Monarchy of the United Kingdom

• 1. The Flag That Never Drops

  ›

  The monarchy of the United Kingdom has one flag that is never lowered to half-mast. The Royal Standard shows the royal arms in banner form, and it flies only above buildings, vessels and vehicles where the sovereign is present. It stays at full height even when a monarch dies, because the next sovereign takes the role at that very instant. Since the 8th of September 2022, that person has been King Charles III, who took the throne when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died.

  The government acts in his name, yet he does not direct it. Parliament sets the limits of his authority, and long-standing convention narrows them further. So what does a hereditary head of state actually do today? Who really decides which politician leads the country? How did a crown once split between separate English and Scottish kingdoms come to rest on one head? And who pays for the palaces, the travel and the ceremonies? This documentary follows those questions through law, history and money.

  89884910

• 2. The Dignified Part

  ›

  In 1867 the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot called the monarchy the "dignified" part of government, as opposed to the "efficient" part. The label has lasted because it still fits. The United Kingdom has no single codified constitution, and within it the monarch is head of state. Legislation refers to the monarch only as "the Sovereign", and the form of address is His or Her Majesty.

  The monarch's face is the everyday emblem of state authority. A profile appears on Bank of England notes and on every British coin, and portraits hang in government buildings. Songs, loyal toasts and salutes honour the sovereign. Oaths of allegiance are sworn to the sovereign and lawful successors. "God Save the King" is the national anthem, with "God Save the Queen" as the alternative wording.

  At the State Opening of Parliament, the monarch reads a speech from the throne in the chamber of the House of Lords. The speech outlines the government's legislative agenda, but the words depend on decisions made elsewhere. Almost none of the sovereign's formal powers are used personally. Statute or convention delegates them to ministers, officers of the Crown and other public bodies.

  The royal prerogative is the leftover executive authority that nominally rests with the sovereign. It covers appointing and dismissing ministers, issuing passports, declaring war, making peace and negotiating treaties. The monarch uses it only on ministers' advice, and in practice the prime minister holds the control. Each week the monarch meets the prime minister. No record of these audiences is taken, and the proceedings remain fully confidential.

  Bagehot listed what a constitutional monarch can still claim: "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn." The monarch may share views, yet must finally accept the decisions of a prime minister and Cabinet who enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons.

  The prerogative also has firm edges. A parliamentary report stated that "The Crown cannot invent new prerogative powers." The sovereign cannot impose and collect new taxes without an Act of Parliament, and a treaty cannot change domestic law without one either. Parliament can override any prerogative power by passing legislation. One prerogative still matters at every change of government: the appointment of the prime minister, which comes with its own ritual.

  9111122313

• 3. Choosing Prime Ministers

  ›

  A new prime minister takes office by attending the monarch in a private audience and "kissing hands". That act makes the appointment effective at once, with no other formality or document. By unwritten convention, the monarch appoints whoever commands the support of the House of Commons. That is usually the leader of a party or coalition holding a majority.

  In 1834 William IV dismissed the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne, and no monarch has done so since. The king appointed the Tory Robert Peel instead, but Peel lost the elections that followed. William had no choice but to recall Melbourne. Since then, prime ministers have left office by resignation, which they are expected to offer after losing their Commons majority. Every other minister is appointed by the sovereign too, but by convention only on the prime minister's recommendation.

  A hung parliament gives the monarch more latitude, though the largest party's leader is the usual choice. Since 1945 there have been only three. After the February 1974 general election, Edward Heath resigned having failed to form a coalition, and Harold Wilson became prime minister at the head of the largest party. The May 2010 election produced the first coalition government since World War II, between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. In June 2017 the Conservatives lost their majority in a snap election but stayed in power as a minority government.

  The sovereign also summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament. Prorogation usually comes about a year after a session begins and formally ends it. Dissolution ends a parliamentary term and is followed by a general election for every Commons seat. Parliaments dissolve automatically after five years. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 temporarily removed the power to dissolve, and the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 restored it.

  In 1950 Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, the monarch's Private Secretary, wrote pseudonymously to The Times and asserted a convention now called the Lascelles Principles. A minority government asking for an early election to strengthen itself could be refused, under three conditions. When Wilson asked for a dissolution late in 1974, Queen Elizabeth II agreed, because Heath had already failed to form a coalition. The election that followed gave Wilson a small majority.

  1192181617

• 4. Justice, Honour And Immunity

  ›

  Since 1708, no monarch has refused royal assent to a bill. In theory the sovereign can grant assent, making the bill law, or withhold it, vetoing the bill. Before any bill passed by both Houses becomes law, though, the approval is still required.

  The sovereign relates to the devolved governments much as to the UK government. The First Minister of Scotland is appointed on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament, and the First Minister of Wales on the nomination of the Senedd. In Scottish matters the sovereign acts on the advice of the Scottish Government. Devolution is more limited in Wales, so in Welsh matters the monarch follows the advice of the UK prime minister and Cabinet. The sovereign can veto a law passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly if the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland deems it unconstitutional.

