The Queen

The United Kingdom is one of the six constitutional monarchies within Europe (the other five being Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain). Britain's monarchy is the oldest, dating back to the 9th century. It existed four centuries before Parliament and three centuries before the law courts. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is directly descended from Saxon king Egbert, who united England under his rule in 829.

The full royal title in Britain is Queen, «Elizabeth the Second, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith» The title reflects the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland with Ireland in 1801 and the emergence of the Commonwealth.

The present royal family belonged to the House of Saxe-Cobtirg and Gotha until 1917 when, in the light of the First World War, it was considered more appropriate for the King to have an English rather than a German name. It was therefore proclaimed that Queen Victoria's descendants in the male line would adopt the name Windsor. In 1952 Queen Elizabeth II declared that she and her children should be known as the House and the Family of Windsor.

The Queen’s duties. The Queen personifies the State in law. She is the head of the executive and of the judiciary, an integral part of the legislature, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the 'supreme governor' of the established Church of England. As a result of a long process of evolution, especially since 1689, the monarchy's absolute powers have been progressively reduced, the Queen today is only a formal ruler and does not actually govern: nowadays monarchs reign but do not rule.

The constitutional and legal doctrine declares that the Queen can do nothing wrong. In practice this has come to mean that the Queen does not act independently. Whatever she does must be done on the advice of a Minister; and that Minister is politically responsible for the royal act.

Though Britain is actually governed by Her Majesty's Government, it would be wrong to underestimate the role of the monarchy in Britain. The official and state duties of the Queen are numerous. The Queen's involvement is still required in many important acts of government. It is the Queen who summons, prorogues (suspends until the next session) and dissolves Parliament. She normally opens each session with a speech from the throne, which outlines her Government's programme. Before a bill that has passed all its stages in both Houses of Parliament becomes a law it must receive the Royal Assent.

It is the Queen's duty to make appointments of many important office holders, including government ministers, judges, officers in the armed forces, governors, diplomats, bishops and other senior clergy of the Church of England. She also confers all peerages, knighthoods and other honours. While the Queen normally does all this on the direction of the government, there are a few honours conferred on her personal selection — the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of the Merit and the Royal Victorian Order.

The Order of the Garter was created in the fourteenth century by King Edward III. He selected the twenty-four bravest soldiers in England and made them knights of 'The Order of the Carter'. These days most knights of the Garter aren't soldiers - they are politicians, earls or church leaders. The Order's home is at Windsor. Each year all the knights meet there on a Monday in June. Then they walk (watched by thousands of visitors and tourists) from the Castle to St George's Chapel where a special ceremony takes place, in fact the garter ceremony always happens on the Monday of 'Ascot Week', a famous horse-racing event.

An important function of the Queen is appointing the Prime Minister, but when doing so she is bound to invite the leader of the political party, which commands a majority in the House of Commons to form a government.

In international affairs the Queen, as the head of the state, has the power to declare war and make peace, to recognise foreign states and governments, to conclude treaties and to annex or cede territories.

The ambassadorial role of the Queen and the other members of the royal family is very important. On average, Britain's top ten 'royals', spend one month per year on official foreign tours. When visiting the other countries of the Commonwealth, the Queen is usually accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh. Other members of the royal family also pay official visits overseas, sometimes representing the Queen or often in connection with an organisation with which they are associated. Their presence at scientilic, artistic, industrial and charitable events attracts considerable interest. They are also closely involved in the work of many charities especially as presidents or patrons. The Duke of Edinburgh, for example, being particularly interested in science and technology, the environment and overpopulation, is Patron of the Industrial Society and International President of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Prince Charles is associated as president or patron, with more than 200 organisations; Princess Ann, among her many patronages and presidencies, is head or 'Chancellor' of London University and President of the Save the Children Fund. On behalf of all these she has undertaken extensive tours of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South America.

For advice on such matters the Queen has her own Privy Council. In earlier times it was a body of advisers of English monarchs and was the chief source of executive power in the State. As the system of Cabinet government developed, the Privy Council declined in importance. The present-day Privy Council exists mainly to give effect to policy decisions made elsewhere. The Privy Council consists of members of the royal family, the Archbishops and all senior ministers and ex-ministers, together with others to whom membership has been given as an honour. There are about 300 of them altogether.

The Queen is also active in the smooth working of government: apart from holding meetings of the Privy Council, she gives audiences to her ministers and other officials in Britain and overseas, reads dispatches and signs numerous state papers, these arrive in special 'red boxes'. Some are new laws that need her 'assent'. Others are reports, documents or telegrams from ambassadors. This is an important part of the Queen's job. She is not a political leader, but she has 'the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn'. That is also why the Queen is visited by the Prime Minister every Tuesday evening to receive an account of Cabinet decisions, as she must be informed and consulted on every aspect of national life. Since 1952 the Queen has given audience, as it is called, to ten Prime Ministers and her forty years' experience gives importance to those meetings.

Points for discussion:

1. Hereditary succession (monarchy passes from one member of the family to another).

2. The Queen presents the main government policies.

3. The Royal Prerogative is the same today as it was many years ago.

4. 4.The monarch’s consent is required before the Cabinet can be formed.

5. 5.’The Queen reigns but does not rule.’

6. 6.The monarch may not be present at Privy Council meetings.

Text C. Read the text and make up the plan for discussing.