What is the purpose of the British monarchy today?

Question

I'm not trying to offend anyone, especially if you're from England, I'm just asking an honest question and seeking honest answers. I would prefer answers from those who live in the UK, mainly because I would like to get a better feel on how citizens view the royal family.

I've done some research but it seems I get a lot of political articles with extreme views. From what I read it seems that the monarchy is "head of state," while the Prime Minister is "head of government." What are the main roles of the monarchy?

Answer 1

I was born there, but now live on this side of the pond, and I can tell you that the Royal Family are the biggest waste of space in the UK. They are out-dated, expensive, have no real power - except keeping the real power from the people - and belong to another age.

Quite simply put, the sooner they go, the better that country will be.

Additional - I knew I should have elaborated a little more. The Royal Family - or at least the top echelons of it - are essentially nothing more than a tourist attraction. Yes, they may bring in the money, and promote the country as a whole to the rest of the World, and in that respect they are useful, but it is about time that they are all officially reduced to a 'Tourist Attraction' and thereby the people will become citizens with real power, as opposed to being 'subjects', that they are all now. But tell me this, other than the Queen, her hubby, Charlie and his sons (and maybe one or two others), what can really be said about the rest of them, some of which do absolutely nothing at all? Every now and then a name will pop up, and you will wonder who exactly they are, because the majority of people will have never heard of them, yet they are treated with the same 'respect' that the rest of them are.

So like I said get the top few of 'The Firm' and classify them as 'Attractions', and dump the rest, thereby changing the country's political scene from being a Monarchy to a true Democratic land.

Answer 2

The Monarch’s function of signing into law Acts passed by Parliament is an integral part of the legislative process. The Monarch technically holds the right to veto any measure adopted by Parliament he Monarch also receives newly appointed ambassadors to the United Kingdom who are accredited to her court rather than to the state, S/he is also the commander in chief of the Armed forces and new recruits have to swear allegiance to the Monarch rather than to Parliament or to the State. In this and many similar functions the Queen acts as a living personification of the British State, a type of shorthand by which people can swear allegiance to the state, which is a social construct, via a living person.. The majority of the Queen’s workload consists of representing the state at home and the Nation abroad. On state visits the Queen attracts interest from the foreign public and media who helps raise the profile of the Nation overseas. The role of the Monarch as strengthening Government with religion refers to the Monarch’s combined role as head of State and Governor of the established Church of England. This role signifies the importance of the Church to the British establishment and their core values and traditions. The role of the Monarch as strengthening Government with religion refers to the Monarch’s combined role as head of State and Governor of the established Church of England. This role signifies the importance of the Church to the British establishment and their core values and traditions.

Answer 3

To put it in a nutshell, most countries have a head of state and a head of government. The US combines both offices in that of president. That system makes it particularly difficult to remove a president.

The Queen is head of state, she represents the country and allegiance is sworn to her. Her office is permanent, and she provides continuity.

The Prime Minister is head of Parliament, the elected governing body. Of course, he and his party can be voted out of office.

The two form an integrated system of government which has worked well and continues to do so.

Answer 4

just to say hi to the commonwealth people after they've did to them

Answer 5

I'm not really sure - something about being a tourist attraction!!

Answer 6

I always wondered if they still have it as tradition, or if they need something to do with their surplus of taxes taken from the people.

For a detailed explanation that I can not summarize (even though I was born in the UK!!), you might want to look at Wikipedia's article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_mon...

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Idreamofwinter,something useful has taken up the space that you occupied here,a dustbin.I am sure that the whole nation will join me in saying,enjoy your stay in america and long may you stay there.

I think ffanglegrl has answered the question satisfactorily and there is not much else of interest that I could add.except to say that the Queen is probably the best ambassador that this country could have.Who would be inspired to visit america after seeing George Dubbya Bush?There are people that I know however,who have visited England after seeing the Queen visiting their countries.