Jimena Corts

Valentina Sanhueza
Melissa Vliz
The Role of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom.
For most of its history the United Kingdom has had a monarchy as its form of government, and as such the
monarchy plays an important role in the history and development of the countries that form the present-day
British state. The role of the United Kingdoms monarchy has suffered several changes through historical events,
transforming the manner in which the British monarchy works, and what rules it is bound by.
1. - How did England develop a Constitutional Monarchy?
The path that guided United Kingdom to become a Constitutional Monarchy was gradual and it was developed
during an extensive historical period, spanning several centuries.
The first event that can be considered as a step into the process of creating a Constitutional Monarchy dates back
to the middle ages, when the monarch of the then Kingdom of England, King John, signed the Magna Carta, the
first legal document restricting the monarchs power. Before the signing of the Magna Carta, the English monarch
was possessed of, in theory, absolute authority over the land and their subject people, unrestricted by any laws that
could limit their authority. The most important clauses in the Magna Carta placed limitations on taxation and
created a council of 25 barons to supervise the king. Though the Magna Cartas attempts to limit monarchical
power ultimately failed, its clear status as a legal document limiting monarchical power laid an important
precedent for the development of a constitutional monarchy.
The next important event in the development of the constitutional monarchy was the Petition of Rights that
defined a set of liberties for subjects of the monarchy. This document was written as an objection from parliament
against what they considered to be abuse of power from King Charles I, such as forced loans that imposed on the
citizens without parliamentary approval and the arbitrary imprisonment of those who refused to pay them. This
document was particularly important as it was the result of the parliamentary cooperation between the Chamber of
the Commons and the Chamber of the Lords, which reinforced the role of parliament in the countrys government.
Charles Is refusal to allow parliament to limit his power led him to dissolve it several times during his reign,
leading to two civil wars between those loyal to the parliament and those royal to the King. The second of these
civil wars ended with Charles Is execution in January of 1649 and the passing of an act forbidding the
proclamation of a new monarch.
The death of Charles I started a period known as the Interregnum in which England was a Republic. After several
failures trying to define the new form of government, Oliver Cromwell, who led a successful military campaign
against the royalists during the civil wars, became Lord Protector. A Lord Protector held executive power, was an
elective charge to be held for life and was not hereditary. Because the new parliament was led by puritans, several
restrictions over the lifestyle of people were enacted, this, as well as factors such as the high taxes set to support
the new army created by Cromwell, the constant disagreement between different religious factions and the
disagreement between more liberal members of the parliament and those conservative and puritans members of
the parliament, led to Cromwell losing support and popularity both in parliament and amongst the common
people.
This republican period ended with the death of Cromwell, who was replaced by his son Richard. Cromwell's son
failed in his attempts to maintain the protectorate and was deposed by parliament. This was followed by a period
of instability until General Monk of Scotland invaded England and restored the monarchy under Charles II.

