was succeeded by his son Richard The new Lord Protector had little interest in governing he soon resigned 61 The lack of clear leadership led to civil and military unrest and to a popular desire to restore the monarchy In 1660 the monarchy was restored and Charles II returned to Britain 62 Charles II s reign was marked by the development of the first modern political parties in England Charles had no legitimate children and was due to be succeeded by his Roman Catholic brother James Duke of York A parliamentary effort to exclude James from the line of succession arose the Petitioners who supported exclusion became the Whig Party whereas the Abhorrers who opposed exclusion became the Tory Party The Exclusion Bill failed on several occasions Charles II dissolved Parliament because he feared that the bill might pass After the dissolution of the Parliament of 1681 Charles ruled without a Parliament until his death in 1685 When James succeeded Charles he pursued a policy of offering religious tolerance to Roman Catholics thereby drawing the ire of many of his Protestant subjects Many opposed James s decisions to maintain a large standing army appoint Roman Catholics to high political and military offices and imprison Church of England clerics who challenged his policies As a result a group of Protestants known as the Immortal Seven invited James II amp VII s daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange to depose the king William obliged arriving in England on 5 November 1688 to great public support Faced with the defection of many of his Protestant officials James fled the realm and William and Mary rather than James II amp VII s Catholic son were declared joint Sovereigns of England Scotland and Ireland 63 James s overthrow known as the Glorious Revolution was one of the most important events in the long evolution of parliamentary power The Bill of Rights 1689 affirmed parliamentary supremacy and declared that the English people held certain rights including freedom from taxes imposed without parliamentary consent The Bill of Rights required future monarchs to be Protestants and provided that after any children of William and Mary Mary s sister Anne would inherit the Crown Mary II died childless in 1694 leaving William III amp II as the sole monarch By 1700 a political crisis arose as all of Anne s children had died leaving her as the only individual left in the line of succession Parliament was afraid that the former James II or his supporters known as Jacobites might attempt to reclaim the throne Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701 which excluded James and his Catholic relations from the succession and made William s nearest Protestant relations the family of Sophia Electress of Hanover next in line to the throne after his sister in law Anne 64 Soon after the passage of the Act William III amp II died leaving the Crown to Anne After the 1707 Acts of Union nbsp England and Scotland were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain under Queen Anne in 1707 See also List of British monarchs After Anne s accession the problem of succession re emerged The Scottish Parliament infuriated that the English Parliament did not consult them on the choice of Sophia s family as the next heirs passed the Act of Security 1704 threatening to end the personal union between England and Scotland The Parliament of England retaliated with the Alien Act 1705 threatening to devastate the Scottish economy by restricting trade The Scottish and English parliaments negotiated the Acts of Union 1707 under which England and Scotland were united into a single Kingdom of Great Britain with succession under the rules prescribed by the Act of Settlement 65 nbsp The Electorate later Kingdom of Hanover was in personal union with the British monarchy from 1714 to 1837 Orange borders shown 1814 1866 In 1714 Queen Anne was succeeded by her second cousin and Sophia s son George I Elector of Hanover who consolidated his position by defeating Jacobite rebellions in 1715 and 1719 The new monarch was less active in government than many of his British predecessors but retained control over his German kingdoms with which Britain was now in personal union 66 Power shifted towards George s ministers especially to Sir Robert Walpole who is often considered the first British prime minister although the title was not then in use 67 The next monarch George II witnessed the final end of the Jacobite threat in 1746 when the Catholic Stuarts were completely defeated During the long reign of his grandson George III thirteen of Britain s American colonies were lost when they formed the United States of America after the American Revolutionary War but British influence elsewhere in the world continued to grow The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created by the Acts of Union 1800 68 nbsp The union of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom occurred in 1801 under George III From 1811 to 1820 George III suffered a severe bout of what is now believed to be porphyria an illness rendering him incapable of ruling His