Motley Talk about the Monarchy
Queen Elizabeth II and her right to snowballs, dolphins, and her freedom from prosecution, whatever her crime!
Dear friends, this is the year that Queen Elizabeth II will have been on the throne for 70 years, and June will be a month of celebration in the UK (click here for my links to the celebrations). Though born into a royal family and fourth in line to the throne, Elizabeth was not expected to be queen. When she was born her grandfather, King George V was still alive, and his heir, Elizabeth’s uncle Edward, was young, expected to marry and have children. Elizabeth lived the same life as any other upper class, rich child.
Everything changed when Elizabeth’s grandfather died, and her uncle abdicated. Her father became King George VI. Elizabeth was now heir to the throne of the United Kingdom (unless her mother, aged 36 had a son, who would have taken precedence). A chance of birth and circumstances made this woman a queen.
Elizabeth has maintained a ‘never complain, never explain’ attitude. Her willingness to follow advice, keep a lowish profile and her long life, has made her a successful queen. It has been much quoted that by natural inclination she would have liked “to be a lady living in the country with lots of horses and dogs.” 1
There have been 61 monarchs of England, spread over a period of approximately 1200 years. It is usually agreed that Egbert (or Ecgberht) was the first monarch. In 827 Egbert was King of the West Saxons and when neighbouring kingdoms submitted to his rule, he became the first ‘Overlord of England’.
Of course, the line of succession has not always been peaceful, and there were sometimes disagreements about who should be monarch, but there was always an agreement that there should be a monarch. Until King Charles I messed up by believing he should be an autocratic king (see my article about the Magna Carta) and had his head chopped off in 1649. Then they thought “hey, we can manage without a King”.
There followed 11 years of government by the Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell. I am not an expert, but I think they would have done much better if they had not made everyone follow the Puritan lifestyle. Most inns and theatres were closed (no drinking or ‘pointless enjoyment’), and most sports were banned. Dark, modest clothing had to be worn and Sundays spent in church. Christmas was cancelled.
No wonder King Charles II (son of Charles I) was joyfully welcomed back to England, with his fancy clothes with lace frills, and determination to party and enjoy himself.
Since then, British monarchy has continued, with only small blips. Queen Victoria definitely stabilised the institution and her nine children and grandchildren married into most of Europe’s monarchy. When Victoria died in 1901 France2, Switzerland and San Marino were the only European nations to have a republican form of government. The rest were monarchies. Job done.
But only a few years later World War One (1914 to 1918) signalled the end of four monarchies (Russia, Germany, Hungary and Portugal), the rest managed to struggle through until World War Two (1939 to 1945). Greece was the last to finally became a republic in 1967.
King George V and Tsar Nicolas II of Russia were cousins and their families were close. The last time they met was in 1909, on the Isle of Wight.
Just eight years later, in 1917, Nicolas Romanov was forced to abdicate. It was suggested the Russian royals be rescued by the British and allowed to settle in the UK. However, the invitation was later withdrawn. King George V (Elizabeth’s grandfather) was afraid that the British monarchy was losing support, and decided it was too risky to welcome the deposed Russian royal family into the UK. The Romanov family were taken prisoner and killed in 1918.
There are now only twelve sovereign monarchies in Europe. Seven are kingdoms: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Three are principalities, Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco, while Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy. Vatican City is a theocratic elective monarchy3, ruled by the Pope.
In case you take part in a pub quiz during the celebrations, I thought I would give you some highlights of the powers of the monarchy. The queen is the highest representative of the United Kingdom, she is the symbol of the country.
The queen is a constitutional monarch, as the power to govern resides with the elected government. The Queen has a right ‘to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn’ her ministers, which she does by meeting the Prime Minister every week. The Queen is not allowed to vote.
However, the Queen's consent is necessary to turn any bill into an actual law. Once a proposed law has passed both houses of Parliament, the Queen has to give approval, the ‘Royal Assent’. In 1708, Queen Anne refused to give Royal Assent for a bill to give weapons to the Scottish military, but it was on the advice of her ministers. Royal Assent has been given ever since and is now a formality.
All prosecutions are carried out in the name of the monarch, so the Queen is both immune from prosecution and cannot be compelled to give evidence in court. However, if the Queen did do some heinous deed, she would probably be forced to abdicate. For the same reason the Queen can’t do jury duty.
The Queen also has the ability to grant the royal prerogative of mercy, to pardon any individual for any criminal offence. In 2020, a convicted murderer was on day release from prison when he chased a terrorist onto London Bridge, where the terrorist was shot dead by police. The Queen issued a royal pardon to reduce his sentence.
Because all British passports are issued in the name of the Queen, she is the only person in the UK who doesn’t need one. 'Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.'
The Queen is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Since King Henry VIII broke with Rome in order to marry Anne Boleyn all monarchs have also been Head of the Church of England. There are also some mostly medieval legacies that are still honoured:
Not only do all unmarked swans in open water belong to the Queen, she technically owns all the sturgeons, whales and dolphins in the waters around the UK, dating back to the reign of King Edward II (14th Century). They are ‘royal fish’ and when caught would be sent to the royal table to be eaten. There was a saying that "the king owns the head of the whale, the queen owns the tail". The queen received the tail, in order to be supplied with whalebone for her corsets.
Rent is paid by the Duke of Wellington by presenting a flag to the Queen. In 1815 Arthur Wellesley won the battle of Waterloo, defeating Napoleon and ending nearly 23 years of war in Europe. Wellesley was made 1st Duke of Wellington and the nation gave him Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire. The Queen and the current Duke meet in June, in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle, for a ceremonial presentation of a French flag, given as a symbolic rent payment. The flag, embroidered with the current year, then sits next to a marble bust of the 1st Duke of Wellington in the Waterloo Chamber.
There are many other legacies, but lastly I will mention the foresight of King James VI & I, that the monarch may have need of a snowball. In 1608, King James declared that some disputed lands should go to Robert Munro, 14th Baron of Foulis. On the condition that the holder of the land should give a snowball to the monarch when asked, on any day of the year, even in midsummer. Luckily the lands are near a high mountain, where the snow rarely melts.
If I were Queen I would pop over in August and demand my snowball.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to this reader-supported publication (£4.16 a month) so you get more content. It would support me so I can continue to research and write the Motleys, without adding advertising or paid promotions. Thank you.
As always, any links are provided to give the reader more information. I do not make any money from these links. Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text, unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright please contact me.
Remark made by Queen Elizabeth to her riding instructor Horace Smith.
France became a republic after the 1789 Revolution and the death of King Louis XVI. The republic only lasted until 1804, when Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. The French monarchy ended for good in 1870.
Theocratic (rules in the name of God) elective (the Pope is elected, he does not inherit the role) monarchy.