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А. Г. Минченков. «Glimpses of Britain. Учебное пособие»

Modern Britain

The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain – England, Scotland and Wales – and Northern Ireland. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are Crown dependencies with their own legislative systems, and not a part of the United Kingdom. The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag, generally known as the Union Jack. The Union Flag is a combination of the cross of St. George, patron saint of England (red cross on a white ground), the cross of St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland (white diagonal cross on a blue ground), and a cross similar to that of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland (red diagonal cross on a white ground). The Union flag was first introduced in 1606 after the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland under one sovereign. The cross of St. Patrick was added in 1801 after the union of Great Britain and Ireland.

The four main parts of the United Kingdom have their symbols: plants and animals. England is symbolized by the rose and the lion, Scotland – by the thistle and the unicorn, Wales – by the daffodil, the leek and the dragon, and Ireland is symbolized by the shamrock.

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А. Г. Минченков. «Glimpses of Britain. Учебное пособие»

Modern British Monarchy

Britain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the Queen-in-Parliament. Officially British people are not citizens, but Her Majesty’s subjects, and the government is called Her Majesty’s Government. The present Queen is Elizabeth II, who was born on 21 April 1926, came to the throne on 6 February 1952 (Accession Day) and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. The Queen’s official titles are ‘Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’. Elizabeth II is queen of 16 former British colonies, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (where she is represented by a Governor-General).

Elizabeth II

Following the nineteenth century writer and journalist Walter Bagehot, the author of the English Constitution (1867), the monarchy is considered to be the ‘dignified’ part of the constitutional arrangements as opposed to the ‘efficient’ part, or the executive; the monarch has ‘the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn’. Under the British Constitution the sovereign remains head of state and retains certain prerogatives, but in practice she entrusts the executive power to her Ministers of the Crown and acts on the advice of the government of the day.

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The royal prerogatives are actions of the government that get their legitimacy from the Crown and don’t need parliamentary approval. At the moment the royal prerogative powers include:

the summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament

the appointment of the Prime Minister at the end of an election (normally the leader of the party that has won a majority in the Commons is appointed)

the power to enact legislation (all bills require the royal assent before becoming law)

the declaration of war and the making of peace

the recognition of foreign states and governments

the concluding of treaties and the annexing and ceding of territories

the power to make formal appointments to all the most important offices of state, in the armed forces and the Church of England

the power to confer peerages, knighthoods and other honours

The sovereign’s formal approval to all decisions under royal prerogative is given at the meetings of the Privy Council.

The list of prerogatives shows that, at least formally, the Queen is head of the executive and part of the legislative. She is also head of the judiciary – all the courts of the land are the Queen’s Courts and justice is administered in her name. The Queen enjoys legal immunity and can not be summoned into court as a witness. She is also commander in chief of the British armed forces and temporal governor of the established Church of England. According to the 1701 Act of Settlement, only a member of the Church of England can succeed to the throne.

Every day the Queen studies cabinet papers and Foreign Office dispatches and receives a report of the day’s proceedings in Parliament. She regularly sees the Prime Minister in audience while the House of Commons is sitting. She is also in constant touch with foreign ambassadors and Commonwealth representatives and has a lot of public engagements, all of which makes her a very busy person. In her work and private life the Queen is assisted by a numerous staff. Official correspondence is dealt with by the Queen’s Private Secretary, while her private correspondence and the many hundreds of letters from children are dealt with by her ladies-in-waiting. Most senior of these is the Mistress of the Robes. There are also Ladies of the Bedchamber and Women of the Bedchamber.

The royal prerogatives have repeatedly come under criticism. Republicans, or Roundheads, as they are sometimes called, maintain that the executive uses the monarchy and the royal prerogative powers to bypass Parliament. The existence of the monarchy with its prerogative powers, they say, serves to disguise the omnipotence of the government, perpetuates an archaic political system with no proper checks on the executive. In 2003 the Fabian Society proposed the abolition of at least some of the royal prerogative powers, such as the declaration of war, the choice of the Prime Minister and key appointments. It also said that the monarch should no longer be supreme governor of the Church of England, and prosecutions should be made in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions, not the Crown. The Guardian launched a legal campaign against the 1701 Act of Settlement, which excludes Roman Catholics, Muslims and other non-Anglicans from succeeding to the throne.