son the future George IV ruled in his stead as Prince Regent During the Regency and his own reign the power of the monarchy declined and by the time of his successor William IV the monarch was no longer able to effectively interfere with parliamentary power In 1834 William dismissed the Whig Prime Minister William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne and appointed a Tory Sir Robert Peel In the ensuing elections however Peel lost The king had no choice but to recall Lord Melbourne During William IV s reign the Reform Act 1832 which reformed parliamentary representation was passed Together with others passed later in the century the Act led to an expansion of the electoral franchise and the rise of the House of Commons as the most important branch of Parliament 69 The final transition to a constitutional monarchy was made during the long reign of William IV s successor Victoria As a woman Victoria could not rule Hanover which only permitted succession in the male line so the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover came to an end The Victorian era was marked by great cultural change technological progress and the establishment of the United Kingdom as one of the world s foremost powers In recognition of British rule over India Victoria was declared Empress of India in 1876 However her reign was also marked by increased support for the republican movement due in part to Victoria s permanent mourning and lengthy period of seclusion following the death of her husband in 1861 70 Victoria s son Edward VII became the first monarch of the House of Saxe Coburg and Gotha in 1901 In 1917 the next monarch George V changed Saxe Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in response to the anti German sympathies aroused by the First World War George V s reign was marked by the separation of Ireland into Northern Ireland which remained a part of the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State an independent nation in 1922 71 Shared monarchy nbsp The British Empire in 1921During the twentieth century the Commonwealth of Nations evolved from the British Empire Prior to 1926 the British Crown reigned over the British Empire collectively the Dominions and Crown Colonies were subordinate to the United Kingdom The Balfour Declaration of 1926 gave complete self government to the Dominions effectively creating a system whereby a single monarch operated independently in each separate Dominion The concept was solidified by the Statute of Westminster 1931 72 which has been likened to a treaty among the Commonwealth countries 73 The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution although it is often still referred to as British for legal and historical reasons and for convenience The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom Canada Australia New Zealand and so forth one person reigning in multiple distinct sovereign states in a relationship likened to a personal union 74 George V s death in 1936 was followed by the accession of Edward VIII who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcees Accordingly Edward announced his intention to abdicate the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession and the Crown went to his brother George VI 75 George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II making morale boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and to areas bombed by Nazi Germany In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title Emperor of India although remaining head of state of the Dominion of India 76 At first every member of the Commonwealth retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom but when the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950 it would no longer share in a common monarchy Instead the British monarch was acknowledged as Head of the Commonwealth in all Commonwealth member states whether they were realms or republics The position is purely ceremonial and is not inherited by the British monarch as of right but is vested in an individual chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government 77 78 Member states of the Commonwealth that share the same person as monarch are informally known as Commonwealth realms 77 Monarchy in Ireland See also Monarchy of Ireland In 1155 the only English Pope Adrian IV authorised King Henry II of England to take possession of Ireland as a feudal territory nominally under papal overlordship The Pope wanted the English monarch to annex Ireland and bring the Irish church into line with Rome despite this process already being underway in Ireland by 1155 79 An all island kingship of Ireland had been created in 854 by Mael Sechnaill mac Maele Ruanaid His last successor was Ruaidri Ua Conchobair who had become High King of Ireland in early 1166 and exiled Diarmait Mac Murchada the King of Leinster a vassal kingdom Diarmait asked Henry II for help gaining a group of Anglo Norman aristocrats and adventurers led by Richard de Clare 2nd Earl of Pembroke to help him regain his throne Diarmait and his Anglo Norman allies succeeded and he became King