Monarchy

MONARCHY

The monarchy in the United Kingdom has developed over the centuries from an absolute personal authority to the present constitutional form by which me Queen reigns but doesn't rule. The whole title of the Queen sounds nowadays as Elizabeth the Second by the grace of god of the united kingdom of great britan and norvern irland /and her other Realm and Territories Queen, Head of Commonwealth  Defender of Faith. The Queen's powers, which form the Royal Prerogative, are the part of common law, and in theory are substantial. However, they are now more theoretical than real, since they are based on no more than conventions and residual royal prerogative. Nevertheless, the Queen has some very significant functions and plays an important part in the life of Great Britain. And in the cases when she is ill or in a trip Parliament specially appoints a person to perform her duties in the country.

One of the most important political functions is appointment and disinisson of thePrime Minister. 'Whereas George III chose arid dismissed Prime Ministers almost at will, Elizabeth II is normally free to choose only the leader of the political party, which has a majority in the House of Commons;

The monarch also has the power to create new peers. Appointments to the peerage are normally made twice a year when the names of the newly created peers appear in the Honour List. Peers are created on the basis of advice given by the Prime Minister. So, we can see that in contemporary circumstances this Queen's function has become little more than a constitutional formality. The monarch is also formally involved in the granting of honours, both civil and military, to those who have made notable contributions to well-being of British society. Nearly all such honours are awarded by the Prime Minister, who, in turn, is advised by a small civil service unit. Certain honours - the Order of the Charter, the Order of the Merit and the Royal Victorian Order - are reserved to the Sovereign's own conferment. Usually they have no political significance, but are simply a Way of signifying the Monarch's personal recognition of an outstanding person. The Queen plays a formal role in a vast range of public appointments: all important posts in the civil service, the police, the judiciary, the ВВС, the Church of England and, of course, the ministerial appointments in every government are filled in the name of the monarch. Such appointments are made on the basis of advice given by the Prime Minister, often with the ,help of a small civil service unit, which processes the recommendations. Some people criticize such political patronage, which is royal in name but ministerial in fact.

The Queen also plays an important part in the life of Parliament. She gives the Royal Assent before a Bill, which has passed all its stages in both Houses of Parliament, can become a legal enactment. Today the Royal Assent is a mere formality and any attempt to make it otherwise would provoke a constitutional crisis.What concerns the Monarch's right to dissolute Parliament, every monarch should realize, that either form of royal initiative would almost certainly lead to a "monarch versus people" clash and would run a serious risk of fatally discrediting the whole idea of constitutional monarchy in, Great Britain.

The Queen also has the prerogatives of mercy and pardon and she is entitled to exercise them on the advice of the Home Secretary of the day. Pardons are granted only after conviction and sentence .in rare cases when there is some special reason why a sentence should not be carried out or a conviction should be repealed.

There are several important, formal functions, which are exercised in the name of the monarch, but actually by Ministers. For example, the royal prerogative to conclude treaties enables ministers to reach legally binding agreements with other governments oi" international organizations without having to secure the prior approval of Parliament. A declaration of war is made officially in the name of the monarch, although all key decisions are usually taken by the Prime Minister and a few senior colleagues and military advisers. The same can be said about introduction and amendment of colonial constitutions and establishing of public corporations.

The Queen and other members of the royal family play an important symbolic role in many different ways.

So, Queen Elizabeth II is in addition to being an integral part of the legislature, the Head of the Commonwealth, the Commander-in-chief of me armed forces of the Crown and temporal head 6f the established Church of England. The Queen usually travels to different parts of her country and to different parts of the world; she also entertains foreign heads of governments when they visit Great Britain. The Queen takes part in different ceremonials - military, religious, etc.- in other words, she is the symbol of good customs and traditions of Great Britain!

The monarch also performs some unpublished functions: she meets regularly with the Prime Minister; and, as she has the undisputed right to see all the state papers, her private advice to him must be invaluable in view of the length and variety of her experience of matters of state.

There are different opinions about the role and the use of the monarchy in Great Britain. Some people think that monarchy is a conservative institute, which has an ideological role in promoting class hierarchy, privilege, snobbery and difference; they possess that hereditary, institutes are outdated and that the undemocratic Royal Prerogative should be abolished. But other people consider monarchy to be the symbol of national unity, stability and continuity. Speaking for the monarchy they say that the Queen has long experience and exceptional knowledge of British and international politics, which may be a valuable source of advice to government and Prime Ministers. We can find many other advantages and disadvantages of having a monarchy, but yet today it is popular and 80 per cent of people in Great Britain choose the Queen (between Queen and President).