The Monarchy Doesn't Wield Political Power... or Does It?

Someone in my work group yesterday made the comment that the British monarchy has no political power.  I tried to explain that there were some caveats to that, but the gentleman was very insistent.  I let it go, but wrote the following letter this morning to clarify.  I thought readers might find it interesting. Does British royalty wield any political power in England?  The answer on the surface is “no”.  They are a constitutional monarchy.  They don’t pass any laws, create any bills, declare war, or spend money on Britain’s infrastructure. 

There’s a big “however” in there, though.

The Queen meets weekly with the Prime Minister when they are both in London (in addition to other meetings throughout the year).  No written record is made of such meetings, and neither the Queen nor the Prime Minister discuss them. A daily report of parliamentary proceedings is delivered to the queen by the Parliamentary Whip. Each year at the opening of Parliament, the Queen addresses parliament and sets out the government’s agenda for the coming session, outlining proposed policies and legislation. Beyond that, the royal family has a lot of power and prestige in the country (as you would imagine).

If a royal lobbies for something, there’s a good likelihood it will be addressed.  Prince Charles has made himself a name by “meddling” in government affairs and writing to the Prime Minister and government officials over a period of time.  In fact, with the freedom of information act, it was asked that these letters be released.  A lot of time and money was spent on getting these letters to the public, and they finally were made public.  There’s an article here if you’re interested.There’s a fine line between the monarchy and Parliament – not a definite one as you mentioned yesterday.  Parliament needs the support of the monarchy – especially in times of war (if you recall King George VI during WWII).  And, obviously the monarchy needs Parliament because the royal budget is set by them.  Also, during the time of Diana’s funeral, without Tony Blair’s intervention, there would have most likely been rioting and perhaps the toppling of the monarchy due to their seeming indifference to the public’s point of view.


The government is synergistic with the monarchy.  They are not two distant entities.

Just adding a link I found from YouTube on the subject.

 

The Queen Addressing Parliament