The power of the Queen and the King is restricted under the laws of the nation. The sovereign “reigns but does not rule”. He / She is just figurehead.
Roles on the political scene
Basically, the Queen or the King acts as a head of state, but he/she hasn’t neither political role nor power to pass laws.
The Queen :
- is above all source of legislative and executive power.
- can dissolve Parliament and call for new elections
- is the head of the Armed Forces, so basically can declare war and peace
- is the head of the Commonwealth
But now, the Royal family members are first and foremost global celebrities. For instance, in 2011, Prince William’s and Kate Middletown’s marriage has been followed by 2 billion people. Thus the role of the Royal Family is mainly symbolic.
Queen has some duties like making visits around the World or attending some events. The rest of the Royal Family is to support the Queen or the King, they are expected to do their fair share, doing charity for instance.
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What about the future of the monarchy ?
The well-being of this beloved institution is due to its ability to modernise itself. The difficulties for the UK is to adapt to a changing world while preserving the legacy of the past.
For instance since 2013, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child could become monarch, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl. Under the previous law, dating back to 1701, women were superseded by their brothers in succession even if they were the first born.
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British people have always felt proud of this system : only few people in the mainstream political debate believe that monarchy should be abolished. However, it is more and more common to heard that the monarchy is out of kilter with (=déphasée par rapport) a modern democracy. However, British taxpayers often have the feeling that the money spent supporting the royal family is squandered.
The fascination is even stronger with the growing number of fiction dealing with the Royal family, such like The Crown on Netflix, which enable people to feel more close to the members of the monarchy.
What is going to happen when the Queen will die ? His son, Charles is far less popular, with only 42% approval, vision of the monarchy could start change if the crown shift.
