[GunRunner]

I'm a monarchist - but I also happen to live in a Constitutional Monarchy which works well, and where the reserve powers of the monarch have only been used twice in our history to block illegal actions by socialist governments.

So does being in the Commonwealth alone make you a monarchy, or is it some extra decree?

[naturalman1975]

A country can be part of the Commonwealth and not be a monarchy - there are a number of republics within the Commonwealh. For the others, the precise form the Monarchy takes differs depending on their history.

In the case of Australia, our Constitution first and foremost makes us a monarchy: The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, and which is hereinafter called The Parliament, or The Parliament of the Commonwealth.

(Commonwealth in this case refers to the Commonwealth of Australia - the British Commonwealth/Commonwealth of Nations did not exist in 1900 when our Constitution was written and so there was no need to elaborate).

From 1953, onwards, the Queen within Australia has been known as the Queen of Australia (until 1973, "Queen of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Her Other Realms and Territories", since then as "Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth".