The British Monarchy today

a brief guide to Britain‘s Monarchy

the Queen

the Royal Family

the Queen‘s role

questions concerning the Monarchy

the future of the British Monarchy

opinions

reform perspective

abolition

evaluation

Britain‘s Monarchy

Britain is a constitutional monarchy. That means the Monarch is

the head of state, but his/her power is limited by constitutional

rules.

But... Who is the Monarch?

Queen Elizabeth II

Date of birth: 21 April 1926

Family: Prince Philip and four

children and six

grandchildren

Coronation: 2 June 1953 in

Westminster Abbey

Hobbies: Horses and dogs

The Royal Family

The Queen is supported by the members of the Royal Family.

Her family carries out a wide range of public and official duties.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Date of birth: 10 June 1921

Parents: Prince Andrew of Greece

Princess Alice of

Battenberg

Duties: Patron or President of

around 800

organisations,

accompanies the Queen

Hobbies: Nature

Children of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales (eldest son)

Date of birth: 14 November 1948

Family: Prince William (20) Prince Harry (18)

Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, Princess Royal (2nd child)

Date of birth: 15 August 1950

Family: 2nd husband: Commodore

Laurence, two children

Children of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Duke of York (3rd child)

Date of birth: 19 Februrary 1960

Family: Divorced, three children

Edward Antony Richard Louis, Earl of Wessex (4th child)

Date of birth: 10 March 1964

Family: Wife: Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones

What‘s the Queen‘s role?

representative and

symbolic function

head of the Church

of England, special

relation to the Church

of Scotland

head of the

Commonwealth

The Queen and the Church

a) - the Monarch must be in communion with the church and has to

promise during the coronation oath to maintain the Church

-relation between the Church and the Queen: - archbishops and bishops

are appointed by the Queen

(on advice of the Prime

Minster and a Church

Commission)

-archbishops, bishops and

priests take an oath of

allegiance to the Queen

-relation between the Church and the state: -the two archbishops and 24

bishops sit in the House of

Lords (“Lords Spiritual“)

b)The Church of Scotland

- the monarch is required to preserve the Church of Scotland and takes an

oath to do that immediately afer his/her accession

- relation between the Church and the Queen:-the Queen is an ordinary

member

- the Crown is represented during the General Assembly, by the monarch or by

a Lord High Commissioner (who is appointed by the Queen each year)

The Commonwealth

-association of 54 independent and equal nations (e.g. Australia, India,

Pakistan)

-foundation: 1949, after the independence of India and Pakistan from Britain

-principles: equality, justice and democracy

-aims: it is supposed to advance democracy, human rights, and sustainable

economic and social development

-Commonwealth members have no contractual obligations and the

Commonwealth‘s structure is based on unwritten and traditional procedures

- worldmap of the countries beloning to the Commonwealth -

The Queen and the Commonwealth

-she is the Head of the Commonwealth, since a unanimous vote after the

death of her father. This position is not hereditary and will not automatically

be transferred to future monarchs

-she has no constitutional or executive but symbolic function

-she is host to the Heads of State of Commonwealth countries and receives

them in private audiences

-regular contact with the Secretary-General, who has executive powers

- the Queen and the Heads of State of the Commonwealth countries -

What powers does the Queen have?

signs bills into laws

appoints Prime Minister & he\she is granted

an audience every Tuesday

appoints the life peers

pardons convicted criminals

dissolves Parliament and calls an election

declares a state of emergency

declares war

awards honours

How much does it cost to run the monarchy?

controversial: Civil List for the

running of the Queen‘s household

spends 6,5 million, but the sum fixed

until 2011is 7,9 million

personal income - 7,3 million

Pounds

all in all she has 50,2 million

pounds per year

Does the Queen pay taxes?

yes, on voluntary basis (private

income)

however, she did not pay

inheritance tax after the death of

Queen Mother (20 million pounds)

The Future of the British Monarchy

‘... everybody talks about the monarchy. They may laugh

at it, they may defend it, they may insist it is unimportant or

argue that it is 'the only thing that keeps our country great';

they might despair at the triviality of it all or fear the

reactions of others if the question is raised; they may….