of Leinster again De Clare married Diarmait s daughter and when Diarmait died in 1171 de Clare became King of Leinster 80 Henry was afraid that de Clare would make Ireland a rival Norman kingdom so he took advantage of the papal bull and invaded forcing de Clare and the other Anglo Norman aristocrats in Ireland and the major Irish kings and lords to recognise him as their overlord 81 By 1541 King Henry VIII of England had broken with the Church of Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England The Pope s grant of Ireland to the English monarch became invalid so Henry summoned a meeting of the Irish Parliament to change his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland 82 In 1800 as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 the Act of Union merged the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The whole island of Ireland continued to be a part of the United Kingdom until 1922 when what is now the Republic of Ireland won independence as the Irish Free State a separate Dominion within the Commonwealth The Irish Free State was renamed Ireland in 1937 and in 1949 declared itself a republic left the Commonwealth and severed all ties with the monarchy Northern Ireland remained within the Union In 1927 the United Kingdom changed its name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland while the monarch s style for the next twenty years became of Great Britain Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King Defender of the Faith Emperor of India Modern status and popularity In the 1990s republicanism in the United Kingdom grew partly on account of negative publicity associated with the royal family for instance immediately following the death of Diana Princess of Wales 83 However The Independent maintained polls from 2002 to 2007 showed that around 70 80 of the British public supported the continuation of the monarchy 84 According to Statista this support had remained constant since then according to a 2018 survey a majority of the British public across all age groups still supported the monarchy s continuation although support was higher amongst older age groups 85 In September 2022 shortly after the death of Elizabeth II The Guardian reported that a YouGov poll showed that 68 of British people felt positively about the monarchy The newspaper speculated that some of this may have been a reaction to the Queen s death and said it showed dissatisfaction is higher among young people 47 of people aged between 18 and 24 wanted the monarchy to continue compared to 86 aged 65 and over In May 2022 before the Queen s death the newspaper had reported that polling showed 33 of those aged between 18 and 24 wanted the monarchy to continue 86 In January 2023 a YouGov survey of roughly 1 700 UK people found that 64 thought that the country should continue to have a monarchy though that was lower than the 67 in September 2022 around the time of Queen Elizabeth II s death 87 88 Religious roleThe sovereign is the supreme governor of the established Church of England Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister who chooses the appointee from a list of nominees prepared by a Church Commission The Crown s role in the Church of England is titular the most senior clergyman the Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the Church and of the worldwide Anglican Communion 89 The monarch takes an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland and he or she holds the power to appoint the Lord High Commissioner to the Church s General Assembly but otherwise plays no part in its governance and exerts no powers over it 90 The sovereign plays no formal role in the disestablished Church in Wales or Church of Ireland SuccessionMain articles Succession to the British throne and Coronation of the British monarch nbsp William Prince of Wales heir apparent to the British throneThe relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the laws governing succession to the shared throne requires the unanimous consent of all the realms Succession is governed by statutes such as the Bill of Rights 1689 the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707 The rules of succession may only be changed by an Act of Parliament it is not possible for an individual to renounce his or her right of succession The Act of Settlement restricts the succession to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover 1630 1714 a granddaughter of James I and VI Upon demise of the Crown the death of a sovereign their heir immediately and automatically succeeds hence the phrase The king is dead long live the king and the accession of the new sovereign is publicly proclaimed by an Accession Council that meets at St James s Palace 91 Upon their accession a new sovereign is required by law to make and subscribe several oaths the Accession Declaration as first required by the Bill of Rights and an oath that they will maintain and preserve the Church of Scotland settlement as required by the Act of Union The monarch is usually crowned in Westminster Abbey normally by the Archbishop of Canterbury A