  The sovereign is called the "fount of justice". The monarch does not personally decide cases, but judicial functions are carried out in the monarch's name. Prosecutions are brought on the sovereign's behalf, and the courts draw their authority from the Crown. Common law holds that the sovereign "can do no wrong", so the monarch cannot be prosecuted for criminal offences. The "prerogative of mercy" lets the sovereign pardon convicted offenders or reduce sentences.

  The sovereign is also the "fount of honour". The Crown creates all peerages, appoints members of the orders of chivalry and grants knighthoods. Most honours follow the prime minister's advice. Four are in the sovereign's personal gift: the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of Merit.

  More than 160 laws give the sovereign or the sovereign's property express immunity of some kind. The monarch is exempt from anti-discrimination legislation, from workers' rights, health and safety and pensions laws, and from numerous taxes. Environmental inspectors cannot enter royal property without permission. The sovereign is also personally immune from arrest and from civil actions. Since 1947, however, the Crown as an institution, distinct from the person wearing it, can face proceedings in tort and contract.

  1920212225

• 5. Crown Versus Parliament

  ›

  In 1215 the barons forced King John to issue Magna Carta, Latin for "Great Charter", to guarantee the rights and liberties of the nobility. Soon afterwards the First Barons' War began, and the French Prince Louis claimed the throne with rebel support. John died in 1216, leaving the crown to his nine-year-old son Henry III. Later in Henry's reign, Simon de Montfort led a second baronial rebellion, and the king agreed to summon a parliament in 1265. Under Edward III, Parliament came to be divided into two Houses.

  Charles I ruled without Parliament from 1629 to 1640 and levied taxes on his own authority. His religious policies offended Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans, and his attempt to enforce Anglicanism sparked rebellion in Scotland. The English Civil War began in 1642. Charles was executed in 1649, and the Commonwealth of England replaced the monarchy. In 1653 Oliver Cromwell seized power as Lord Protector and refused the title of king. His son Richard resigned soon after succeeding him, and the monarchy was restored in 1660 under Charles II.

  James II, who succeeded in 1685, offered religious tolerance to Catholics and Separatists. Many subjects suspected he meant to restore Catholicism, and they objected to his large standing army and his Catholic appointees. A group of Protestants called the Immortal Seven invited his daughter Mary and her husband, William of Orange, to depose him. William arrived on the 5th of November 1688 to great public support, and James fled. The Bill of Rights 1689 affirmed parliamentary supremacy and protected the English people from taxes imposed without parliamentary consent. It also required future monarchs to be Protestants. The Act of Settlement 1701 later excluded James and his Catholic relations and named the family of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, as next in line after Anne.

  The union of the crowns came earlier, in 1603. Elizabeth I died childless, and the Scottish King James VI inherited her throne as James I. In 1604 he became the first to style himself "King of Great Britain", yet England and Scotland stayed separate kingdoms. Their quarrel over the succession nearly ended that arrangement. Scotland's Act of Security 1704 threatened to break the link, and England answered with the Alien Act 1705, which threatened Scottish trade. The Acts of Union 1707 resolved the dispute by merging the two kingdoms into Great Britain. In 1800 another Act of Union joined Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom.

  Victoria's long reign completed the shift to a constitutional monarchy. Her seclusion after her husband's death in 1861 fed rising support for the republican movement, a current that has never entirely disappeared.

  2893959829

• 6. One Crown, Many Countries

  ›

  The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the Dominions of the British Empire as separate, self-governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations. Before 1926 the Crown reigned over the Empire collectively, and the Dominions and Crown Colonies were subordinate to the United Kingdom. The Statute of Westminster 1931 solidified the new arrangement, and it has been likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries". The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others, one person reigning over distinct sovereign states.

  At its greatest extent in 1921, the British Empire covered a quarter of the world's land area. The title Emperor of India was among the monarch's titles between 1876 and 1948, and George VI gave it up in June 1948. After World War II most British colonies and territories became independent. When the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950, it stopped sharing a monarch. The British monarch was instead acknowledged as Head of the Commonwealth, in republics and realms alike.

  Today the United Kingdom and fourteen other independent states share one person as monarch. Together they are the fifteen Commonwealth realms. Each is sovereign and independent of the others, and the monarch holds a different, specific official title for each. The monarch is also head of state of the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. Head of the Commonwealth is a purely ceremonial position that is not inherited. The Commonwealth heads of government choose the individual who holds it.

  Ireland followed a different path. In 1155 Adrian IV, the only English Pope, authorised Henry II of England to take Ireland as a feudal territory. By 1542, Henry VIII had broken with Rome, and the Irish Parliament changed his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland. The Irish Free State became a separate Dominion in 1922 and was renamed Ireland in 1937. In 1949 it declared itself a republic, left the Commonwealth and cut all ties with the monarchy. Northern Ireland stayed in the Union.

  3035363740

• 7. Succession, Names And Ceremony

  ›

  The cry "The king is dead, long live the king!" describes the law accurately. On a sovereign's death the heir succeeds immediately and automatically. An Accession Council meeting at St James's Palace then publicly proclaims the new sovereign. The new monarch must make several oaths, including the Accession Declaration first required by the Bill of Rights. Another oath promises to "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland settlement.

