Posted on 09/10/2022 8:16:51 AM PDT by SuzyQue
That was not her job, she may give advice to her Prime Ministers in private, but not in public. Constitutional Monarchs stay out of partisan politics in public, period.
The whole point of a Constitutional monarch is to separate patriotism from partisan politics.
It is the Leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Cabinet that are supposed to hold His/Her Majesty’s Government to account, not the Monarch.
No, the authors point was actually “I’ve read just enough British history to be dangerous, and I actually don’t know squat about the British Constitution.”
He brought up the pre-Norman monarch Ethelred the Unready. Instead he should have read more about Charles I, the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, the Commonwealth, Charles II, the Restoration, James II & VII, and the Glorious Revolution. That period from 1640-1688 is the reason the UK has a Constitutional monarch and not an absolute monarch or dictatorial Lord Protector.
The whole point of a Constitutional monarch is to separate patriotism from partisan politics.
I think she could have.
As we see in this country, what is considered “patriotic” is often in the eye of the beholder.
Yes, but what does that have to do with the central point? Seriously?
That anyone who actually knew British constitutional history would never have written that essay, because it bears no relationship to how the UK government actually works.
You really want to tell us that Elizabeth was incapable of speaking out and using her position and popularity to advance English causes?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_English_Constitution
Per Walter Baghot in the definitive work The English Constitution, the Crown has three political rights in dealing with the Prime Minister: ‘the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn’.
The Crown does not engage in public politicking.
“John Carter” completely ignores Baghot, the history of the relations between Crown and Parliament, 200 years of practice, and the actual duties of the Crown, and criticizes the Queen for not doing things the way he wants them to be.
He does not know what he is talking about.
“‘the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn’”
I think that’s exactly what he’s talking about.
No, I realized he doesn’t have a point.
“could have spoken up (on numerous occasions) to champion the preservation of British culture & tradition”
If she were public about it, it would have been hard to do without being political, and being political could have put her position as titular head of state at risk - due to her “interference” in the political realm.
But what counsel she did give, to British and foreign officials, she gave privately, keeping her position out of the political fray. On that she may well have made her positions known regarding British culture and traditions; the one area of which was her duty and responsibility - the British monarchy - she did grandly.
The American colonists did not revolt against “every thing” the British royalty stood for.
1. Had the king and his parliament taken different positions regarding the colonists, the colonies may not have revolted. The main arguments were about the positions of the British government that the colonists thought unfair to them.
2. One of those positions was that the colonists were like second class citizens of Britain, with less rights than those living in Britain. They wanted the same rights over affairs that concerned them domestically as the British parliament had over domestic British affairs.
THAT was what led to the colonists complaints, and eventual moves toward independence. The grand ideals of a new form of government came later, in trying to lay out what a new government should look like and stand for.
On the other hand, since it was private, we will never know what she said. Given she raised a dolt like Charles, I am very skeptical about the nature of her views.
“Given she raised a dolt like Charles”
He took after his father, not his mum.
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