It is common to consider citizens who are living in kingdoms as subjects. Yet, this is not the case for the British. Monarchy in the UK is a different system of government that defends individuals’ rights and liberties. It still generates interest though its roots date back to the Anglo Saxon days.
Monarchy in Appearance
According to British political conventions, the monarch has to select someone to run the government following a general election. One might assume that the monarch heads up the government. This means that the monarch can appoint whoever she or he picks to hold ministerial, military or even religious positions in the country. Her authority to summon or dissolve parliament as well as her royal assent might additionally make it hard to conceive to what extent she is sovereign. This might indicate that the monarch has the absolute power over government, over parliament, over churches and armed forces, but in fact, the queen has no real power at all except symbolic and ceremonial duties.
Monarchy in Reality
Apparently, the queen is less powerful than both government and parliament. The queen selects the one who has the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons. Instead, the prime minister is the Head of State and Commander in Chief. As for ministerial positions, the queen appoints ministers on the basis of the prime minister’s advice. The same is valid for parliament since she can neither dissolve parliament, nor reject bills or decisions taken by the Commons. She is sovereign only if parliament allows her to be. This is why monarchy in the UK is coined as constitutional monarchy.
Without any doubt, the queen has a number of duties to perform. She is the personal embodiment of government. She has the right to be consulted each week the thing that makes her the final check of government. Her ceremonial role includes receptions, visits and reading public letters. This duty contributes a lot to volunteerism, charities, tourism and even trade making of her the main figure of the Commonwealth.