coronation is not necessary for a sovereign to reign indeed the ceremony usually takes place many months after accession to allow sufficient time for its preparation and for a period of mourning 92 When an individual ascends the throne it is expected they will reign until death The only voluntary abdication that of Edward VIII had to be authorised by a special Act of Parliament His Majesty s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 The last monarch involuntarily removed from power was James VII and II who fled into exile in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution Restrictions by gender and religion See also Succession to the Crown Act 2013 Succession was largely governed by male preference cognatic primogeniture under which sons inherit before daughters and elder children inherit before younger ones of the same gender The British prime minister David Cameron announced at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that all 16 Commonwealth realms including the United Kingdom had agreed to abolish the gender preference rule for anyone born after the date of the meeting 28 October 2011 93 They also agreed that future monarchs would no longer be prohibited from marrying a Roman Catholic a law which dated from the Act of Settlement 1701 However since the monarch is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England the laws which restrict the throne to Protestants remain 94 The necessary UK legislation making the changes received the royal assent on 25 April 2013 and was brought into force in March 2015 after the equivalent legislation was approved in all the other Commonwealth realms 95 Though Catholics are prohibited from succeeding and are deemed naturally dead for succession purposes the disqualification does not extend to the individual s legitimate Protestant descendants Regency Main articles Regency Acts and Counsellor of State The Regency Acts allow for regencies in the event of a monarch who is a minor or who is physically or mentally incapacitated When a regency is necessary the next qualified individual in the line of succession automatically becomes regent unless they themselves are a minor or incapacitated Special provisions were made for Queen Elizabeth II by the Regency Act 1953 which stated that Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh the Queen s husband could act as regent in these circumstances 96 During a temporary physical infirmity or an absence from the kingdom the sovereign may temporarily delegate some of his or her functions to counsellors of state chosen from the monarch s spouse and the first four adults in the line of succession 97 The present counsellors of state are Queen Camilla William Prince of Wales Prince Harry Duke of Sussex Prince Andrew Duke of York Princess Beatrice Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh and Anne Princess Royal 98 While still able to serve the Duke of Sussex and Duke of York no longer carry out royal duties With the accession of Charles III and planned overseas trips in 2023 it was decided to expand the list of those eligible to serve as cousellors of state On 14 November 2022 the King sent a message to both Houses of Parliament formally asking for a change in the law that would allow Princess Anne and Prince Edward to be added to the list of counsellors of state 99 The next day a bill to that end was introduced in Parliament and it received royal assent on 6 December coming into force on 7 December 100 FinancesMain article Finances of the British royal family Until 1760 the monarch met all official expenses from hereditary revenues which included the profits of the Crown Estate the royal property portfolio King George III agreed to surrender the hereditary revenues of the Crown in return for the Civil List and this arrangement persisted until 2012 An annual Property Services grant in aid paid for the upkeep of the royal residences and an annual Royal Travel Grant in Aid paid for travel The Civil List covered most expenses including those for staffing state visits public engagements and official entertainment Its size was fixed by Parliament every 10 years any money saved was carried forward to the next 10 year period 101 From 2012 the Civil List and Grants in Aid were replaced with a single Sovereign Grant which was initially set at 15 of the revenues generated by the Crown Estate and increased to 25 in March 2017 102 103 The Crown Estate is one of the largest property portfolios in the United Kingdom with holdings of 15 6 billion in 2022 104 It is held in trust and cannot be sold or owned by the sovereign in a private capacity 105 In modern times the profits surrendered from the Crown Estate to the Treasury have exceeded the Sovereign Grant 101 For example the Crown Estate produced 312 7 million in the financial year 2021 22 104 whereas the Sovereign Grant for the monarch was 86 3 million during the same period 106 Like the Crown Estate the land and assets of the Duchy of Lancaster a property portfolio valued at 383 million in 2011 107 are held in trust The revenues of the Duchy form part of the Privy Purse