Currently the British monarch is Her Majesty Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, Head of the Commonwealth. The monarch is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Although the monarch plays an important ceremonial role, in practice the British use the Westminster system of constitutional monarchy, so the power of the monarch in British politics is greatly limited by convention.
There are two situations in which the monarch may have political power. By convention, the monarch dissolves parliament and issues a writ for new elections at the request of the Prime Minister, however it is an open question as to whether the monarch must always grant such a dissolution. Another possible situation is if no party gains a majority in Parliament. The monarch would by convention offer the post of Prime Minister to the head of the party most likely to form a government, but it is possible that this may not be the party with the most seats.
The monarch must formally assent to all acts of Parliament before they can become law. Royal assent is given in Norman French by a representative of the monarch. The last time royal assent was withheld was by Queen Anne. Although there is a popular consensus in support of the continuing existence of the monarchy, there is a wide belief that this would rapidly change were the monarch to exercise power in opposition to the democratically elected government.
The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II (since February 6, 1952) and the Heir Apparent is Charles, Prince of Wales (son of the Queen, born November 14, 1948). Although Charles is the formal heir-apparent there has been continuing speculation that when the Queen dies or abdicates then the crown will pass not to Charles, but to his eldest son. Advocates for this suggest that Charles is unsuitable as a monarch because of his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales.
Succession to the British throne is restricted to Protestant descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, with male heirs having precedence over females, though there have been moves to amend these restrictions in recent years.
Labour minister Lord Williams of Mostyn said in 1998 that the government would like to change the law to give equal precedence regardless of sex, and that the Queen had given her approval to such a change. However, the government also believes that such a change would take up a lot of parliamentary time, and would require consultation with the other countries of which the British monarch is head of state. Despite public calls for change by two female cabinet ministers, Patricia Hewitt[?] and Tessa Jowell[?], no moves have yet been taken.
The Guardian newspaper has campaigned in recent years for an abolition of the restriction on non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne. It argues that the restriction may be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is now part of British law. A "ten minute rule" bill to overturn this restriction was introduced in the British House of Commons by Labour MP Kevin McNamara[?] in 2001, and won a symbolic victory when forced to a vote, but did not become law.
- Politics of the United Kingdom
- List of British monarchs
- List of Monarchs of England
- List of Succession to the British Throne
External link
- Official UK royal website (http://www.royal.gov.uk/)
Common misspelling and questions (FAQ)
ritish-monarch bitish-monarch brtish-monarch briish-monarch britsh-monarch britih-monarch britis-monarch britishmonarch british-onarch british-mnarch british-moarch british-monrch british-monach british-monarh british-monarc rbitish-monarch birtish-monarch brtiish-monarch briitsh-monarch britsih-monarch britihs-monarch britis-hmonarch britishm-onarch british-omnarch british-mnoarch british-moanrch british-monrach british-monacrh british-monarhc british-monarc bbritish-monarch brritish-monarch briitish-monarch brittish-monarch britiish-monarch britissh-monarch britishh-monarch british--monarch british-mmonarch british-moonarch british-monnarch british-monaarch british-monarrch british-monarcch british-monarchh gritish-monarch vritish-monarch hritish-monarch hritish-monarch nritish-monarch b4itish-monarch beitish-monarch bditish-monarch b5itish-monarch bfitish-monarch b5itish-monarch btitish-monarch bfitish-monarch br8tish-monarch brutish-monarch brjtish-monarch br9tish-monarch brktish-monarch br9tish-monarch brotish-monarch brktish-monarch bri5ish-monarch brirish-monarch brifish-monarch bri6ish-monarch brigish-monarch bri6ish-monarch briyish-monarch brigish-monarch brit8sh-monarch britush-monarch britjsh-monarch brit9sh-monarch britksh-monarch brit9sh-monarch britosh-monarch britksh-monarch britiwh-monarch britiah-monarch britizh-monarch britieh-monarch britixh-monarch britieh-monarch britidh-monarch britixh-monarch britisy-monarch britisg-monarch britisb-monarch britisu-monarch britisn-monarch britisu-monarch britisj-monarch britisn-monarch british0monarch britishpmonarch british[monarch british-jonarch british-nonarch british-konarch british-konarch british-,onarch british-m9narch british-minarch british-mknarch british-m0narch british-mlnarch british-m0narch british-mpnarch british-mlnarch british-moharch british-mobarch british-mojarch british-mojarch british-momarch british-monqrch british-monwrch british-monzrch british-monwrch british-monsrch british-monzrch british-mona4ch british-monaech british-monadch british-mona5ch british-monafch british-mona5ch british-monatch british-monafch british-monardh british-monarxh british-monarfh british-monarfh british-monarvh british-monarcy british-monarcg british-monarcb british-monarcu british-monarcn british-monarcu british-monarcj british-monarcn brytish-monarch briyish-monarch brityish-monarch british-monarchsOu. Z ZI, s. The heart, mind. Hun. Sziv. Sans. Dhi. Zimmen, s. Broth. Wal. Zmenteni (cream). Zoomi, s. f. Broth, soup. Mod. Gr. [Greek: ] Wal. Zamie (juice). Zingaro. A Gypsy, a person of mixed blood, one who springs from up). RHYMED LIST OF GYPSY VERBS To dick and jin, To pee and hal, To kair and poggra, To caur and chore, Moar and more, And nash on rook; And sove and rove, To tardra oprey, To pes and gin, To pootch and pukker, To besh and kel, And jib to tel; Roddra and latch; And sollohaul; Hokta and plastra, Maila and grista; To pen and sikker, Chungra and chingra, Grovena, gruvena; Chauva and rom, Jib and mer And paracrova, And mekello, Sore are lavior, In jib of Romany. BETIE ROKRAPENES--LITTLE SAYINGS If foky kek jins bute, For sore mush jins chomany From none disdainful turn; Which you have yet to learn. BETIE ROKRAPENES So must I ker, daiya, to ker tute mistos? Mi Dovvel opral, dick tuley opre mande. Misto kedast tute. Me camava jaw drey the Nevi Wesh to dick the purey Bare-mescrey. Will you pes for a coro levinor? Ma rokra kekomi. Tatto tu.