The Queen also has an ecclesiastical household comprising the College of Chaplains (36 chaplains whose duties are mostly honorary), and the chaplains and organists of the Chapels Royal at the Tower of London, St. James Palace and Hampton Court. There are also churches known as the Royal Peculiars because they are not subject to the jurisdiction of archbishops and bishops, for

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example, Westminster Abbey and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The Queen is a firm believer and goes to church every Sunday, often with members of her family.

The Queen has three official residences – Buckingham Palace in London, Windsor Castle and Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh [44]. There are also two private residences – Sandringham in Norfolk, East Anglia [90] and Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands.

The Royal Family includes the Queen herself, her husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921); her elder son Charles (born 1948), the Prince of Wales, Heir to the Throne (Heir Apparent); Charles’ sons Prince William (born 1982), Heir Presumptive, and Prince Henry (born 1984); and the Queen’s other children – Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. In April 2005 Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who assumed the title Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall. The other members of the royal family are normally referred to as minor royals.

More than three quarters of the Queen’s expenditure as head of state and of her family is met by relevant government departments. The total amount varies from year to year; in 2003, for example the Queen received Ј36.8m in public money to carry out her duties and maintain her official residences. Besides the upkeep of the royal palaces, the sum covers travel expenditure (including the maintenance of the Royal Train – available only to the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles), state visits, ceremonial occasions, legal advice costs and other expenditures. Balmoral and Sandringham are maintained out of the Queen’s personal income.

The rest of the expenditure is met by the Civil List – the money provided by Parliament each year for the running of the Queen’s household. The Civil List has been provided since a settlement in 1760 by which the monarch hands over in return the income from the Crown estates: Ј170.8m in 2003. In 2001 the sum was fixed at Ј7.9 m per year until 2011. Three-quarters of this sum goes on salaries for the staff of the royal household, which numbers about 350 people. The Civil List is administered by the Keeper of the Privy Purse.

The Queen also has private income from the Duchy of Lancaster (crown estate with a total area of more than 19,000 hectares), which is taxed. In 2003 the income was Ј7,3m before tax. The Prince of Wales’ income is drawn entirely from his Duchy of Cornwall estate (more than 50,000 hectares). In 2003 it amounted to Ј10m before tax. Since 1992 the Queen has paid tax on a voluntary basis from her private income, but not on ‘head of state expenditure’. Other royals pay income tax on a regular basis.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex receive annuities from the government, but since 1993 the Queen has refunded to the Treasury all the annuities except the one paid to her husband. By tradition, the monarch also grants free of rent so called grace-and-favour apartments to other royals, in houses owned by her, for example in Kensington Palace. [74]

There are a number of special royal occasions, which take place regularly each year. Usually in October or November, unless a general election has been held, there is the State Opening of Parliament at which the Queen rides in a state carriage from Buckingham palace and, wearing the Imperial State Crown, delivers a speech from the throne in the House of Lords, outlining the government’s proposals for the coming session.

In November the Queen attends the Remembrance Day service in Whitehall for the dead of the two world wars and lays a wreath at the Cenotaph (a memorial built in 1920). In early June she goes to the Derby at Epsom. Later that month the Queen is at Windsor for Royal Ascot week, Britain’s most fashionable race meeting.

June is also the month of Trooping the Colour on Horse Guards Parade, in celebration of the monarch’s official birthday. It was Edward VII who began the custom of a moveable official birthday on a second Saturday in June in the hope of ensuring good weather for the ceremony – his own birthday was in November. Each year the Queen’s Colour is trooped before her in a spectacular

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parade and birthday honours are given. Also in the summer the Queen holds three garden parties in the grounds of Buckingham palace, each of which is attended by about 8,000 guests, giving her the opportunity to meet many more people than would otherwise be possible. People from all walks of life come to admire the lovely gardens and enjoy tea and cakes while listening to a brass band. A garden party is also held at the palace of Holyroodhouse [44; 45] in Edinburgh during the Queen’s residence in June or July.

Throughout the year investitures are held, at which the Queen awards honours to about 3,000 people annually. Most of the honours are given twice a year – at the New Year and on the Queen’s official birthday (birthday honours) – on the Prime Minister’s advice. Usually the Prime Minister passes on recommendations from ministers and the public to the Queen, who then decides. One of the most prestigious honours is the Order of the Garter, which is usually given to very distinguished statesmen, noblemen and military men. The order is limited to 24 Knight companions, in addition to the Queen, who is sovereign of the Order, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales, who are Royal Knights, and a number of foreign sovereigns (Kings of Spain and Sweden, for example) as Extra Knights or Extra Ladies of the Garter. On formal occasions Knights and Ladies of the Garter wear a blue ribbon.

