by Temujin

I've been inundated with literally one PM asking me to write about this, and because I'm generous (or bored) I of course acquiesced. I'm using only my memory for this, so if I make errors it's either because I've forgotten, I'm making it up as I go along, or because historical records are in fact in error and I am correct.

Let's begin with a definition. The royal family is easily defined, but the area over which they reign is not. For a start, Alfred the Great was King of Wessex, then all England. He was not king of Scotland or Wales or Ireland. Edward I and Edward III made great inroads during the 13th/14th centuries into Scotland and Wales (you can still see great castles, especially in Wales from Edward III's time, throughout the UK). Following the end of the Tudor dynasty at the start of the 17th century, James I of England (VI of Scotland) unified Scotland and England. He was the first of the Stuarts, and nearly blown up by a naughty Catholic called Guy Fawkes on the 5th of November...1605 I think, when GF tried to blow up Parliament. We thus commemorate his terrorist intent by having great big fires and exploding fireworks.

Later, Britain was the world's greatest, and most well-spoken, superpower. Our primary mode of African policy was "Shoot them and nick their country" and our policy to the French was similar, apart from the country-nicking bit. We became the largest sea empire the world has ever seen, owning swathes of Africa, India, Siam (now Thailand), and with great influence over China. Victoria was not only our longest reigning monarch, but our first and only Empress.

So, what powers did/do the Royals have? Well, back in the day of Henry VIII (early 1500s I think) there was a Parliament. However, most of the members were wealthy farmers and landowners. Good old Henry did things like seizing money from monasteries so he didn't need any money from Parliament. He wasn't all bad though, he did set up grammar schools, some of which still survive to this day. Parliament's power waxed and waned according to who the monarch was, I think, in its early days. But then came along King Charles....

King Charles believed in the absolute power of the monarchy. His problem was, Parliament (and England since Saxon times) didn't. So, there was a war. Charles lost both the conflict and his head, and for the only time in history England was a Republic for about a decade, ruled by the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. However, Cromwell wasn't universally popular. Some saw him as a king in all but name, but his military grip was too strong for him to be dislodged. When he died, his son, Richard, succeeded him, and was derided throughout the land as "Queen Dick". He didn't last a year, and the monarchy was reinstated.

Then we have the modern dynasty, the Windsors. Originally they had a German surname (Mountbatten, I think, or possibly Saxe-Coburg). It was changed during WWI. Couldn't very well fight the Hun and at the same time have a King with a German name, could we? Queen Elizabeth II is extremely popular, respected thoroughly even by nasty little Republicans. She reigns over not just the UK, but Canada, Australia, and the whole Commonwealth. She's been monarch for over 50 years now, and could perhaps beat Victoria's record. So, what are her powers?

Well, she sees every single piece of important news that the PM sees. She is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, head of the police, owner of all swans in the UK, head of the prison service, the courts and is fabulously wealthy. She, like all major royals excepting the heir, gets money from the Civil List, which is cash from the government. They get this because the royals contribute vast amounts in tourism, and gave up large amounts of their possessions to the state long ago. Indeed, the Royal Family brings in more than it costs. The heir, Charles, is the Duke of Cornwall, amongst other places. He owns large amounts of land and businesses and makes about 14m a year from it, and voluntarily pays income tax, as well as doing a great deal of charity work. He costs the taxpayer nothing. Back to HM. She has the right, but never exercises it, to refuse to give Royal Assent to an Act of Parliament, so in theory she could stop any Bill passed by both Houses (or the Commons with the vile and probably illegal Parliament Act) becoming law, though this could cause a war. She also has to assent to any war declared, and can (and does, for elections) dissolve Parliament. I am not sure of what powers she wields over other lands in the Commonwealth.

So, how long have we had a monarchy? Well....jein. Alfred was a great figure in the 1st millennium (late 9th, early 10th century, I think). Before him we had Saxon kings like Ethelred the Unready. The best guess is that we've probably had an English monarchy since the Saxons took over in about 500AD, and, with the exception written about above, have had one ever since.