Queen Elizabeth II’s Role in Government—and 28 Things She Has the Power to Do
Queen Elizabeth II’s Role in Government—and 28 Things She Has the Power to Do
Lauren CahnLauren Cahn Updated: Jun. 02, 2022
What does the queen of England do, exactly? A lot more than you might think, considering she doesn't actually rule the country.
Long Live The Queen
On February 6, 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. In so doing, she became the 40th British monarch since William the Conquerer took control of the land in 1066. Back then, the British Sovereign had nearly absolute authority over the matters that concerned the kingdom and its subjects. These circumstances began to change in 1215, when King John signed the Magna Carta, acknowledging certain limits to the sovereign’s powers with respect to rights like taxing citizens without adequate governmental representation.
Whether King John realized it or not, his signing of the Magna Carta set the wheels in motion for a gradual diminishing of the sovereign’s powers over the ensuing centuries. Today, the United Kingdom stands and functions as a constitutional monarchy under which a hereditary sovereign (in this case, the queen) is head of state but not the head of the government.
The power to govern resides in an elected governmental body known as parliament and in the delegates of it with regard to devolved matters (those that have been delegated to local governments of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland).
With royal mania hopping the pond and settling in stateside, you’re probably familiar with the royal family tree and the reasons why Queen Elizabeth isn’t stepping down anytime soon. Now for the tough questions: What does the queen of England do exactly? And perhaps more importantly, what does she even have the power to do? Read on to find out.
Serve As Queen Of More Than Just England
Go ahead and ask “What does the queen of England do?” Just don’t overlook this key fact: The Queen of England isn’t just the queen of England. She’s also the queen of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which join England to compose the United Kingdom. She’s also the Queen of the 14 other nations that currently make up the “Commonwealth realm,” including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. All 15 Commonwealth realms together comprise 150 million people.
What constitutes the queen’s “rule” over the Commonwealth realm is still up in the air. Although the power to govern resides in parliament, and the royal family (a.k.a. The Crown) fully acknowledges that its role is largely ceremonial, the queen possesses a great many powers and responsibilities.
As the British Monarchist League explains, the role of the queen is far from just ceremonial but rather “encompasses a wide spectrum of official duties [and] constitutional powers,” which include those that can be exercised without the consent of any other member or agency of the government.
Choose To Rule (Or Not To Rule)
Because the queen ascended the throne as a result of a hereditary right, some viewed her reign as a “divine appointment.” But that’s just a royal family superstition. The crown is a choice for the queen, and if she wanted to, she could take a page from her uncle’s book and abdicate, which is how her father, George VI, became king. Though the 95-year-old monarch’s health has been in the spotlight in recent months, there is no reason to believe that the queen will abdicate, now or ever.
What she can’t do, though, is install a regent, like heir apparent Prince Charles. That only happens when a monarch is incapacitated, and it’s a highly unusual circumstance. The last regency was during the reign of King George III in the early 1800s.
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