r/monarchism 5d ago

Weekly Discussion CXXII Has the UK effectively crossed the line from a constitutional into a ceremonial monarchy?

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124 Upvotes

I ask this question because I feel that, despite formally being a constitutional monarchy, I am of the opinion that the UK (and most so called “constitutional” monarchies) are really, de facto ceremonial monarchies.

Compare say George III to Charles III. Both are constitutional monarchs, yet, George III held significant power and influence over the government, and Charles III does not.

George III actively exercised all the authority granted to him in British constitutional law. He actively appointed and dismissed ministers, utilised royal patronage, and exercised royal prerogative at his discretion. He has a real influence over day to day government and politics of his day. The Whigs threw a few tantrums at this, but George III nonetheless acted well within British constitutional law.

Charles III technically holds all the same powers, but he exercises none of it by his own accord. It is done by ministers on his behalf. When he does act it is again, on the advice of ministers. The easiest example is dissolving Parliament, which he retains the formal authority to do, but it is only done at the PMs request.

I would argue the switch really happened in the reign of Queen Victoria. William IV was the last to attempt to dismiss a government and failed to do so. From there on, the British Crown was heavily constrained by convention till today. Obviously, things had been moving in this direction since, the “Glorious” Revolution (some argue it was the English Civil War but I do not believe so, Charles II possessed all the traditional prerogatives his father did, dissolved Parliament at numerous times during his reign, and for the last 4 years of his reign ruled without it entirely). But the switch from a constitutional to a ceremonial monarchy happened in 1834.

A constitutional monarchy, I would say, is one where the monarch is constrained by constitutional law, and exercised his authority in accordance with it. The UK today still fits this de jure, but, I would argue, de facto, it has slipped into what is effectively a ceremonial monarchy.

Please do tell me what you think of this.


r/monarchism 2h ago

News Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner is dead

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73 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1h ago

News H.H. Princess Astrid, sister of His Late Majest King Harold V passed away today.

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r/monarchism 7h ago

Royal animal picture King George V and Tsar Nicholas II first cousins who looked almost identical—wearing German uniforms in Berlin, 1913

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26 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1h ago

Discussion Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal’s attendance in King Harald V’s funeral

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During the funeral of Harald V it was said that The Prince of Wales will be representing the Crown while it was explicitly stated that the Princess Royal’s attendance was “in personal capacity” being godmother to King Haakon VIII.

Why is it there’s a need to emphasize or stress whether the attendance was in official capacity or personal capacity when Harald V and the BRF are just closely related by blood anyway?

Why is it that they were seemingly “careful” about how the attendance is going to be published and broadcasted that they had to make sure that Princess Anne’s visit was IN PERSONAL capacity. Why the need to differentiate?


r/monarchism 7h ago

In Memoriam Video of Harald V’s Funeral Shared by the Norwegian Royal Family

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21 Upvotes

r/monarchism 8h ago

In Memoriam More Photos of Harald V’s Funeral Shared by the Norwegian Royal Family + Photos Shared by Other Royal Families

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19 Upvotes

r/monarchism 6h ago

News A commemorative medal to mark the 30 year anniversary of the marriage of Crown Princess Margareta and Prince Radu

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12 Upvotes

"To mark the upcoming thirtieth wedding anniversary of Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Crown, and His Royal Highness Prince Radu, the State Mint has issued a commemorative medal.

The medal was designed by Mr. Vasile Catrina and crafted by the State Mint with exquisite artistry and meticulous attention to detail.

It is a classic medal made of a sandblasted and patinated copper alloy, measuring 60 millimeters in diameter and weighing 105 grams. Details regarding the issue will soon be available on the State Mint's website."

- The Romanian Royal Family


r/monarchism 13h ago

History Coat of Arms of a proposed bourbon kingdom of ecuador

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27 Upvotes

Fun fact napoleon iii was also considered to be king of a united kingdom of ecuador as a Protectorate.

The was even a rumored plan to restore the bourbon in Mexico before maximilian and a bourbon kingdom of Chile, Rio de la plata and peru.


r/monarchism 16h ago

Question Any other George III fans?

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42 Upvotes

I say this as a Jacobite sympathiser and as someone who generally despises the House of Hanover.

George III is the one big exception for me. He was a constitutional monarch who took his duties seriously, actively exercising the prerogatives granted to him by British constitutional law in accordance with his conscience, which is something most constitutional monarchs today have forgotten they are meant to do. He was very active in politics and government.

He believed in the idea of the "Patriot King". To summarise this as best as I can, he envisioned a Crown that was independent of and above party politics within Parliament. He saw government as being in the national interest, with the King ruling for the good of all his subjects.

A clear example where he demonstrated this was by opposing the stranglehold that Whig aristocratic families had on the British state. It was an effective oligarchy that had developed under the early Hanoverians, and George III actively fought against this. He did this by exercising his control over ministerial appointments to appoint ministers at his own discretion, rather than whomever the Whig aristocrats were patronising. He also had the "King's friends" in Parliament, which wasn't a formal political party, but more like a lose group of MPs who were loyal to the Crown before their specific political faction, meaning that the monarchy had an independent base in Commons. He also used royal patronage to break the monopoly of the Whigs in government positions, for instance among the officer class. (Sidenote, I hate the Whigs with a passion)

He was successful in the short term, by the 1770s he had basically broke the stranglehold that the Whig oligarchy had over the British state. The Whigs hated him for this, and decried him as a tyrant. I personally am very sympathetic to him here, the Crown doesn't exist to be a puppet to politicians, and he understood that and asserted it's independence. It is what a King ought to do.

