Hold your horses there. The emphasis on OP's quoted line should be on _technically_. A bill has to proceed through Royal Assent by the Queen before it becomes

Hold your horses there. The emphasis on OP's quoted line should be on _technically_. A bill has to proceed through Royal Assent by the Queen before it becomes law [1]. It just happens that she is always timely with this duty and always agrees with Parliament. Also the government's executive power is primarily through Royal prerogative [2]. _technically_ the Queen could exercise these powers herself for her own benefit. The "checks and balances" that keep the Monarch from abusing these powers are a combination of tradition, facing the wrath of the British people and precedent set by what happened last time a monarch attempted to abuse royal prerogative [3] [1] http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-royal-assent/ http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/l... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_prerogative_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_prerogative_in_the_Unite... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England