  A coronation is not needed for a sovereign to reign. It usually takes place many months after accession, to leave time for preparation and mourning. The ceremony is normally held in Westminster Abbey, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

  Early Scotland handled the throne very differently. Before the Stewarts, the custom of tanistry made the crown alternate between branches of the House of Alpin, with an elective element. From 942 to 1005, seven consecutive monarchs were murdered or killed in battle. Even in 1370, the Three Estates of the Scottish Parliament chose Robert II, the first Stewart monarch, at Linlithgow.

  The British monarch is expected to reign until death. The only voluntary abdication was that of Edward VIII, who wished to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson, which the Church of England opposed. It needed a special Act, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. His brother became George VI. Rules of succession can only change by Act of Parliament, and no individual can renounce a right to succeed.

  On the 28th of October 2011, David Cameron announced that the Commonwealth realms, 16 at the time, had agreed to end male-preference succession for anyone born after that date. They also agreed that a future monarch could marry a Roman Catholic. The monarch must still not be a Roman Catholic. Any change to the succession needs the unanimous consent of all the realms. The UK law received royal assent on the 25th of April 2013 and came into force in March 2015, after every other realm had approved equivalent legislation.

  When the monarch is a minor or incapacitated, the Regency Acts make the next qualified person in line regent. The Regency Act 1953 made special provision for Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip. During illness or absence abroad, the sovereign can delegate functions to counsellors of state. On the 14th of November 2022, the King asked Parliament to add Princess Anne and Prince Edward to that list. A bill was introduced the next day, received royal assent on the 6th of December and took effect on the 7th of December.

  The monarch chooses a regnal name, which need not be a first name. George VI, Edward VII and Victoria all reigned under names other than their first. In 1953 Scottish nationalists challenged the use of "Elizabeth II", because Scotland never had an Elizabeth I. In MacCormick v Lord Advocate, the Court of Session ruled that the title was the Queen's own choice and prerogative. The Home Secretary told the Commons that monarchs since the Acts of Union had used the higher of the English and Scottish ordinals. The prime minister added that "neither The Queen nor her advisers could seek to bind their successors".

  Pope Leo X first gave the title "Defender of the Faith" to Henry VIII in 1521. It rewarded Henry's book the Defence of the Seven Sacraments, written against the early Protestant Reformation. After Henry broke with Rome, Pope Paul III revoked the grant, but Parliament passed a law allowing the title to continue. Charles III still carries it today.

  4950515258

• 8. Money, Palaces, Public Opinion

  ›

  Until 1760, the monarch paid all official expenses from hereditary revenues, which included the profits of the Crown Estate. George III surrendered those revenues in return for the Civil List, an arrangement that lasted until 2012. The Civil List covered most costs, including staff, state visits, public engagements and official entertainment. Parliament fixed its size every 10 years. In 2012 a single Sovereign Grant replaced the Civil List and the separate grants-in-aid. It was first set at 15% of Crown Estate revenues and rose to 25% in March 2017.

  The Crown Estate held £15.6 billion in property in 2022. It is held in trust and cannot be sold, or owned by the sovereign privately. In the financial year 2021-22 it produced £312.7 million, while the Sovereign Grant that year was £86.3 million. The Duchy of Lancaster, valued at £383 million in 2011, is also held in trust. Its revenues form the Privy Purse, which pays expenses the parliamentary grants do not cover. The Paradise Papers, leaked in 2017, showed that the Duchy held investments in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. The Duchy of Cornwall similarly meets the expenses of the monarch's eldest son.

  Since 1993 the monarch has paid income tax and capital gains tax on personal income. Parliamentary grants do not count as income, because they cover only official spending. In 2012 republicans estimated the real annual cost of the monarchy, including security and unclaimed income, at £334 million. Wealth estimates for Elizabeth II varied widely. Forbes put it at US$450 million in 2010, and the Sunday Times Rich List 2020 said £350 million. The Royal Collection, with its artworks and Crown Jewels, is held in trust, not owned personally.

  Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and hosts most state banquets, investitures and royal christenings. Windsor Castle, the largest occupied castle in the world, is used mainly at weekends, at Easter and during Royal Ascot. In Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official Scottish residence, and the monarch stays there at least one week each year. St James's Palace became the main London residence after Whitehall burned in 1698. Buckingham Palace replaced it in 1837, but St James's remains the senior palace, and foreign ambassadors are still accredited to the Court of St James's. Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire are the monarch's private property.

  Public opinion has shifted over time. Republicanism grew in the 1990s, partly because of negative publicity such as the reaction after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Polls maintained by The Independent from 2002 to 2007 showed that around 70-80% of the public supported continuing the monarchy. In September 2022, a YouGov poll reported by The Guardian found that 68% felt positively about it. Only 47% of those aged 18-24 wanted it to continue, against 86% of those aged 65 and over. A YouGov survey of roughly 1,700 people in January 2023 found 64% wanted the country to keep a monarchy.

  5960626745