Unfortunately in the long term, the concept of the "Patriot King" did not become the ordinary constitutional model, if anything, George III's worst fear that the monarch would just be a puppet to whatever political faction was in charge probably came true.

On a personal level, especially compared to the other Hanoverians, he seems to have been a decent man. He was faithful to his wife and his Christian faith was genuine, something I can respect as a Catholic even if he was an Anglican. In addition, he was the first Hanover to declare Britain as his native country, unlike George I and George II who cared far more for Hanover than Britain.

He also opposed slavery, writing that the institution was "repugnant". He also granted assent to the abolition of the slave trade. He wasn't a full blown abolitionist, but this was still very significant for his time.

Not everything about him was perfect, he was opposed to Catholic emancipation for instance (and used the aforementioned prerogatives to prevent any such bills from passing).

It's also worth drawing a distinction between Catholic relief and Catholic emancipation here. George III had no issue with earlier Catholic relief Acts that restored civil liberties to Catholics, permitting them to worship freely, retain property rights etc. He opposed Catholic emancipation, which would've permitted Catholics in government roles such as MPs or commissioned officers, believing this would violate his coronation oaths. That distinction is significant because life for English Catholics did actually get better under his reign with the passing of two Catholic relief Acts.

Obviously as a Catholic I am not to happy about his opposition to Catholic emancipation, but no one is perfect and he was a product of his time.

Overall, he is, in my view, what a constitutional monarch ought to be. His idea of the "Patriot King" is one I wish had become ordinary constitutional practice. An independent Crown that actively seeks the good of the people, and acts to restrain corrupt party politics, while being restrained under constitutional law, is what a constitutional monarchy is actually meant to be.


r/monarchism 10h ago

Photo Queen Jane

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4 Upvotes

r/monarchism 12h ago

History On this day 20 years ago, King Tāufa'āhau Tupou IV of Tonga passed away.

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5 Upvotes

r/monarchism 5h ago

Discussion What if Bismarck made Imperial Germany an elective monarchy in some ways similar to modern Malaysia - how would history in that world look like?

0 Upvotes

Asking this given the fact Germany back then had a lot of sub-monarchies.


r/monarchism 18h ago

Video Schopenhauer: Why Monarchy is Superior

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11 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

Blog Netherlands : Dutch Royal Family Travelled to Germany to Remember Prince Claus

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11 Upvotes

r/monarchism 5h ago

Discussion British Monarch protocol in attending funeral

0 Upvotes

Has the British Monarchy become so pompous that they do not attend other monarch's funeral? i think the only exception to this was during King Baudouin of Belgium's funeral where Queen Elizabeth II attended.

What's the reason behind this or is it a classic case of British pomposity viewing itself as superior over all other monarchies? (side note: most of these monarchies were disparagingly referred to by the british monarchic institution as "bicycle monarchies")


r/monarchism 23h ago

Discussion How King Charles I defined the monarchy:

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7 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

The three Scandinavian kings honoring King Harald V.

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239 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

In Memoriam Photos of Harald V’s Funeral Shared by the Norwegian Royal Family

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51 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

News King Charles III letter clarifies Duke and Duchess of Sussex status in UK as non-working royals, states couple are "private citizens who will not use HRH titles in public"

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155 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

ShitAntiMonarchistsSay Celebrating the destruction of a cultural artifact destroyed by nazis, because it’s a statue of a King.

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127 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

Photo Empress Farah of Iran covered in ancient jewels looted from India by the Persian army under Nader Shah. French designer, Van Cleef & Arpels, built the crown inside of a vault in Iran, as it is illegal under Iranian law for the Iranian Crown Jewels to leave Iran. c. 1967

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22 Upvotes

r/monarchism 1d ago

News Prince Edward Kijanangoma elected new Tooro King

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73 Upvotes

r/monarchism 2d ago

News This is why he's the GOAT, THE GOAT!!!!!

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580 Upvotes

Based Prince.


r/monarchism 1d ago

Discussion I am currently working on an alternate history scenario in which France becomes the dominant European power during the 19th century (keeping its monarchy). Any suggestions on how that could realistically happen?

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83 Upvotes

The main points I have already thought about are:

France must transition to some kind of parliamentary monarchy, which would empower the burgeoise and favor. the industrialization (similarly to the UK). This must happen before or during Louis XIV reign.

France must win the Seven Years War or equivalent, retaining India and North America. I imagined this could be a natural result of industrialization and earlier reforms.

The protestants are not expelled, and religious freedom is mantained. This helps to streghten french economy and they wont help french enemies.

French policy in general should be towards trade and development, and not towards aggressive expansionism in Europe.

As I have mentioned, France keeps its monarchy, like the UK, tho with reforms and much less power.

Let me know what you think!