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> Shall we pretend that the family that has ruled Britain for 1200 years has no political power? Har har. That's like saying the Church of England still has si

> Shall we pretend that the family that has ruled Britain for 1200 years has no political power? Har har. That's like saying the Church of England still has significant political power. it still has the ability to take tithes, although they are mostly optional. The present royal family only really dates back to victoria, I mean sure they are tangentially related to the german/dutch/scots/danish that ruled before, but its not that strong. The monarchy is constitutional technical debt. Technically the queen can refuse to sign laws, and dissolve parliament, but as the constitution is basically "because we said so" it'll be the last thing the queen does. The queen has "influence", but not political power.

calcifer 5y ago
> That's like saying the Church of England still has significant political power. Yes, they have no political power except the 26 unelected, unaccountable bishops they have in the House of Lords, where every law must pass through.
justin66 5y ago
> The queen has "influence", but not political power. There’s a very peculiar differentiation to make.
- hkt 5y ago
  Also not true. The Queen is a lobbyist with legally enshrined privileges, see this report: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-que... "A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public." Not to mention the lobbying Charles undertook, which took years to uncover, again because of his privileges as part of the royal family: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/29/prince-charles-lobbied-grammar-schools https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/29/prince-charl... ""I would explain that our policy was not to expand grammar schools, and he didn't like that," said Blunkett, who held the post from 1997 to 2001. "He was very keen that we should go back to a different era where youngsters had what he would have seen as the opportunity to escape from their background, whereas I wanted to change their background." Call it influence or power, fundamentally it is rich people getting to exert pressure on the legislative and executive that none of us get to exert.
_-david-_ 5y ago
>and dissolve parliament The monarchy no longer has that power. It was removed a decade ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2...

calcifer 5y ago

> That's like saying the Church of England still has significant political power. Yes, they have no political power except the 26 unelected, unaccountable bishops they have in the House of Lords, where every law must pass through.

justin66 5y ago

> The queen has "influence", but not political power. There’s a very peculiar differentiation to make.

hkt 5y ago
Also not true. The Queen is a lobbyist with legally enshrined privileges, see this report: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-que... "A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public." Not to mention the lobbying Charles undertook, which took years to uncover, again because of his privileges as part of the royal family: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/29/prince-charles-lobbied-grammar-schools https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/29/prince-charl... ""I would explain that our policy was not to expand grammar schools, and he didn't like that," said Blunkett, who held the post from 1997 to 2001. "He was very keen that we should go back to a different era where youngsters had what he would have seen as the opportunity to escape from their background, whereas I wanted to change their background." Call it influence or power, fundamentally it is rich people getting to exert pressure on the legislative and executive that none of us get to exert.

_-david-_ 5y ago

>and dissolve parliament The monarchy no longer has that power. It was removed a decade ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2...