and are used for expenses not borne by the parliamentary grants 108 The Paradise Papers leaked in 2017 show that the Duchy of Lancaster held investments in the British tax havens of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda 109 The Duchy of Cornwall is a similar estate held in trust to meet the expenses of the monarch s eldest son The Royal Collection which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels is not owned by the sovereign personally and is held in trust 110 as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle 111 The sovereign is subject to indirect taxes such as value added tax and since 1993 the monarch has paid income tax and capital gains tax on personal income Parliamentary grants to the sovereign are not treated as income as they are solely for official expenditure 112 Republicans estimate that the real cost of the monarchy including security and potential income not claimed by the state such as profits from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and rent of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle is 334 million a year 113 Estimates of Queen Elizabeth II s wealth varied depending on whether assets owned by her personally or held in trust for the nation were included Forbes magazine estimated her wealth at US 450 million in 2010 114 but no official figure was available In 1993 the Lord Chamberlain said estimates of 100 million were grossly overstated 115 Jock Colville who was her former private secretary and a director of her bank Coutts estimated her wealth in 1971 at 2 million 116 the equivalent of about 30 million today 117 The Sunday Times Rich List 2020 estimated Elizabeth II s personal wealth at 350 million 118 Residences nbsp Buckingham Palace in London England is the monarch s principal residence nbsp Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh Scotland is the monarch s official Scottish residence Main article List of British royal residences The sovereign s official residence in London is Buckingham Palace It is the site of most state banquets investitures royal christenings and other ceremonies 119 Another official residence is Windsor Castle the largest occupied castle in the world 120 which is used principally at weekends Easter and during Royal Ascot an annual race meeting that is part of the social calendar 120 The sovereign s official residence in Scotland is the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh The monarch stays at Holyrood for at least one week each year and when visiting Scotland on state occasions 121 Historically the Palace of Westminster and the Tower of London were the main residences of the English monarch until Henry VIII acquired the Palace of Whitehall Whitehall was destroyed by fire in 1698 leading to a shift to St James s Palace Although replaced as the monarch s primary London residence by Buckingham Palace in 1837 St James s is still the senior palace 122 and remains the ceremonial royal residence For example foreign ambassadors are accredited to the Court of St James s 119 123 and the Palace is the site of the meeting of the Accession Council 91 It is also used by other members of the royal family 122 Other residences include Clarence House and Kensington Palace The palaces belong to the Crown they are held in trust for future rulers and cannot be sold by the monarch 124 Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire are privately owned by the royal family 111 StyleMain article Style of the British sovereign The present sovereign s full style and title is Charles the third by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King Head of the Commonwealth Defender of the Faith The title Head of the Commonwealth is held by the king personally and is not vested in the British Crown 78 Pope Leo X first granted the title Defender of the Faith to King Henry VIII in 1521 rewarding him for his support of the Papacy during the early years of the Protestant Reformation particularly for his book the Defence of the Seven Sacraments 125 After Henry broke from the Roman Church Pope Paul III revoked the grant but Parliament passed a law authorising its continued use 126 The sovereign is known as His Majesty or Her Majesty The form Britannic Majesty appears in international treaties and on passports to differentiate the British monarch from foreign rulers 127 The monarch chooses his or her regnal name not necessarily his or her first name George VI Edward VII and Victoria did not use their first names 128 If only one monarch has used a particular name no ordinal is used for example Queen Victoria is not known as Victoria I and ordinals are not used for English monarchs who reigned before the Norman conquest of England The question of whether numbering for British monarchs is based on previous English or Scottish monarchs was raised in 1953 when Scottish nationalists challenged the Queen s use of Elizabeth II on the grounds that there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland In MacCormick v Lord Advocate the Scottish Court of Session ruled against the plaintiffs finding that the Queen s