admire the Queen for the job she does. But whether it is

anger, loyalty, love it or hate it, everyone feels something

about the Royal Family and can say so' (Anthony Barnett;

professor)

'It is very hard for the political nation in Britain to discuss

the monarchy in sensible terms. By most people and for

much of the time it is accepted as simply being there,

somewhat like the weather, rather baffling but a fixture

and very much part of the scene, part of the specialness

of being British and often a source of self-congratulation

verging on the smug '(Peter Hennessy; professor)

In Defense of the Traditional Monarchy

-the British Monarchy is not contradictory to the demoratic principle, because the

Monarch has no real “day-to-day“ power, this enables him/her to fulfil other important

roles in Britain much better than an elected president could

-being the Monarch of Britain is connected to a heavy symbolic burden and must be a

ceremonial institution (“the fountain of honour“); the Monarch plays this role by being

the symbolic head of state, by being the head of the Church of England, by being the

Commander in Chief of the army and by setting a moral example

-the Monarch is supposed to be impartial, thereby he/she can serve as a costitutional

judge and can encourage, advice, warn or criticize the Prime Minster and other

politicians

-the monarchy symbolises British history and greatness, to decline it means to decline

this history and greatness

-it is true that the monarchy costs a lot of money, but the monarchy brings in money

too, by e.g. tourism

-the behaviour of individual Royals is irrelevant to the institution of the Monarchy and

cannot affect it in any way

So defenders argue that the Monarchy is not undemocratic and actually

contributes to British demoracy in a way no elected president could.

The Reform Perspective

-aims of reforms: a) Britain´s monachy is not a “perfect“ constitutional

monarchy, because the Monarch has too much power and

even weakens democracy (it is, for example, questionable

why honours or royal issues can´t be discussed in the

Parliament or why there aren´t fixed election dates)

b) a “citizen monarchy“

-since around 1945 there have been enormous social

changes, it is now much more difficult to embody Britain

since it is a multi-cultural, multi-faith and multi-racial

society

-the media‘s intrusiveness has de-mystified the Monarchy

-the Windsors have precipitated their own ruin in the

public eye, exampls are the way how Diana and Charles

divorced and how they fought their private fights in public

Categories of reform

a) Symbolic and stylistic reforms the Royals could present

themselves as ordinary people in public (e.g. clothes,...)

b) Practical Reforms the costs to run a monarchy could be

reduced, titles could be reduced

c) Organisational change this could mean that the Prime

Minister´s role becomes more important and that he could

advise the Royals

Reforms that have already taken place:

-the Queen pays taxes on her personal wealth (on a voluntary basis)

-many Royals don´t have titles (e.g. Princess Ann´s children)

-the Royals try to help the poor (e.g. with the Prince‘s Trust)

-since Diana´s death there has been a campaign to show how “normal“ the

Royals are (e.g. Prince Charles showed himself in an informal way with the

Spice Girls)

-Prince Charles has recently appointed the first black member of his staff

-Prince Charles and the Spice Girls-

Abolition

Reasons

-some people argue that the monarchy is a constant reminder of an unequal society

where birth still matters

-the Monarchy is described as a relic of the class system and keeps Britain back

-others think that the Monarchy is just something that belongs to the past, but has no

place in a modern society or is something that´s not more than a joke anymore

-the Monarchy can just survive because it is supported by myths (e.g. the Royals

work hard, they set a moral example, it’s good for tourism,…)

What could abolition mean?

the Royals could become ordinary citizens

who get a pension

their belongings such as castles, jewels,

paintings in the royal collection could become

state property

honors, ceremonials and the national

anthem could be replaced

perhaps the Prime Minster, the Speaker or

someone elected could become the Head of

State (most republicans favour a strong

president as in the US)

Evaluation – Keep it?/Reform it?/Abolish it?

the grand symbolic monarchy belongs

to the past

the Royals know that reforms are

needed and they have been working on

these reforms for the last 20 or 30 years

the monarchy is not in danger, unless

there is a further crisis caused by royal

misbehavior or scandal; BUT there is an

increasing yet small support for

republicanism