Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most famous and admired people on the planet. As the UK’s nominal ruler since 1952 – making her the country’s oldest monarch – her influence is felt around the world. But despite this enormous influence, the Queen has no real power in the British government. Instead, as the monarchy evolved over hundreds of years, its role became largely symbolic.
Historical powers of the monarchy
King John signs the Magna Carta.
Historical Image Archive / Corbis / Getty Images
For centuries the English monarchy has held great authority, but its history is fraught with challenges to that power and concessions to nobles. More famous still, the signing of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215 recognized that the powers of the monarchy made have limits and, most importantly, established that the crown could not collect taxes without the consent of a council of religious officials and feudal lords. This council of wealthy and powerful figures evolved into Parliament, which gradually took on a larger role as the English began to call upon it to resolve disputes and send representatives to petition it on their behalf.
The role of Parliament ultimately depended on how much power the monarch wanted to give it and how much he or she needed the support of Parliament. King Charles I ruled without Parliament for over a decade, triggering events that would end with his beheading and the abolition of the monarchy in 1649. Parliament then ruled without a king until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.
During the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Parliament invited William II of Orange and his wife, Mary II, to invade England and depose King James II, who wanted absolute power. William and Mary then approved the Bill of Rights, which legally required Parliament to be held regularly, granted full freedom of speech in Parliament, and instituted various civil liberties. Britain does not have a single written constitution like that of the United States, but foundational documents like the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights formally took power from the Crown and handed it over to Parliament.
READ MORE: How Magna Carta Influenced the U.S. Constitution
UK government is changing
Over time, Parliament evolved into a true representative government, similar to the Congress of the United States. Its upper house, the House of Lords, is made up of nobles and originally held almost all the power of Parliament, but over the centuries the lower house, the House of Commons, has grown more powerful. By the 1700s, the Commons had obtained the exclusive right to initiate taxes, meaning that a legislature made up of elected representatives – though most people still could not vote – controlled the state portfolio. .
The monarch reserves the right to “invite” whomever he wishes to form a government, but this is a holdover from the days when “prime minister” was an informal way of designating the deputy chosen by the king or queen for conduct the procedures. For more than a century, the Crown has consistently extended this ‘invitation’ to the leader of the party that controls Parliament – the last time a British monarch attempted to impose his favorite Prime Minister in Parliament was in 1834, and this it’s not the case. job. Likewise, representative government is said to rule “on its behalf”, and its formal assent is always necessary for many functions of state, but for the Queen, to criticize, prevent or not accept the will of Parliament would be a violation of more than a century of tradition.
The Queen’s Role in Government Today
Queen Elizabeth II works at her desk on the Royal Train in May 2002.
Anwar Hussein / Getty Images
The Queen remains Britain’s Head of State, the UK’s highest representative nationally and internationally. The leader of the British government, however, is the prime minister. One serves as the symbol of the country and the other serves as the director general of the government.
In her role as Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II gives a regular speech at the opening of each new Parliament and makes official appearances and speeches on holidays and special occasions. The Queen remains in close contact with the Prime Minister and is regularly briefed on all important national issues, but never speaks out publicly on political debates – and no final decision is up to her.
As the Royal Family relinquished most of their political powers, Queen Elizabeth, her husband and children have emphasized their roles in various charities – the Queen is the titular “patron” of over 600 charities, though this role is mainly to draw attention to the causes. Its presence during some of the great crises in recent British history, including the COVID-19 pandemic, has drawn praise.
As Britain’s global empire collapsed in the aftermath of WWII, a number of its official colonies declared independence but chose to enter the Commonwealth of Nations, of which the Queen remains the figurehead. Citizens of Australia, Canada and many island nations around the world consider themselves subjects of Queen Elizabeth, who visited 13 of these “Commonwealth Kingdoms” in 1953. Elizabeth appears on the coins of many of these nations and his visits are usually a cause for celebration, but his duties there, as in his home country, are entirely ceremonial.
READ MORE: The reign of Queen Elizabeth II: then and now