Royal Ascot is held for four days in June. Although it takes place in England, it is popular with horse racing fans worldwide. The origin of this event goes back to Queen Anne, who was a very enthusiastic horsewoman. One day, she spotted a broad, flat field near the village of East Cote (later renamed to Ascot). This was a few miles south of Windsor Castle. Queen Anne felt it was a great location for a racecourse. The very first races were held on August 11 1711. Queen Anne presided over the event’s festivities. In 1760, when George III came to the throne, the once humble Royal Ascot became the second most popular race in all of England. The first and most popular race had been the one held at Epsom, which started way back in the 17th century. In 1822, a grandstand was built. Soon afterwards, a permanent stand (including reception rooms) for the king, the queen and the royal family was built where they could view the races. During the 19th century, the buildings surrounding the racecourse were either added or the current ones enlarged numerous times. Then came private boxes, hundreds of open and closed stalls, and accommodations for carriages. They also had a large dining hall built with a verandah. Now the Royal Ascot race is considered by many Britons as the high point of their social season. The royal family traditionally attend the races. The English upper classes can be seen flaunting their best fashions before cameras of local and international press. On the Thursday of Ascot Week is so called ‘Ladies Day’. This is a long-standing tradition in which there is a parade of women displaying their hats. These aren’t just normal hats. They are so fancy and elaborate that it’s often difficult to see who is wearing it. Tradition demands that women wear them at the Royal Meeting. In fact, a woman can not enter the exclusive Royal Enclosure without wearing a hat that must cover the “crown of her head.” All during race week, photographs of the more outrageous hats dominate the pages of the British tabloids and newspapers. A custom-made hat can start at $500 and go up into thousands of dollars!

The Scottish equivalent of the Garter is the Order of the Thistle, which is limited to the Queen and 16 knight brethren. This order was revived in 1687. The colour of the ribbon is green and the motto of the order is Nemo me impune lacessit (No one provokes me with impunity).

There are also other orders, among them the Order of Merit (established in1902), the Royal Victorian Order (1896) awarded to people who have directly served the Royal Family, and the

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Order of the Bath (1725, crimson ribbon) called so because of the ceremonial ablutions that were to be performed at the initiation ceremony. However, most people are awarded the Order of the British Empire, which has 5 degrees – Member of the British Empire (MBE), Officer of the British Empire (OBE), Commander of the British Empire (CBE), Knight Commander (KBE) or Dame Commander (DBE), Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the British Empire (GBE). The motto of the Order is For God and the Empire. This order is often given to outstanding sportsmen, writers, and film stars. Those awarded the 4th and 5th degrees are called Sir or Dame. Knights and Dames remain commoners and have no special privileges apart from the title, which is not hereditary.

The Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) established in 1917 consists of one class only and carries with it no title. The number of awards is limited to 65 people.

The highest honour, which confers the title of Lord or Lady, is life peerage. Peers created before 1876 were all hereditary. Since 1876 life peerages have been conferred on certain eminent judges (known as law lords). Since 1958 life peerages have been conferred upon distinguished men and women from all walks of life, giving them the title of baron or baroness. Altogether there are five degrees of peerage, the highest is the Duke or Duchess, then come Marquis or Marchioness, Earl or Countess, Viscount or Viscountess, and finally Baron or Baroness. Now it is common to confer only the lowest degree of peerage, and normally it can only be life peerage.

The Peerage Act of 1963 enables peers to disclaim their peerages for life. The title then falls into abeyance and after the disclaimant’s death the descendants can claim it back.

The elder sons of peers have a courtesy title, given by polite custom, but having no legal significance; for instance, the elder son of the Duke of Marlborough is called the Marquis of Blandford.

There are so called Royal Beasts – heraldic animals that symbolize the various strands of the royal ancestry. Each of the 10 beasts was once used as an heraldic badge by the present queen’s forbears. The Royal Beasts include, for example, the Lion of England, the Unicorn of Scotland, the White Horse of Hanover, the Red Dragon of Wales and the White Grey Hound of Richmond. [92–96]

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