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The British monarch or Sovereign is the head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen-in-Parliament) legislative power. The monarch is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England as well as Head of the Commonwealth and head of state of 15 other Commonwealth Realms.
Although the monarch plays an important ceremonial role, in practice the United Kingdom uses the Westminster system of constitutional monarchy, so the power of the monarch in British politics is greatly limited by convention. Today the monarch's active political role is largely limited to that of an advisor to the Prime Minister.
In theory, the Sovereign is the "fount of justice"; all prosecutions are made on his or her behalf, and judges make decisions in his or her name. He or she cannot be brought to trial in any court (except in civil cases where permitted by Act of Parliament).
Political powers
Contrary to popular belief, the British monarch continues to hold immense, almost dictatorial political powers, including making and declaring war, making treaties, and authorizing currency. In theory, practically the entire institution of British government exists solely at the monarch's pleasure. For the most part, however, the monarch's powers are "reserve powers," nominally used in emergency situations. In normal political life, the monarch usually assents to the reasonable requests of his or her government.
By convention, the monarch dissolves parliament and issues a writ for new elections at the request of the Prime Minister, however it is an open question as to whether the monarch must always grant such a dissolution. Another possible situation is if no party gains a majority in Parliament. The monarch would by convention offer the post of Prime Minister to the head of the party most likely to form a government, but it is possible that this may not be the party with the most seats.
The monarch must formally assent to all acts of Parliament before they can become law. Royal assent is given in Norman French by a representative of the monarch: the formal phrases used are le roy (or la reine) le veult meaning "yes" ("the king/queen wills it"), and le roy/la reine s'avisera meaning "no" ("the king/queen will consider it"). The last time royal assent was withheld was by Queen Anne in 1712. As well, on bills directly affecting a monarchical prerogative power (i.e. to make war, dissolve parliament, appoint ministers, etc.) the monarch must consent to the debate thereof in Parliament. In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II withheld such consent on the "Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill," which sought to shift the power to order a military strike on Iraq from monarchical control to parliamentary control.
Although there is a popular consensus in support of the continuing existence of the monarchy, there is a wide belief that this would rapidly change were the monarch to exercise power in opposition to the democratically elected government in anything other than an emergency situation.
Members and regulations
The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II (since February 6 1952) and the Heir Apparent is Charles, Prince of Wales (son of the Queen, born November 14 1948). Although Charles is the formal heir-apparent, there has been continuing speculation that when the Queen dies or abdicates then the crown will pass not to Charles, but to his eldest son. Advocates for this suggest that Charles is unsuitable as a monarch because of his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales. There is also a large Royal Family made up of the Queen's other children and cousins.
The present monarch's style is Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
Succession to the British throne is restricted by the Act of Settlement to Protestant descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, with male heirs having precedence over females, and those who have married a Roman Catholic excluded, though there have been moves to amend these restrictions in recent years.
Labour minister Lord Williams of Mostyn said in 1998 that the government would like to change the law to give equal precedence regardless of sex. However, the government also believes that such a change would take up a lot of parliamentary time, and would require the approval of the other countries of which the British monarch is head of state. Despite public calls for change by two female cabinet ministers, Patricia Hewitt and Tessa Jowell, no moves have yet been taken.
The Guardian newspaper has campaigned actively in recent years for an abolition of the restriction on non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne. It argues that the restriction may be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is now part of British law. A "ten minute rule" bill to overturn this restriction was introduced in the British House of Commons by Labour MP Kevin McNamara in 2001, and won a symbolic victory when forced to a vote, but did not become law.
Upon the death of a Monarch, an Accession Council meets at St James's Palace. Attending are the members of the House of Lords, Privy Counsellors, the Lord Mayor of London, Aldermen of the City of London, and High Commissioners of Commonwealth countries. The Council makes a proclamation declaring the death of the previous monarch and names the individual who is to succeed to the Crown. The proclamation is then read aloud at various places in London, Edinburgh, Windsor, and York.
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