After the death of Charles II, James II was crowned king of England despite the fact that he was a convert to
Catholicism. In the beginning of his stewardship, he was in a strong and solid position, but he came into conflict
with parliament due to his policies supporting religious tolerance, as it was feared that Catholicism would come to
dominate over Anglicanism. This led to the dissolution of parliament and the continuation of the policy of
religious tolerance. Following the birth of a healthy heir from Charless Catholic queen, the English parliament
formed an alliance with William of Orange and deposed the king, to replace him with his protestant daughter
Mary, herself wife of William of Orange. This event is known as the Glorious Revolution and was a major event
in the transformation of the state into a constitutional monarchy, as the monarchs accepted to sign the Bill of
Rights, which limited the power of kings and reaffirmed the role of parliament as a legislative organism. It is at
this point that the beginning of Englands constitutional monarchy is considered to have happened. Moreover, in
1707,the British parliament designed and passed the Act of Settlement due to the lack of a successor to the crown
from William III. This Act secures the succession establishing the next heir to the crown, enforced the Bill of
Rights and also held a condition about whom can be heir to the throne of England. The fact that the parliament
restrict by a law the succession of the throne transform the Act of Settlement in the definitive step to the path of
becoming U.K in a Constitutional Monarchy.
2. - What is a Constitutional Monarchy?
The Constitutional Monarchy in United Kingdom is a form of government in which the monarch is officially the
head of the State and their succession to the throne continues being an hereditary family tradition. The system of
constitutional monarchy means a total separation of the powers of the state, with the monarch possessing a limited
power and its activities being reduced to largely ceremonial and official duties, being excluded from politics and
legislation and being limited to governing by the constitution, which contains a set of rules and restrictions that
prohibit the monarch from governing by his or her own. The constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom
requires the sovereign to fulfill a neutral role in the politics of the state.
Since the constitution severely limits the monarchs power, the sovereign has to work in parallel with the Prime
Minister, who is appointed by the monarch, and who acts as head of government and is responsible for its policy
decisions. In spite of the monarchs limited abilities, as head of state he or she continues fulfilling an important
role in the political and judicial powers.
Some constitutional monarchies have a parliamentary system, where parliament has the power to create and pass
legislation. In the case of the United Kingdom, the members of parliament are designated in two different ways:
The House of Lords, whose members are primarily appointed by royalty, and The House of Commons, whose
members are chosen in general elections. The election of members of The House of Commons is carried out under
a liberal democratic system, where people vote and decide who will represent them in parliament. The elections in
the United Kingdom take place in May, every five years. Finally, the Monarch fulfills the symbolic role of
providing society with stability and a sense of unity, permitting the continuity of the country through the years.
3. - What is the role of the Monarchy today?
The Royal Prerogative is a set of powers and privileges held by the Monarch, but nowadays a lot of these powers
are exercised by the ministers. However, the Monarch has to be informed of the situation of the country and can
be asked about any aspect of the nations situation. The monarch can thus give their opinion about an issue to
influence the final decision of the Ministers. The presence of the British monarch is also required for a number of
important government actions.
Although, the political power of the Monarch are purely ceremonial, some powers are actively used by the
Monarch in times of crisis or General Elections. Some of her powers are:

Summoning/Proroguing Parliament: The Queen has the power to prorogue and summon the
Parliament. The prorogation occurs at the end of the meeting and the summoning when she attends the
State Opening of the Parliament.
Royal Assent: It is her responsibility to accept Parliaments bills, signing them into law.
Her judicial power are now very minimal, actually there is only one and it is:
Royal Pardon: It is used to correct errors in sentencing. This power is equivalent to the Presidential
Pardon that exists in many republican governments.
The power of the Monarch in the armed forces is used on the advice of Generals and Parliament though some of
the power is retained for the Queen nowadays.
Commander-in-chief: The Queen is the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, and every member
vow an oath of allegiance to the Queen when they join.
Disposition of the forces: The Queen, in theory, decides how the Armed Forces are used.
The Monarch have the power to grant honours. She have the final say on:
Creation of Peerages: The Monarch can create a peerage for any person - whether a life peerage or
hereditary one
Font of Honour: The Queen can create orders of Knighthood and grant honours to any citizen.
Others powers that the Monarch held nowadays are:
Control of Passports: The emission and retraction of passport are part of the royal power - this is often
used by the minister on behalf of the Queen. All British passport are emitted in The Queens name
Requisitioning Ships: This power allows a ship to be commandeered in The Queens name for service to
the realm
The difference between absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy
The differences between absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy started to appear, when some European
countries experimented with absolutism and constitutionalism during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
most important difference between both is that in an Absolute Monarchy, the Monarch rules absolute power
(Exemplified in Louis XIV of Frances famous proclamation I am the State) whereas in a Constitutional
Monarchy the king or the queen has limited power since they rule along with the parliament or with other
institutions that effectively limit their power. Another important difference lies in how effective political power is
gained: In absolute monarchy, power is passed down through heredity or marriage, in constitutional monarchies,
power lies primarily on an elected official, such as the Prime Minister in the case of the United Kingdom. Finally,
the amount of work done by the monarch in an absolute monarchy differs from that done by the equivalent in a
constitutional monarchy: In an absolute monarchy, the management of the country, including economic, foreign
and military policy lies entirely in the person of the monarch, whereas in a constitutional monarchy these
responsibilities are carried out by state institutions, such as parliament.
References
http://www.royal.gov.uk/Home.aspx
http://www.parliament.uk/education/about-your-parliament/mps-lords-monarch/the-monarch-and-parliament/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/16/qanda.jubilee
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/92663.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zttpsbk
http://www.monarchist.org.uk/constitutional-monarchy.html
http://royalcentral.co.uk/blogs/insight/what-are-the-queens-powers-22069
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/glorious_revolution_01.shtml
http://www.royal.gov.uk/monarchuk/howthemonarchyworks/whatisconstitutionalmonarchy.aspx
http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/#jump-link-0