What exactly does the Queen of England do anyway?

Question

What is her job?

Answer 1

She's little more than a figurehead. She doesn't do much but represent her country.  

Answer 2

She does a lot.

http://www.royal.gov/uk  lists everything her job entails. Here is a sampling:

"The Queen begins her ordinary working day like many other people - with paperwork at her desk.

After scanning the daily British newspapers, The Queen reviews her correspondence. Every day, 200-300 (and sometimes many more) letters from the public arrive. The Queen chooses a selection to read herself and tells members of her staff how she would like them to be answered.

This enables The Queen personally to see a typical cross-section of her daily correspondence. Virtually every letter is answered by staff in her Private Secretary's office or by a lady-in-waiting.

The Queen will then see, separately, two of her Private Secretaries with the daily quota of official papers and documents. This process takes upwards of an hour.

Every day of every year, wherever she is, The Queen receives from government ministers, and from her representatives in the Commonwealth and foreign countries, information in the form of policy papers, Cabinet documents, telegrams, letters and other State papers.

These are sent up to her by the Private Secretaries in the famous 'red boxes'. All of these papers have to be read and, where necessary, approved and signed.

A series of official meetings or 'audiences' will often follow. The Queen will see a number of important people.

These include overseas ambassadors and high commissioners, newly appointed British ambassadors, senior members of the Armed Forces on their appointment and retirement, and English bishops and judges on their appointment.

Each meeting usually lasts 10 to 20 minutes, and usually The Queen and her visitor meet alone.

The Queen may also meet a number of people who have won prizes or awards in a variety of fields such as literature or science, to present them individually with their prize.



  If there is an Investiture - a ceremony for the presentation of honours and decorations - it begins at 11.00am and lasts just over an hour. The Queen usually meets around 100 people at each Investiture to present Orders, decorations and medals.

The Queen will often lunch privately. Every few months, she and The Duke of Edinburgh will invite a dozen guests from a wide variety of backgrounds to an informal lunch.

If The Queen is spending the morning on engagements away from her desk and other commitments, she will visit up to three venues before lunch, either alone or jointly with The Duke of Edinburgh.

On a regional visit, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh lunch with a wide variety of people in places ranging from town halls to hospitals.

AFTERNOON

In the afternoons, The Queen often goes out on public engagements.

Such visits require meticulous planning beforehand to meet the hosts' requirements.

And The Queen prepares for each visit by briefing herself on whom she will be meeting and what she will be seeing and doing.

Royal engagements are carefully selected by The Queen from a large number of invitations sent to her each year, often by the Lord-Lieutenants (The Queen's representatives in counties throughout the United Kingdom).

This helps to ensure the widest possible spread and to make effective use of The Queen's time.

If the engagement is outside London, her journeys are often by air using a helicopter or an RAF aircraft.

The Queen carries out around 430 engagements (including audiences) a year, to meet people, open events and buildings, unveil plaques and make speeches.



    Such engagements can include visits to schools, hospitals, factories, military units, art galleries, sheltered accommodation for elderly people, hostels for the homeless, local community schemes in inner city areas, and other organisations.

The Queen regularly goes out for the whole day to a particular region or city. If the visit is a busy one, or if it lasts more than a day, then The Queen will travel overnight on the Royal Train.

The Duke of Edinburgh will often accompany The Queen on such visits; when this happens, they will carry out some engagements jointly and others separately to ensure that the maximum number of people and organisations can be visited.

The Queen may end the afternoon seeing a number of Government ministers in a meeting of the Privy Council.

EVENING

The Queen's working day does not stop at the end of the afternoon.

Early evening may see a meeting with the Prime Minister. The Queen has a weekly meeting alone with the Prime Minister, when they are both in London (in addition to other meetings throughout the year).

This usually takes place on Wednesdays at 6.30pm. No written record is made of such meetings; neither The Queen nor the Prime Minister talk about what is discussed between them, as communications between The Queen and the Prime Minister always remain confidential.

At about 7.30pm a report of the day's parliamentary proceedings, written by one of the Government's Whips, arrives.  

Answer 3

She is basically the Head of State for not only the UK, but more than ten other Commonwealth nations. She doesn't sit around all day- far from it. One of the answers above with the link really explains it.

Answer 4

Nothing. There is no Queen of England but there is a Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The title Queen of England hasn't existed for many centuries. The Queen of the UK does a huge amount of work for a lady who's supposedly 'semi-retired'. Last year she had more than 400 official engagements which is at least one a day - quite a feat for a lady in her 80s.

Answer 5

Does she get dressed, eat, cook, etc for herself? I often wonder whether she ever read her kids/grandkids bedtime stories... I bet she never did, that's why they turned out so bad... William and Harry probably were read to by Diana (God rest her soul) and that's why they're ok. CHARLES SHOULD NOT BE KING

Answer 6

Support............

Answer 7

I'm amazed that a woman her age still has the energy for so many public engagements. She also gets foreign investment to bring in badly needed jobs and revenue for her subjects. Bet you didn't know that royals pay almost double the tax rate of commoners?