title was a matter of her own choice and prerogative The Home Secretary told the House of Commons that monarchs since the Acts of Union had consistently used the higher of the English and Scottish ordinals which in the applicable four cases has been the English ordinal 129 The prime minister confirmed this practice but noted that neither The Queen nor her advisers could seek to bind their successors 130 Future monarchs will apply this policy 131 ArmsMain article Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is Quarterly I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or for England II Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counter flory Gules for Scotland III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent for Ireland The supporters are the Lion and the Unicorn the motto is Dieu et mon droit French God and my Right Surrounding the shield is a representation of a Garter bearing the motto of the Chivalric order of the same name Honi soit qui mal y pense Old French Shame be to him who thinks evil of it In Scotland the monarch uses an alternative form of the arms in which quarters I and IV represent Scotland II England and III Ireland The mottoes are In Defens an abbreviated form of the Scots In my defens God me defend and the motto of the Order of the Thistle Nemo me impune lacessit Latin No one provokes me with impunity the supporters are the unicorn and lion who support both the escutcheon and lances from which fly the flags of Scotland and England nbsp The coat of arms of Charles III in the United Kingdom The design left features the arms of England in the first and fourth quarters Scotland in the second and Ireland in the third In Scotland a separate version is used right in which the Arms of Scotland take precedence The monarch s official flag in the United Kingdom is the Royal Standard which depicts the Royal Arms in banner form It is flown only from buildings vessels and vehicles in which the sovereign is present 132 The Royal Standard is never flown at half mast because there is always a sovereign when one dies his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly 133 nbsp Royal Standard of the United Kingdom nbsp Royal Standard of the United Kingdom in Scotland When the monarch is not in residence the Union Flag is flown at Buckingham Palace Windsor Castle and Sandringham House whereas in Scotland the Royal Banner of Scotland is flown at Holyrood Palace and Balmoral Castle 132 nbsp Union Flag of the United Kingdom nbsp Royal Banner of ScotlandSee alsoFamily tree of the British royal familyNotes Pegg David Evans Rob 7 February 2021 Revealed Queen lobbied for change in law to hide her private wealth The Guardian Retrieved 11 September 2022 The sovereign is however entitled to comment on drafts of laws that would directly affect the monarchy 1 Select Committee on Soft Power and the UK s Influence House of Lords 14 March 2014 Persuasion and Power in the Modern World Report HL Paper 150 Hay George 9 September 2022 Queen was Britain s ultimate brand ambassador Reuters Retrieved 4 April 2023 Charities and Patronages The Royal Family Retrieved 4 April 2023 e g Regency Act 1937 c 11 legislation co uk National Archives Montague Smith Patrick ed 1979 Debrett s Correct Form An Inclusive Guide to Everything from Drafting Wedding Invitations to Addressing an Archbishop London Futura pp 13 14 ISBN 0708815006 via the Internet Archive Aslet Clive 21 May 2014 Our picture of Her Majesty will never fade The Daily Telegraph archived from the original on 10 January 2022 retrieved 30 October 2018 National Anthem royal uk Retrieved 23 December 2023 Citizenship ceremonies guidance notes English and Welsh GOV UK 11 May 2023 Retrieved 23 December 2023 Crown Appointments Act 1661 legislation gov uk The National Archives 1661 c 6 Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Section 3 legislation gov uk The National Archives 2005 c 4 s 3 Bagehot 2001 p 9 Torrance David 24 October 2023 The royal prerogative and ministerial advice UK Parliament House of Commons Library Research Briefing Audiences royal uk Retrieved 23 December 2023 Bagehot 2001 p 75 a b c PASC Publishes Government Defence of its Sweeping Prerogative Powers UK Parliament 2002 archived from the original on 4 January 2004 retrieved 10 October 2008 Brazier 1997 p 312 Waldron 1990 pp 59 60 Queen and Prime Minister Official website of the British Monarchy archived from the original on 14 April 2010 retrieved 18 June 2010 State Opening of Parliament UK Parliament Retrieved 23 December 2023 Prorogation UK Parliament Retrieved 23 December 2023 Results and analysis General election 10 October 1974 Political Science Resources 11 March 2008 archived from the original on 14 October 2020 retrieved 10 October 2008 Brock Michael September 2004 online edition January 2008 William IV 1765 1837 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Retrieved 10 October 2008 subscription required Crabbe 1994 p 17 Royal Assent BBC News 24 January 2006 retrieved 27 April 2008 UK Politics Dewar appointed First Minister BBC News 17 May 1999 retrieved 10 October 2008 