Thank you for this; I wasn't aware of how constrained the Crown was and wonder- in a half-hearted way- how the position went from being the person whose very word was law, to being merely a figurehead.
I feel a fondness for her, mainly because she reminds me of my grandma, whom I miss dearly.
I don't know the evolution of the monarchy in the UK in as much detail as people who grow up here, but I had to learn the outline for citizenship. I'm having to look up some of the details again to try to avoid blundering.
In the USA we learn our system based on rule of law traces back to the Magna Carta over here. That began constraint of the monarchy, obviously, by laying out a system of rules, but the monarch was still absolute.
Constitutional monarchy has the king or queen as head of state, but actual power almost entirely in the Prime Minister and Parliament. Switching to that took time and bloodshed: the English Civil War (1642-52), a few years as a republic, classic monarchy again in 1660, and then the English Revolution of 1688 (the Glorious Revolution). At that point the system changed to settle power in Parliament and the Prime Minister, and protect Parliament from dictates of the monarch.
Sometimes Queen Elizabeth II has made mistakes. I happened to be here on a business trip when Princess Diana died. She initially messed up in the aftermath. The entire royal family had messed up for years with Diana. But the Queen also sometimes makes strides forward that surprise me. During my very first years living here, I remember her getting the royal family's website and social media presence completely overhauled, and insisting on sending out the initial post from the revamped IT herself. In her early 80s, she was keeping up with the times and that seemed to be something she personally chose to do.
She reminds me of my Grandma, too. And I miss mine too.
Good morning!
Thank you for this; I wasn't aware of how constrained the Crown was and wonder- in a half-hearted way- how the position went from being the person whose very word was law, to being merely a figurehead.
I feel a fondness for her, mainly because she reminds me of my grandma, whom I miss dearly.
Have a great day!
I don't know the evolution of the monarchy in the UK in as much detail as people who grow up here, but I had to learn the outline for citizenship. I'm having to look up some of the details again to try to avoid blundering.
In the USA we learn our system based on rule of law traces back to the Magna Carta over here. That began constraint of the monarchy, obviously, by laying out a system of rules, but the monarch was still absolute.
Constitutional monarchy has the king or queen as head of state, but actual power almost entirely in the Prime Minister and Parliament. Switching to that took time and bloodshed: the English Civil War (1642-52), a few years as a republic, classic monarchy again in 1660, and then the English Revolution of 1688 (the Glorious Revolution). At that point the system changed to settle power in Parliament and the Prime Minister, and protect Parliament from dictates of the monarch.
Sometimes Queen Elizabeth II has made mistakes. I happened to be here on a business trip when Princess Diana died. She initially messed up in the aftermath. The entire royal family had messed up for years with Diana. But the Queen also sometimes makes strides forward that surprise me. During my very first years living here, I remember her getting the royal family's website and social media presence completely overhauled, and insisting on sending out the initial post from the revamped IT herself. In her early 80s, she was keeping up with the times and that seemed to be something she personally chose to do.
She reminds me of my Grandma, too. And I miss mine too.