Monarchy in the Commonwealth Realms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Countries that are Commonwealth Realms share the same monarch equilaterally. The present Head of State in these countries is Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen's constitutional roles outside the United Kingdom have been almost entirely delegated by the Sovereign to the Governors-General of these countries, though the powers constitutionally remain the Sovereign's.


This makes one person monarch of:

Additionally, under the 1981 Cook Islands Constitution, the Queen in right of New Zealand is head of state, but any change in the succession made by New Zealand would have no effect in the Cook Islands unless separately ratified there.

Royal succession is governed by the Act of Settlement of 1701, which, though originally English, is now part of constitutional law in the Commonwealth Realms, whether by deference to the Act as a British statute, or as a patriated part of the particular Realm's constitution.

Though the Queen's constitutional powers are virtually identical in each Realm, she does not usually act as political Head of State, nor, outside of the United Kingdom, does she commonly perform ceremonial duties, except on occasions of significant historical or political importance. This results from the fact that she resides in the UK, even though she usually visits the other major Commonwealth Realms at least once every five or six years. Day-to-day political and ceremonial duties are instead performed in each Realm by a Governor-General who serves as the Queen's representative. Outside the United Kingdom, the Queen, on the advice of the prime minister of each Realm or, in the cases of Papua New Guinea and the Solomons, by parliamentary vote, appoints a Governor-General to act as her representative. She is also represented by a Governor in each state of Australia, and by a Lieutenant-Governor in each province of Canada. These officials exercise almost all the powers of the constitutional monarch with mostly symbolic, figurehead duties, but they also have reserve powers, called the Royal Prerogative.

[edit] Religious role

In some Realms, the Queen is the Sovereign "by Grace of God," and, in the United Kingdom, is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Coronation itself takes place within the context of a church service, at Westminster Abbey, imbued with theological, as well as constitutional, meaning. In some Realms, the Queen retains the ancient title Fidei Defensor, a title first granted in 1521 by Pope Leo X to King Henry VIII, prior to the Reformation. Other Commonwealth nations have removed those words from the Queen's title.[1]

The Church of England remains the established church in England; archbishops and bishops are formally appointed by the British Monarch and sit in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual. In practice, the Monarch delegates authority in the Church of England to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Certain churches (known as Royal Peculiars) have royal patronage, and are outside the normal diocesan administrative structures; the best-known example is Westminster Abbey. There are six Royal chapels outside of the UK.

The role of the Sovereign differs considerably in the other three nations of the United Kingdom. In Scotland, the Church of Scotland, with a Presbyterian system of church government, is recognised in law as the "national church" in which the Queen is an ordinary member. Her first act as monarch was to swear to uphold and protect the reformed church in Scotland; a similar oath for England had to wait for the coronation. The Queen has attended the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on several occasions, most recently in 1977 and 2002, although, in most years, she appoints a Lord High Commissioner to represent her. Unusually for the Church of Scotland, Glasgow Cathedral and Dunblane Cathedral are both owned by the Crown. The Queen also appoints her own Chaplains from both the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.

In Wales, Northern Ireland, and the other Realms, there is no official religion established by law. The Church in Wales and the Church of Ireland were both disestablished, in 1920 and 1871 respectively. Though Canadian coins are minted with the inscription D.G. Regina (Queen by the Grace of God) around her portrait, and her Canadian title includes the phrase "Defender of the Faith", Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, plays no religious role in the country. (See Monarchy in Canada: Cultural Role.)

[edit] See also

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/o/n/Monarchy_in_the_Commonwealth_Realms_d2c2.html"