Brief overview Government of Wales Act 2006 Welsh Assembly Government archived from the original on 26 October 2011 retrieved 30 August 2011 Northern Ireland Act 1998 Office of Public Sector Information archived from the original on 30 July 2020 retrieved 10 October 2008 Durkin Mary Gay Oonagh 21 December 2005 The Royal Prerogative PDF House of Commons Library archived from the original PDF on 25 June 2008 retrieved 10 October 2008 Dyer Clare 21 October 2003 Mystery lifted on Queen s powers The Guardian retrieved 9 May 2008 Orders of Chivalry The UK Honours System 30 April 2007 archived from the original on 19 August 2007 retrieved 9 May 2008 Halsbury s Laws of England volume 8 1 Constitutional Law and Human Rights paragraph 382 Revealed Queen s sweeping immunity from more than 160 laws The Guardian 14 July 2022 Retrieved 14 July 2022 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 13 17 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 102 127 Fraser 1975 pp 30 46 Fraser 1975 pp 54 74 Fraser 1975 pp 77 78 Fraser 1975 pp 79 93 Ashley 1998 pp 595 597 Fraser 1975 pp 96 115 Fraser 1975 pp 118 130 Fraser 1975 pp 133 165 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 p 295 Fraser 1975 pp 168 176 Fraser 1975 pp 179 189 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 194 265 309 Ashley 1998 pp 636 647 Fraser 1975 pp 190 211 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 1 12 35 Tarrance David 18 October 2022 The coronation history and ceremonial PDF Research Briefing House of Commons Library p 8 Archived PDF from the original on 11 October 2022 Weir 1996 pp 164 177 Ashley 1998 pp 390 395 Ashley 1998 pp 400 407 Weir 1996 pp 185 198 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 p 170 Ashley 1998 pp 407 409 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 187 196 Ashley 1998 pp 409 412 Ashley 1998 pp 549 552 Ashley 1998 pp 552 565 Ashley 1998 pp 567 575 Royal Arms Styles and Titles of Great Britain Westminster 20 October 1604 Fraser 1975 pp 214 231 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 393 400 Fraser 1975 p 232 Fraser 1975 pp 242 245 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 439 440 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 447 448 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 460 469 Sir Robert Walpole BBC retrieved 14 October 2008 Ashley 1998 pp 677 680 Cannon amp Griffiths 1988 pp 530 550 Fraser 1975 pp 305 306 Fraser 1975 pp 314 333 Statute of Westminster 1931 Government of Nova Scotia 11 October 2001 retrieved 20 April 2008 Justice Rouleau in O Donohue v Canada 2003 CanLII 41404 ON S C Zines Leslie 2008 The High Court and the Constitution 5th ed Annandale New South Wales Federation Press p 314 ISBN 978 1 86287 691 0 Corbett P E 1940 The Status of the British Commonwealth in International Law University of Toronto Law Journal 3 2 348 359 doi 10 2307 824318 JSTOR 824318 Scott F R January 1944 The End of Dominion Status American Journal of International Law 38 1 34 49 doi 10 2307 2192530 JSTOR 2192530 S2CID 147122057 R v Foreign Secretary Ex parte Indian Association 1982 QB 892 at 928 as 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Monarchy Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 822786 8 Crabbe V C R A C 1994 Understanding Statutes Cavendish Publishing ISBN 978 1 859 41138 4 Flanagan M T 2004 Mac Murchada Diarmait c 1110 1171 and Clare Richard fitz Gilbert de second earl of Pembroke c 1130 1176 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Retrieved 14 October 2008 subscription required Fraser Antonia ed 1975 The Lives of the Kings amp Queens of England Weidenfeld amp Nicolson ISBN 0 297 76911 1 Ives E W September 2004 online edition January 2008 Henry VIII 1491 1547 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Retrieved 20 April 2008 subscription required Matthew H C G 2004 Edward VIII later Prince Edward duke of Windsor 1894 1972 and George VI 1895 1952 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Retrieved 14 October 2008 subscription required Pimlott Ben 1998 The Queen A Biography of Elizabeth II HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 471 28330 0 Pimlott Ben 2001 The Queen Elizabeth II and the Monarchy HarperCollins ISBN 0 00 255494 1 Sayers Jane E 2004 Adrian IV d 1159 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Retrieved 20 April 2008 subscription required Seldon Anthony 2021 The Impossible Office The History of the British Prime Minister Tomkins Adam 2003 Public Law Clarendon Law Oxford University Press Waldron Jeremy 1990 The Law Routledge Weir Alison 1996 Britain s Royal Families The Complete Genealogy Revised ed Pimlico ISBN 0 7126 7448 9 External links nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Monarchy of the United Kingdom nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to British monarchy Official website of the British monarchy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Monarchy of the United Kingdom amp oldid 1196525814 English monarchy, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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